Full the full version of the letter visit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W-W3gTbRIXF1CBsaKSrpEqY-1p8iQF_O/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116720524736442095220&rtpof=true&sd=true 

 

Dear Board of Governors

 

In April 2026, five Black members of staff were summoned to a meeting with less than 24 hours’ notice, with no indication of the subject matter. We arrived to find our Head of Department and Human Resources, who informed us that:

1. The decision had been taken, with no consultation from the staff team, to close the MA Black Studies and Global Justice, after less than a year of the course running
2. A proposal to reduce the staff team, putting all of us at the potential risk of compulsory redundancy

We were blindsided — not only by the decision, but by the way it was delivered, with a callous disregard for staff wellbeing, expertise, and the impact on students. We were given no indication that the MA was in jeopardy, despite the fact that the decision to close it had been made in February 2026. With the knowledge of management, we had continued to organise marketing events for the course.

 

Students, midway through their studies, were left distressed and uncertain about their futures, while staff were unable to advise them due to the redundancy timeline.

 

The Vice Chancellor has refused to meet to address these concerns. This letter therefore calls on the Board of Governors to exercise its oversight role. The issues raised here concern governance failure, legal and reputational risk, and the alignment of executive decision making with the University’s stated values and statutory duties.

 

Targeting Black staff for redundancy:

The rationale that closing the MA places the staff who contribute to it at risk of redundancy is deeply flawed and directly contradicts what we were previously told by the Vice Chancellor. In a formal meeting in August 2024, following the closure of the BA, we were explicitly assured that there would be no redundancies.

 

Even if the Board accepts the decision to close the MA programme, it does not logically or legally follow that permanent academic posts must be made redundant. These are separate decisions requiring separate justification.

 

The only staff placed at risk are the only Black staff in the sociology division. Yet we were appointed to the Department of Criminology and Sociology, with interdisciplinary expertise across the department and wider university. Black Studies was part of the departmental portfolio, designed to draw on expertise from across sociology and criminology. The sociology and criminology degrees are currently being revalidated and although we are in the department and qualified to teach on the degree there has been no concentrated effort by management to include us in this process.

 

By defining the redundancy selection pool around a single course rather than the department in which staff are contractually employed, the University has created a foreseeable and disproportionate impact on Black staff. This significantly increases the risk of unfair dismissal and indirect racial discrimination.

 

The reality of our roles:

In my own case, teaching on the MA next year would account for less than ten percent of my workload. I am contractually employed in sociology and my appointment as Professor was not linked to Black Studies teaching but to international leadership in research. I established BCU’s first sociology REF submission in 2021, led an impact case study, and am again leading an impact case study for REF2029. Other staff at risk are also central to this work.

 

I currently lead the Black Studies research cluster within the new Research Centre for Social Justice and Equalities and have two large external research bids pending. Cutting Black Studies teaching has very little impact on my role, yet I remain at risk of redundancy — despite being told in writing during consultation that there is substantial teaching I could continue to contribute to elsewhere in the department.

 

Equality, consultation, and the value of Black Studies:

Five Black members of staff were called into a meeting and told that they alone were at risk of redundancy. For a university that claims leadership on equality, diversity, and inclusion, this is deeply troubling. The university has also admitted to breaching the public sector equality by failing to carry out an equality impact assessment prior to making this decision.

 

The MA was only validated in summer 2025 and is teaching its first cohort. It was closed without consultation with staff or students and without being given a fair opportunity to succeed. Proposals such as distance learning delivery were repeatedly dismissed without clear justification.

 

Black Studies at BCU has transformed lives. Many of our students would never have considered higher education without it. Graduates have gone on to postgraduate study and funded PhDs. Our work has brought internationally renowned scholars, activists, and communities into the University, creating a sense of belonging for students who too often feel that higher education is not for them.

All of this is now at risk.

 

This is particularly ironic given the Vice Chancellor’s public commitment to increasing the number of Black professors and retaining Black staff. Diversifying leadership is meaningless if decision making processes continue to disproportionately harm Black academics and devalue Black intellectual work.

 

We ask the Board of Governors to intervene to:

 

1. Direct the University Executive Team to remove the threat of compulsory redundancy and end the consultation, pending a full, legal departmental level review
2. Ensure the university undertakes meaningful engagement on retaining Black Studies content in the curriculum that is accessible across the university.
3. Ensure the university explores a distance learning MA Black Studies and Global Justice.

