Imperial as One celebrates third anniversary

Birthday party for College's race equality advisory group - News

By Danielle Reeves
Monday 21 July 2008

Imperial as One, the College's race equality advisory group, celebrated its third birthday on Friday afternoon last week, with a special event featuring guest speakers, a champagne reception and an international buffet.

Imperial as One's Communication Officer, Althea Hartley-Forbes from the Department of Chemistry, opened the proceedings by welcoming guests and speakers, and describing the group's many achievements since it was established in 2005. She highlighted the introduction of mentoring, coaching and professional development and training opportunities, events for students, staff and school pupils, the establishment of the Rector's Award for Equality, and many annual activities designed to share good practice in the area of equality.

As an example, she highlighted the second Equality, Practice and Innovation symposium held in June 2008, which brought together specialist practitioners in the fields of science, healthcare and equalities to share insights into equality progress the College has made over the years.

The event's Master of Ceremonies, Dr Mark Richards from the Department of Physics, introduced the guest speakers, including Pastor Derrick Wilson, the Head of the Tabernacle School in West London. The school's pupils regularly take part in Creative Futures – interactive learning days hosted by Imperial as One, which encourage children from economically disadvantaged communities to think about science and aspire to higher education.

Pastor Wilson said: "Our pupils were very excited about the event – it broadened their horizons to see role models they could aspire to. They realised that they could achieve."

Cameron Sim, one of the school pupils who attended last year's Creative Futures event, added: "It motivated me to keep my head down and concentrate – to make something of my life. I now aspire one day to become a computer programmer."

Kalpna Mistry from the Equalities Unit gave a presentation on the College's Diwali celebrations held in November 2007. This was followed by Professor Washington Ochieng from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, who gave an entertaining talk on using difference to make a difference in a team. Lord Robert Winston, Professor of Science and Society at Imperial, spoke about how to make science engaging in an increasingly diverse society.

Imperial as One members cut the celebration cake

Sir Roy Anderson, Rector of Imperial, warmly congratulated the group on their success, and assured the group of his personal support and commitment. He said: "A great strength of Imperial as One is that it's a real grass-roots initiative. Its members come from all parts of Imperial, so many different experiences and issues are represented. It is one of my main tasks to ensure that Imperial remains a place where everyone can thrive and reach their potential regardless of ethnicity."

Christine Yates, the College's equalities and diversity consultant, expressed her pride at being associated with the significant achievements made by Imperial as One members: "Imperial as One has had a brilliant first three years, and I'm sure will continue to go from strength to strength," she said.

"With the calibre of Imperial as One members and champions to call upon, the College is in an excellent position to take the work further and encourage other universities and public sector organisations to replicate our success. We are looking forward to greater collaboration with more partners and stakeholders interested in the elimination of race discrimination, maintaining good race relations, and celebrating and supporting the diversity that makes Imperial a great place to work and study," she added.

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