2022 Vice-Chancellor's Diversity Awards Announced

multi-coloured flower petals

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outstanding achievements from staff and students in the Social Sciences Division have been recognised in the 2022 Vice Chancellor’s Diversity Awards. The awards ceremony took place on Thursday 26 May 2022 at Keble College in a celebration of those who empower and inspire others in promoting diversity.

The Refugee-Led Research Hub, submitted by Alexander Betts (Associate Head of Division, Graduate and Research Training) won the 'Diversifying Participation' award in the Projects category, Mary Adeyemo (DPhil student, Law and Wolfson College) received a Highly Commended award in the Student Champion category, and Mindy Chen-Wishart (Dean of the Law Faculty) was shortlisted for the Staff Champion category.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Diversity Awards provide a platform to celebrate the strength of commitment to equality and diversity at Oxford and to recognise individuals and groups who have inspired others, demonstrated leadership and made a difference to equality and diversity in the University’s working, learning and social environment.

Congratulations to everyone who was nominated for this year’s awards.

Social Sciences Division shortlisted nominations and winners

Projects

Winner: Diversifying Participation.

The Refugee-Led Research Hub, submitted by Alexander Betts, has created opportunities for refugee researchers to access training, mentorship and funding in order to build research careers in Social Sciences and Humanities.

Alexander Betts, lead of The Refugee-Led Research Hub said: “This award is recognition for the entire Refugee-Led Research Hub team who have been working to expand opportunities for researchers and students from displacement backgrounds. We hope that this can catalyse and strengthen the University’s commitment to offer access opportunities and scholarships for refugees from around the world”.   

Student Champion

Highly Commended: Mary Adeyemo, DPhil student, Law and Wolfson College

Mary Adeyemo

Mary is a graduate moot mentor for the Sutton Trust’s Pathways to Law Programme, which provides mentoring to support Year 12 and 13 students from low-income backgrounds to join the legal profession, and has directly and indirectly mentored nearly 60 students. She is a volunteer tutor at Tutor The Nation, a charity connecting university students with pupils in the State sector for free online tutoring. Mary founded CareerCarriez to promote education amongst low-income families from Ikorodu, Nigeria. She organises monthly webinars on how to access scholarships and global opportunities; she has reached over 500 students and at least five have progressed to higher education.

 

Staff Champion

Shortlisted: Mindy Chen-Wishart, Dean, Law Faculty

Mindy Chen-Wishart

Mindy launched the #RaceMeToo campaign on Twitter in July 2021 and has since generated over 1,600 tweets on the issue of racism in the academy. In the aftermath of Black Lives Matter, the campaign touched a nerve and gave voice to a long-ignored issue. The campaign has spilled over from Twitter into multiple other fora, gaining attention in the media, attracting numerous invitations to speak at events and inspiring other law schools in the UK and beyond to take action. Mindy has made herself available to answer questions, deal with backlash, offer sympathy and solidarity, hear voices of shared experiences and offers leadership on the issue of racism.

 

Further nominations in the Student and Staff Champion categories from the Division

Roxana Akhmetova, DPhil student, Keble College

Omar Phoenix Khan, Lecturer, Centre for Criminology

PK Kulasegram, EDI Manager, School of Geography and the Environment

Jason Todd, Departmental Lecturer, Department of Education

 

Read full details of the Vice Chancellor's Diversity Awards on ox.ac.uk