Yours Sincerely 

 

Kehinde Andrews 

Professor of Black Studies 

 

In order to demonstrate the importance of our work in Black Studies, I have also asked colleagues and stakeholders to sign this letter in solidarity. The signatories below represent international leaders in politics, Black Studies, sociology, education, public policy, and university governance. Their support reflects broader sector concern about the implications of this decision for academic freedom, equality, and institutional credibility:

 

Nels Abbey, Writer, broadcaster, satirist and political analyst

 

Elizabeth M. Adetiba, Assistant Professor, University of Rochester

 

Yomi Adegoke, Journalist and Author, London UK

 

Dr Toyin Agbetu, Lecturer in Political and Social Anthropology, University College London

 

Akala, artist, author, activist

 

Olu Alake, CEO of the Africa Centre

 

Dr. Elizabeth Allen, Mana Wāhine Researcher, Independent Artist.

 

Abdul Alkalimat Professor Emeritus, Sociology, University of Chicago

 

Dr Malik Al Nasir DLitt HC, PhD Candidate, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge

 

Emmanuel Amevor, Black History Books UK

 

Emerita Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy, University of Ghana

 

Michael Bain, Contract Lecturer/PhD scholar, School of

Communications Auckland University of Technology, NZ

 

Cassandra Barnett, Lecturer, Anti-Racist Literature. Waikato Aotearoa-NZ

 

Professor Robert Beckford, The Queen’s Foundation Birmingham

 

Louis Chude-Sokei: Professor of English and Wein Chair of African American and Black Diaspora Studies at Boston University (former Director) and Editor Emeritus of The Black Scholar Journal.

 

Professor Gargi Bhattacharyya, Director Sarah Parker Remond Centre, Institute of Advanced Studies, UCL

 

Professor Kalwant Bhopal, Director of the Centre for Research in Race and Education, University of Birmingham, UK

 

Dr Ama Biney, University of Liverpool

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, James B Duke Distinguished Professor of Sociology. Duke University

 

Dr. Rose Brewer, Professor, University of Minnesota

 

Dr Erika Brown, Texas Women's University

 

Dr Jimmy Butts, Trinity University, San Antonio

 

Dr Teah Carlson, Te Roopū Whariki, College of Health, Massey University, Aotearoa-NZ

 

Dr Si Long Chan, Community Organiser | Creative Practitioner

Kundai Chirindo Associate Professor & Chair, Department of Rhetoric & Media Studies, Lewis & Clark College

 

Laura Chrisman, Owner/publisher of The Black Scholar Journal; Professor of English, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

 

Maria Chondrogianni, Former President of University and College Union

 

Marsha de Cordova MP, Member of Parliament for Battersea

 

Associate Professor Donna Cormack, Te Kupenga Hauora Māori, University of Auckland, NZ

 

Kojo Damptey, McMaster University (African & Black Diaspora Studies), Ontario, Canada.

 

Dianne Daniels MNZM, Education Specialist Manu Matihiko, retired Treaty & Anti-Racism lecturer Whitireia, Nelson & Central Polytechnics, NZ

 

Rev. Canon Professor Omona Andrew David, Prof of Ethics and International Relations at Uganda Christian University, Uganda

 

Dr Stephanie Davis, Health Justice Researcher, Healing Justice London

 

Professor William Darity Jr., Howard University and Duke University

 

Roggie Drew, Indigenous Solidarity Network, Leadership Team

 

Dr Turumakina Duley PhD, Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi, Whakatāne, Aotearoa-NZ

 

Daive Dunkley, Professor & Chair of Black Studies, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO

 

Kaye-Maree Dunn (Making Everything Achievable Ltd) Atlantic Fellow Social Equity 2023 NZ

 

Dr Hinemoa Elder,Alumni Common Purpose. FRANZCP, PhD, MNZM, Kaiārahi Oranga Hinengaro. Te Hiku

Hauora, Aotearoa-NZ

 

Dr Riri Ellis, Associate Dean Maori, Waikato Management School, University of Waikato, Tauranga

 

Dr Nicola Frith, Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh

 

Joy Francis, Executive Director, Words of Colour

 

Dr. Kadija George, Independent, Researcher Fulbright Visiting Fellow (2025-2026)

 

David Gillborn, Professor of Critical Race Studies, University of Birmingham, UK.

