David Ruebain, PVC for Culture, Equality and Inclusion

On Friday 8 October, the University’s new Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Culture, Equality and Inclusion, David Ruebain, wrote to all staff with an update. You can read the message in full below.

Dear colleague,

As I come to the end of my first week as the University’s new Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Culture, Equality and Inclusion, I wanted to briefly introduce myself.

As you may know, I have a background as a disability activist, equality lawyer and in higher education and I am delighted to be at Sussex, an institution with values I admire and share. Thank you to everybody I’ve met who has made me feel so welcome.

Culture, equality and inclusion is of course about ensuring the right policies, processes and systems are in place, but to ensure progress it also requires continuous evaluation and refreshing. My role presents an opportunity for enhancing this strategic work. As a lawyer, I saw the value of strong legislation but ultimately, it acts as a floor - a starting point - not a ceiling in driving equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and I believe that we can collectively go much further.

For example, in recent times, much work has been done to understand experiences of intersectionality (I was involved in establishing the first national organisation of disabled LGBTQ people) and resolving conflicts between those with different identities. Similarly, I am very excited about work on the value of relationships and allyship and I am keen to explore how that might translate at Sussex. Ultimately, as an institution of learning, EDI will support us in succeeding in teaching, learning and research and fundamentally in nourishing and nurturing our community.

From speaking to people and seeing the work that is already being done, it is clear to me that there is a deep commitment at Sussex in valuing and advancing EDI. Central to this is having - and advancing - good community relations. I’m particularly keen that we have regular engagement on the issues around culture, equality and inclusion that really matter to us, including those that are contested, and that we find space to respectfully share our differences of opinion and to enhance our University as a progressive community of ideas and of rigorous discussion and debate.

On that note, I’m grateful to be working alongside Professor Kevin Hylton while I get up to speed, who stepped into this role in an interim position earlier this year. You may recall that he wrote to you in the summer about his reflections on his early few weeks at Sussex and the contradictions and tensions of approaches to racialised others where he used the example of the racism experienced by some of England’s Black footballers in the Euros. Since then, and continuing what will be a series of opinion pieces, he has been thinking a lot recently about this topic of respectful disagreement and I commend his latest article Inclusion, Freedom of Expression, and the Spirit of Sussex.

Over the next few weeks and months, I’m keen to talk with you about all aspects of culture and EDI and the principles that will underpin our work to advance it. This will include the importance of ensuring safety and freedom of speech within the law; which is not only legally required but also an inherent and necessary part of university life and of progressing EDI. I know from my early introductions here, that many of you care about this too.

I really look forward to working with you all and meeting many more of you in the weeks and months to come as we take forward this important agenda.

Best wishes

David Ruebain