In January 2024, we issued a judicial review claim challenging the University of Chichester’s decision to suspend their MRes History of Africa and African Diaspora Course as they did not carry out any consultation or an equality impact assessment of their decision.
As a public body the University has a duty to eliminate discrimination and advance equality of opportunity. By suspending the course, the way that they did, shows that they were not willing to follow through on their public sector equality duties.
Update: The University of Chichester has been held to account by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education for axing the MRes in African History and History of the African Diaspora. The OIA ruled that students who registered on the course run by Professor Hakim Adi or who were supported in their PhD studies by him, had a legitimate expectation to learn directly from him. The fact that the course was axed and that the Professor was made redundant meant that it was not possible for them to do so.
Jacqueline McKenzie partner at Leigh Day solicitors who represents the students said that they’d been left in academic limbo by the University’s decision to remove the course.
The University continues to refute any suggestion of discrimination. The students claims against the university continue. Read more here.
Why is this important?
With so few courses dedicated to our history and so few Black students studying the subject, we believe that the decision to suspend the course, and effectively withdraw it, will have a discriminatory impact that will reach far beyond the University of Chichester and the current cohort of students.
With the drive to decolonise and diversify the curriculum in schools, courses such as the one at the University of Chichester will play a vital role in providing learning and teaching on subjects such as the impact of the Atlantic slave trade on institutions, reparations and restitution and the positive contributions made by peoples from the African continent through migration to the UK.
The course was introduced because it recognised the lack of opportunity to study the history of Africa and history of the African diaspora. Few Black students study history beyond GCSE, because it doesn’t reflect our true history. The course at Chichester gave an opportunity to those previously denied it to study history that was relevant to their own histories and ancestry.
In 2023 the course had a total of 17 postgraduate students either studying on the MRes or PhD. This was the biggest cohort of Black postgraduate history students in any university in the United Kingdom.
Unfortunately, the court denied permission for us to continue our challenge. Despite this, we are not deterred, and we are still fighting for Black history to be taught and for the University to review their original decision.
If you’d like to support our legal work, please donate to our Legal Justice Fund.