 

Debbie Golt FRSA, Broadcaster and Global Arts Consultant

 

Jo Grady, General Secretary, University and College Union (UCU)

 

Dr Jade Le Grice, Associate Professor, Psychology, Associate Dean Māori, Science. Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland

 

Dr Fernando Gutiérrez, Universidad de Cantabria, Spain

 

Dr Sadia Habib Senior Lecturer |Manchester Institute of Education

 

Hilda Halkyard-Harawira, Te Wānanga o Te Rangi Āniwaniwa, Aotearoa-NZ

 

Marlon Hamilton, Teacher

 

Leila Hassan Howe, Founding Member of the Race Today Collective

 

Faye V. Harrison, Professor & Graduate Advisor, Department of African American Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

Dr Innez Haua, Lecturer, Centre for Critical Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

 

Professor Julian Henriques, Goldsmiths, University of London

 

Chantal Herbert, Founder/Director/DJ

 

Dr Huhana Hickey MNZM, Director Pukenga Consultancy LTD, Aotearoa New Zealand

 

Whakarongotai Hokowhitu, Programme Manager - Te Kura Māori, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology

 

Dr Anna Horn, Research Associate, Open University

 

Pablo Idahosa, Professor Emeritus, African Studies and International Development Studies, York University

 

Joy James, Ebenezer Fitch, Professor of the Humanities, Williams College

 

Iya Akilah Jaramogi, Executive Director, Cultural Activist, United Maroon Indigenous Peoples

 

Dyfrig Jones, President Elect, University and College Union (UCU)

 

Fazana Khan, Executive Director, Healing Justice London

 

Guilaine Kinouani, Director and Founder of Race Reflections

 

Dequi Kioni-Sadiki, Black Liberation educator, author, activist/organizer, co-ordinator, Spirit of Mandela Coalition

 

Kelly Rae Kraemer, Professor of Peace Studies, College of St. Benedict/St. John's University

 

Clive Lewis, Member of Parliament

 

Dr Rachel Liebert, Lecturer, Masters of Applied Practice, Manukau Institute of Technology, Unitec Auckland, Aotearoa-NZ

 

Maxine Looby, Former President of University College Union

 

Cécile Mouly Professor and coordinator of the Laboratory of Peace and Conflict FLACSO Ecuador

 

Kelli Te Maihāroa, Kāihautū: Te Kāhui Whetū / Capable Māori, Te Kura Matatini ki Otago (Otago Polytechnic)

 

Sharlene Maoate-Davis, MokoPuna Solutions Ltd Taiao based, Tiriti Educator & Te Whare-a-Rongo Pou Rongoa + Educator

 

Aisha Mershani- Assistant Professor-Interdisciplinary Studies, Gettysburg College

 

Matt Meyer, Secretary-General Emeritus, International Peace Research Association; Senior Research Scholar, University of Massachusetts/Amherst’s Resistance Studies Initiative

 

Mereana Moko, Education Facilitator, Te Hui Amorangi ki Te Manawa o Te Wheke

 

Carlos A. Muñiz Osorio, Professor at Universidad Del Sagrado

 

Corazon. Project EcoPaz, and member of Catedra UNESCO de Educacion para la Paz, Universidad De Puerto Rico.

 

Litheko Modisane Associate Professor, Centre for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape Town

 

Maria Teresa Muñoz, Judge of Peace of Delfin Gallo, Tucumán, Argentina, Secretary General of International Peace Research Association

 

Dr. Sarah Nahar, Professor, Program in the Environment University of Michigan

 

Dr John Narayan, Senior Lecturer in European and International Studies, King’s College London.

 

Eleanor Newbigin, Senior lecturer, SOAS, University of London

 

Rev Dr Christopher Ney, Co-Executive Director, Fellowship of Reconciliation USA

 

Tina Ngata, Independent Researcher, Advisory lead, Peoples Action Plan Against Racism in Aotearoa (PAPARA), Aotearoa-New Zealand

 

Mame-Fatou Niang, Professor of Global French Studies, Director and Founder of Black European Studies and the Black Atlantic, Carnegie Mellon University

 

June Nicklin, Pouārahi Tiriti, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, Manawatū, Aotearoa-NZ

 

Kwadwo Ogunbiyi Black [Father/Grandfather]

 

Luqma Temitayo Onikosi, Doctoral Candidate, PhD in Humanities, University of Brighton

 

Diana Marcela Agudelo Ortiz, Research professor - Universidad Externado de Colombia, Co secretary

 

General - Latin American Peace Research Council - CLAIP

 

