Alternative Freshers – Centre for Equity and Inclusion Sheffield

Alternative Freshers

Freshers Week is often an exciting time to be on a university campus. It can also be overwhelming, with lots of information to digest. However, PGRs of colour have reported to us that despite all this energy and information, freshers week fails to properly prepare incoming students for the harmful conditions they are likely to encounter here. More guidance should be given on how to navigate marginalising and oppressive structures within and beyond the University.

In summer 2024 we teamed up with abolitionist project, Give Over, as well as University of Sheffield staff and students, to co-develop alternative resources for freshers week. To start this process we interrogated promotional slogans that are often very loud and visible at the start of the academic year, but often obscure underlying issues at the University.

WE ARE INTERNATIONAL

It is quite common to come across the promotional slogan, “We Are International”, when moving across campus at the University of Sheffield. But what is the actual experience of International students completing a PhD here? What are the key issues they face, what support is currently available and what urgently needs to change to improve conditions? This is something all incoming students should be made aware of.

Dr Ankita Mishra, formerly an international PGR student, shares insights gained through her own experience and research conducted when writing a report for the Centre for Equity & Inclusion: The University of Sheffield Experience for International Postgraduate Researchers of Colour.

For new international postgraduate students, please reach out to CEI for support and a welcoming community that challenges racism and other systems of power in a university setting

An anonymous University of Sheffield lecturer discusses their fears that censorship from the University of Sheffield is setting a precedent for restrictions on what lecturers can teach students. This, the lecturer argues, is contributing to a growing culture of surveillance that international students are disproportionately impacted by. Their testimony pushes us to ask – who has a right to an education? Is the university making international students into second-class students? Can lecturers teach critical thinking freely and with confidence in light of restrictions from management?

THE CITY OF SANCTUARY

Sheffield became the first official City of Sanctuary in 2007, after Sheffield City Council unanimously agreed to back a grassroots movement of the same name. Declaring Sheffield to be open and welcome to all those seeking sanctuary is something the city is understandably proud of, and a reputation that the University of Sheffield undoubtedly benefits from. However, given the lack of support shown to pro-Palestinian protests – not to mention the direct shutting down of activity – as well as the recent far-right riots in the city centre, it is questionable whether Sheffield can be considered a sanctuary to the most marginalised and precarious members of society. Annapurna Menon and Nabila Cruz de Carvalho share their thoughts below.

Give Over spoke to Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine (SCCP) member and University of Sheffield academic Dr. Annapurna Menon about UoS complicity with the ongoing genocide in Palestine. SCCP believes the university has an obligation to its students and to the city of Sheffield to divest its business arrangements with the arms industry from neo-colonial warmongering.

For new and returning students coming to Sheffield this autumn semester, please get in touch with SCCP to see how you can meet like-minded students and staff.

University of Sheffield PhD researcher Nabila Cruz de Carvalho questions how effective Sheffield is at being a city of sanctuary. She talks about the white riots, feeling unsafe in Sheffield, and where we can turn to in the face of violent and widespread racism. Nabila provides a vision of the mutual aid and strength in community that we need to tackle this fraught moment. Students may want to consider connecting with local charity, Sheffield City of Sanctuary, to help them continue the mission of making Sheffield a truly welcoming space for those seeking asylum. https://sheffield.cityofsanctuary.org/