Race Equality Week
Posted on Friday 30 January 2026
The theme for Race Equality Week 2026 is #ChangeNeedsAllOfUs.
Building on previous years' themes, this year's Race Equality Week emphasises how every small step and action is meaningful, but it takes collective movements of individuals and organisations to enact real change towards race equality.
As part of this theme, we continue to encourage everyone to actively listen and learn from each other and use existing resources, including the Let's educate ourselves page and Black Lives Matter reading list while planning the actions we can take on individual and institutional levels.
Our actions and initiatives
As we continue to face national and global challenges, with rhetoric around immigration and race creating difficult community relations and sometimes a hostile climate, we reiterate our commitment that the University of York is, and must remain, a safe, inclusive and welcoming place for all.
To reinforce our commitment to fostering a safe and respectful campus, we released our summary guidance and information on inclusion and race equality. We all have a responsibility to uphold principles of mutual respect, compassion and intellectual curiosity, and to help hold one another accountable.
We have launched the new Race Equity module for staff on the Learning Management System (LMS). The module covers topics including racism and equality in UK Higher Education, different forms of racism, understanding privilege and a toolkit for belonging.
The University has implemented actions that address the under-representation of the Black, Asian and minority ethnic student population in York and in UK higher education. Some of our race equality initiatives include:
- Our Black Access scheme
- Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE), dedicated to widening access to postgraduate research for people of colour, which offers an online toolkit providing advice throughout a student’s journey from pre-application to post doc and careers. The toolkit also guides staff from recruitment to evaluating impact to foster an anti-racist research culture.
- We are part of a pilot Equity in Leadership Programme which was launched across the White Rose University Consortium, supporting career development of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff aiming to advance into senior leadership positions.
- Our status as a University of Sanctuary
- Since 2022, we have been publishing our ethnicity pay gap report to promote transparency
We are repurposing our Race Equality Coordination Group to better facilitate practice sharing and to support a critical vision of anti-racism at the University. We are also rejuvenating our Decolonising and Diversifying the Curriculum work to address inequalities in the student journey.
Staff Race Equality Forum
The Staff Race Equality Forum (SREF) is one of the University’s Staff Equality Networks. The Forum provides opportunities for peer networking, support and development among Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and the promotion of University values around inclusiveness.
SREF has conducted two listening exercises - in 2019 and 2022 - with our Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff members to understand their experiences. The exercises led to the development of new guidance and policies to enable individuals as well as foster a more inclusive culture. Collaborating with the University of York Students’ Union, SREF has previously organised joint events including socials, a discussion about ‘where are you really from?’, and sharing stories of individuals’ names to highlight intersectional experiences.
SREF is open to all staff members who are passionate about promoting race equality.
Find out more about the Staff Listening exercise
Get involved
Online EDI modules
We provide online equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) modules, available to all staff members on the Learning Management System (LMS).
The eLearning packages explore themes of oppression, the impact of harassment and discrimination on individuals, and the important role we play by being an upstander and as staff members in an education setting. These topics are presented with real-life examples from staff and students from higher education institutions, with links to additional resources and learning materials.
We urge everyone to take the modules to update our knowledge in EDI, to take actions against any forms of discrimination, and to support our communities with empathy.