Living Black at University Commission Report 2022/23 Living Black at University Commission Report 2022/23 1.5 CASE STUDY: NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY We will continue “ to strive towards a fully integrated Sharon O’Donnell At Newcastle University, we had already implemented Head of Customer Services & ResLife Residence Life (ResLife) initiatives to improve the student student body. at Newcastle University experience through a DEI lens prior to the publication of Living Black at University. However, this report and the Commission’s work has emphasised the need for collaborative work – both internal and external – to create change that improves the Black student experience and, as a result, the experience of other minoritised groups. Work undertaken by the ResLife team at Newcastle so far includes: • Implementing a ResLife curriculum that is diverse, transparent and accessible: By fully embedding DEI into the curriculum, we are not only addressing racism and the importance of race-related inclusivity, but providing an o昀昀er that is inclusive of gender, disability, LGBT, religion and belief, families and carers. • Making our ResLife o昀昀er fully inclusive: We continue to strive towards a fully integrated student body by providing varied Freshers activities to create opportunities for all students to make new friends. Black students contribute ideas for our social programme and by operating a ‘You said, we did’ approach to our inclusion work, we hope to build trust with Black students and create a sense of belonging and community. This is part of a wider programme of work which saw Newcastle University earn its Race Equality Charter Bronze Award in November 2022. 18 19