All Student Vote (Spring 2025)

Warwick stands in solidarity with Professor Hakim Adi and the campaign to the Save the MRes in the History of Africa and the African Diaspora

This motion calls for the Students Union to pressure the University to formally consider the adoption of the MRes at Warwick, and raise this matter at the highest levels of the University. 

This SU Notes: 

1. Professor Hakim Adi, the first and only Professor of the History of Africa and the African Diaspora in Britain, and also Britain's first African descended Professor of History, has been made redundant from the University of Chichester. 

2. That all recruitment to the unique Masters by Research (MRes), History of Africa and the African Diaspora has been suspended. 

3. That the MRes was initially  intended to train students of African and Caribbean heritage as historians and has attracted students from Africa, the Caribbean, North America, and Hong Kong as well as many from Britain; produced seven MRes students who have gone on to undertake studies at PhD level; trained students to undertake research focusing on the underrepresented history of African and Caribbean people in Britain; and facilitated through its alumni the founding of the Open Access, History Matters Journal with contributions from dozens of historians, many from African and Caribbean backgrounds.1 

4. Leading Routes in The Broken Pipeline: Barriers to Black PhD Students Accessing Research Council Funding highlighted that BME representation amongst postgraduate research students is significantly lower than undergraduate and postgraduate taught student populations. This is especially the case for Black students where they are 4% of the postgraduate research student population.2 

5. The University of Warwick has purported a commitment to African and Caribbean history, namely through 

1. Partially funding the Windrush Strikes Back: Decolonising Global Warwickshire project which seeks to uncover hidden histories written by local British African-Caribbean peoples, 

2. The institutional response to the Warwick Speak Out report, co-produced by Black and Brown students and the Warwick Students’ Union, including the funding of the Warwick Decolonise Project, 

3. Funding the research-led outreach project Colonial Hangover, which helps local school children examine the hidden legacies of colonialism in their local area, 

4. The work of the Warwick International Higher Education Academy (WIHEA) Learning Circle on Anti-Racist Pedagogy and Process, 

5. The establishment of the Warwick Institute of Engagement (WIE) in 2020, with the noted intention to bring the voices of diverse communities back into Warwick to co-create research and practices.3 

The SU Believes: 

1. Students seeking to study African history and the history of the African Diaspora need diverse spaces within the academy that can accommodate their academic interests. 

2. That standing in solidarity with Professor Adi and the MRes aligns with our interests to decolonise the academy, as outlined in a motion previously passed within the Students’ Union regarding decolonising education. 

3. That the cancellation of the MRes contributes to existing institutional inequalities, notably the comparatively lower representation of Black students amongst postgraduate research. 

4. That the cancellation of the MRes and the redundancy of Professor Adi is in breach of the Equality Act 2010. 

The SU Resolves: 

1. To pressure the University to formally consider the adoption of the MRes at Warwick, and raise this matter at the highest levels of the University. 

2. To pressure the University to formally consider accommodating the affected MRes students and PhD candidates, and raise this matter at the highest levels of the University. 

3. To coordinate with the UCU and the Save the Mres Campaign in building joint solidarity between students and staff to stand with Professor Adi and students affected 

4. To pressure the University to offer funding for students of African and African-Caribbean descent to study the MRes in the History of Africa and the African Diaspora and undertake PhD studies on African and African diasporic histories. 

5. To support student groups who may fundraise for legal action to clarify how the Equality Act 2010 should be applied across universities in the UK with regard to courses disproportionately taken by students with protected characteristics