Deirdre Osborne, Distinguished Professor of Literatures and Drama in English, Central China Normal University

 

Mary Pattillo, Harold Washington Professor of Sociology and Black Studies, Northwestern University

 

Anna Pegler-Gordon Professor, James Madison College

 

Dr April-Louise Pennant, Honorary Research Fellow, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University

 

Luis Rosa Perez, Former founding member of Puerto Rican Alliance against Racism, Founder of Latin

American Cultural Exchange Committee, Liberated Puerto Rican Political Prisoner of the Armed Forces for

National Liberation (FALN)

 

Emmaline Pickering-Martin, Director, Walu Education Ltd, Aotearoa-NZ

 

Dr Aisha Phoenix, Lecturer in Social Justice, King's College London

 

Professor Ann Phoenix, UCL, Institute of Education

 

Mereana Pitman, Tiriti educator, Project Lead, MUKA Family Violence Project, Aotearoa, NZ

 

Dr. Leonie Pihama, Professor, Māori And Indigenous Analysis Ltd. Aotearoa-NZ

 

Pikihuia Pomare, Associate Professor Centre for Indigenous Psychologies, School of Psychology, Massey University, Auckland, NZ

 

Professor Khylee Quince, Dean, School of Law, Auckland University of Technology

 

Ismail Rashid, Professor and Chair, Department of History, Vassar College

 

Emma Waimarie Rawson-Te Patu, President, The World Federation of Public Health Associations, Expert 

Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues.

 

Byron Rangiwai, Associate Professor of Māori & Indigenous Research, Ngā Wai a Te Tūī: Māori & Indigenous Research Centre, Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka, Unitec.

 

Dr Hannah Robbins, Associate Professor and Director for the Centre for Black Studies, University of Nottingham

 

Professor Frank Leon Roberts, Department of English,, Department of Black Studies, Amherst College

 

Nina Robinson, Fellow Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity and Trustee The Audio Academy

 

Katrice Rodrigues - Swimming and diversity Speaker Leicester UK (Former Birmingham City University student)

 

Nicola Rollock, Professor of Social Policy & Race, King’s College London

 

Ana Paola Salamanca. Professor at Magdalena University. Colombia

 

Roiyah Saltus, Professor of Sociology, University of South Wales, UK

 

Rebecca Sinclair, Anti-racism,Tiriti justice educator, Co-founder, The Pākehā Project

 

Richard Sudan, Journalist, Writer, Filmmaker

 

Serma Singh, Climate Data Specialist and Artist, Aotearoa-NZ

 

Ben Spatz, Assistant Professor, University of Birmingham

 

Dorothea Smartt FRSL, Co-Director, Inscribe Writer Development Programme (Peepal Tree Press)

 

James Smethurst, Professor, W.E.B. Du Bois Dept. of Afro-American Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst

 

Pita Tetauoterangi, Artist, Aotearoa-NZ

 

Chitja Twala, academic, South Africa

 

Dr Linda Tuhiwai Smith, elected member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Rutherford Medal Recipient, Royal Society NZ;

 

Distinguished Professor, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, Whakatāne, Aotearoa-New Zealand.

 

Kristin Smith, Director, Kūwaha Ltd (AntiRacism and Tiriti justice educators), Aotearoa NZ

 

Dr.Vivian Tatiana, Camacho Hinojosa, Coordinator People's Health Movement BOLIVIA, and Representative for Andean Region inside Peoples Health Movement Global, Surgeon Medical Doctor and

Quechua Midwife from Plurinational State of Bolivia, Promoter of traditional ancestral medicine and indigenas communication networking

 

Edward Winston, Pogai Pacific Academic Learning Advisor, Wintec, Auckland New Zealand

 

Sita Venkateswar, Associate Professor in Social Anthropology, Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand

 

María Elena López Vinader, Ipra and Servas member, director Music Therapists for Peace

 

Polly O Walker. Associate Professor Emeritus Peace and Conflict Studies, Juniata College, Board Chair, Indigenous Education Institute

 

Emmanuel Williams, Vice-Président, Coque Nomade Fraternité, France

 

Dr Wanda Wyporska, Chief Executive Officer, Black Cultural Archives

 

Masayoshi Yamada, President's Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Santa Cruz

 

Hakim Williams. Associate Prof of Africana studies and Peace and Justice Studies. Gettysburg College

 

Erica Williams Connell, Miami Director, The Eric Williams Memorial Collection Research Library, Archives & Museum