Living Black at University Living Black at University 1 Acknowledgements Thanks go to the research team from Halpin Partnership for their ground-breaking research study. ‘Teleola Cartwright, Consulting Fellow (Lead) Osaro Otobo, Consulting Fellow (Project Manager) Lenny Emanuel, Volunteer (Research Assistant) Dr Nick Cartwright, Consulting Fellow (Peer Review) Professor Laura Serrant OBE (Advisory) Susie Hills, Joint CEO (Project Director) We are also extremely grateful to Sam Kingsley, our Senior EDI and Wellbeing Manager at Unite Students, for her excellent practical and operational insights and for contributing to the report, as well as Jenny Shaw, our Higher Education External Engagement Director, for commissioning the report and overseeing its production. This report would not have been possible without the participation of students and accommodation staff, and especially those who shared their often difficult stories with the research team through the focus groups. We hope that we’ve done justice to your views and experiences, and that through this research we will be able to improve the experience for other Black students. 1.0 Foreword 3 1.1 Setting the context 5 1.2 Executive summary 8 1.3 Summary of findings 10 1.4 Summary of recommendations 11 2.0 Methodology 13 2.1 Definitions and stylistic choices 14 3.0 Safety and belonging 17 in accommodation 3.1 Belonging 18 3.2 Comfort 19 3.3 Feelings of safety and security 22 3.4 Summary and key findings 23 4.0 Environment 25 4.1 The e nvironment around 26 the acco mmodation 4.2 Representation 27 4.3 Decolonisation 29 4.4 Summary and key findings 29 5.0 Policies and procedures 31 5.1 Policy effectiveness 34 5.2 Confidence in policies 34 and procedures 5.3 Summary and key findings 35 6.0 Experiences of racism 37 6.1 Wider HE sector context 37 6.2 Expe riences of racism in 38 student accommodation 6.3 Summary and key findings 41 7.0 Mental health 43 7.1 Summary and key findings 45 8.0 Experiences of 47 accommodation staff 9.0 Recommendations 51 CONTENTS ABOUT UNITE STUDENTS Unite Students is the UK's largest owner, manager and developer of Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) serving the country's world-leading higher education sector. We provide homes to 73,000 students across 173 properties in 25 leading university towns and cities. We currently partner with over 60 universities across the UK. Our people are driven by a common purpose: to provide a 'Home for Success' for the students who live with us. Unite Students’ accommodation is safe and secure, high quality, and affordable. Students live predominantly in en-suite study bedrooms with rents covering all bills, insurance, 24-hour security and high-speed Wi-Fi. We also achieved a five-star British Safety Council rating in our last audit in 2020. We are committed to raising standards in the student accommodation sector for our customers, investors and employees. This is why our new Sustainability Strategy, launched in 2021, includes a commitment to become net zero carbon across our operations and developments by 2030. For more information, visit Unite Group's corporate website www.unite-group.co.uk or the Unite Students’ site www.unite-students.com ABOUT HALPIN PARTNERSHIP Halpin is a values-driven management consultancy that’s tailored to the unique needs of the higher education sector. Home to a community of senior-level HE experts spanning all areas of university leadership, they offer a wide range of services to support Strategy & Transformation, Governance & Policy and Fundraising. Founded in 2017 by Joint CEOs Susie Hills and Shaun Horan, Halpin has already clocked up over 130 projects for more than 70 clients in the UK and Ireland. It is now home to over 70 Consulting Fellows and Senior Advisors who have been hand-picked for their depth of knowledge and experience, and regularly share their insight and sector commentary via the Halpin ‘Debate ’ page.