Imperial College celebrates Black History Month

October marks the start of Black History Month and Imperial College London will launch a College-wide campaign in celebration.

From 8th October, a digital exhibition showcasing the profiles and achievements of black staff, students and alumni of Imperial will take over screens across Imperial’s campuses. The campaign will also recognise the inspiring work of renowned black scientists past and present.

As part of the campaign, black staff and students were invited to share their journey to Imperial and their personal heroes. Dr Rahma Elmhadi, Senior Teaching Fellow in Global Health at the School of Public Health, shared how her mother has inspired her:

“Despite losing her husband and her home and having to leave her country, she worked tirelessly to raise six children by herself, in a very foreign country where she was poor and couldn’t speak the language. Like a phoenix she rose from the ashes of her past life, and that will always be my ultimate inspiration.”

Reflecting on what he would improve at Imperial, newly-elected BAME Officer and second-year Chemistry undergraduate, David Tyoember, said:

“If I could improve one thing at Imperial it would be the orientation process for first-generation university students. They may find it useful to have extra support on figuring out how to make the most of their time at university.”

Alumni profiles will feature scientists including space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE, who is best known for presenting BBC Four’s Sky at Night, and Ambrose Cooke, the co-founder of influencer network, Fanbytes. The campaign also shines a spotlight on the work of eminent black scientists including Mary Seacole and Dr Nira Chamberlain. All profiles will be made available on the Imperial website.

The Faculty of Medicine are also involved in the campaign and will be celebrating the work of black staff on the Imperial Medicine blog.

The College’s Black History Month campaign is supported by Imperial as One, the staff BAME network.

Race Equality Charter

In order to improve the representation and success of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff and students, the College is producing an action plan to apply for the Race Equality Charter (REC) award.

Next week, MP Chi Onwurah, Shadow Minister for Industrial Strategy, Science and Innovation, will deliver a talk titled ‘The Importance of Diversity in STEM’ at the College.

During the talk, she will launch the College’s Race Equality Charter survey – this survey aims to capture the views, experiences and perceptions of staff and students with regards to race equality at Imperial.

All students will be invited to complete a 10-minute confidential survey that will help to make Imperial a better place to work and study for everyone. It will open on 12 November and close on 1 December.