A scheme designed to improve the inclusivity of our student groups.
The Inclusivity Award is an SU scheme designed to improve the inclusivity of our student groups for underrepresented persons. Student groups can sign up and complete projects with the goal of embedding equality, diversity and inclusivity into their work.
This year we had 14 fantastic groups taking part, which is a wonderful turn out. Each group is presented an award based on their project and can be ranked either Bronze, Silver or Gold.
The strive towards inclusivity was reflected through various actions; several groups such as BUST and ChaOS implemented changes in terminology, including using gender-neutral language and descriptions. Many groups, including Hockey, Basketball, Dodgeball and Music Society, have also worked hard this year to introduce different kinds of socials, such as sober socials. Cheerleading and Salsa have also implemented subsidisation of travel, trips and fees and Archery and BVGS have worked on collaborations with some of our Diversity & Support Groups, including LGBT+, DAG and Nightline. Many groups have also run taster sessions dedicated to postgraduates, as well as hosting women and non-binary only sessions.
The Judging Team thoroughly enjoyed reading all the submissions, and would like to highlight some of this year’s standout groups:
- Bath University Guides and Scouts (BUGS) has implemented a unique and innovative emoji coding system for their Semester 2 events to clearly display information about the accessibility of each event.
- Similarly, BURBAN Dance Society has worked hard on inviting diverse guest instructors to help educate members on different dance styles and cultures and on the showcase for Black History Month.
- We would also like to mention Cheerleading’s ‘Bring a Boy’ initiative, which encourages male participation within the traditionally female sport of cheerleading.
- Similarly, we would like to highlight Latin & Ballroom’s commitment to encouraging same-sex partnerships and reverse roles week this year, which aimed to challenge perceptions of traditional gender roles.
- Finally, we were really impressed with Salsa Society, whose committee have also led by example, and normalised same-sex dancing. Salsa Society have also run a postgraduate-only taster session and ran “A Gender-Neutral Introduction to Partner Dancing”, in honour of LGBT+ History Month.
A massive well done to all groups who took part in the Inclusivity Award and thank you for making active efforts towards making your groups more inclusive!
The Inclusivity Award will be back for 2023/24, so please email inclusivityaward@bath.ac.uk to express your interest if you’d like to take part!
