Race Equality: Black History Month

Welcome to our first Race Equality Meeting of the 2025/26 academic year! 

This meeting will focus on Black History Month, specifically exploring the Black student experience and looking at both current efforts and potential opportunities to improve representation and encourage open dialogue at the University and Union. Please see below for our speakers: 

Nathan Simpson: Nathan brings extensive experience in higher education outreach and widening participation and currently works as the Student Success and EDI Manager at Surrey University. He leads the University’s Future Leaders programme, has contributed significantly to Black History Month planning and is an active supporter and attendee of the Network's Race Equality Subnetwork. Previously, Nathan worked with HEON, where he led the Students of Black Heritage Mentorship programme and helped students navigate their pathways into further education. 

Steve Elliott: Steve is a counsellor with over 8 years of specialist experience, part of the Counselling Team at the Centre for Wellbeing. He focuses on equality, diversity and inclusion and is passionate about sharing how the Wellbeing centre supports clients from different backgrounds, in particular students from the Afro-Caribbean community.  

Meekham Mgbenwelu: Meekham has over 20 years of experience driving digital innovation, education and policy across Africa and the UK. He has recently joined the University of Surrey as a Student Success Coach supporting students, particularly those in their first year, to thrive academically, personally, and professionally. Meekham is also attending as a representative of the staff SEED Network, a group for staff and postgraduate researchers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

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Discussion Questions

1.      What are some overlooked parts of Black History Month that deserve more attention?

2.      Have you felt represented or unrepresented in how Black History Month is taught or celebrated.

3.      What challenges do Black and Ethnic minorities still face in our university/community?

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The Race Equality Subnetwork is part of the Student Equality Network. Monthly meetings are hosted by the Race Equality Subnetwork leader. The Race Equality Subnetwork has been set up to create the opportunity for students to share their experiences and drive meaningful change for race equality. This subnetwork is open to students who self-identify as being from a racial minority ethnic background and/or students who are interested in the topic of race equality.

This event is part of our Black History Month calendar, organised by the Student Equality Network. To find out more about events related to this campaign please click here.