Our university is a home to students and staff from many backgrounds, countries and communities and it is no place for hate or discrimination of any kind.
As what is happening in the Middle East continues to affect our students, we continue to work to ensure that we provide support to everyone who may need it.
We ask all members of our community to be particularly mindful of fellow students and staff during this period of heightened tension.
Resources and support available
- For wellbeing support, our students can contact a variety of support services, including counselling services and a 24/7 Student Assistance Programme (SAP).
- The university has Report and Support available to all students where you can contact an advisor or report anonymously.
- As well as multiple student societies that offer an opportunity to meet like-minded peers, your Greenwich Students’ Union has an information service that offers free, confidential, and independent advice.
- As we do not have a Jewish Student Society, for those who would like a conversation or who are unsure about where to get help, please use jewishadvice@gre.ac.uk, which is monitored by volunteer Jewish staff.
- Our Extenuating Circumstances Procedures have been reviewed to add exceptional circumstances covering global issues which may impact students’ performance and ability to undertake an assessment. Where you have been directly affected, we will not be asking for any evidence to support your claim – you just need to explain your circumstances.
- There is also support available externally:
- For antisemitism concerns, the Community Security Trust provide a national emergency number which can be used to report antisemitic attacks, alongside calling 999: 0800 032 3263.
- For anti-Muslim hatred, Tell Mama provides a confidential support service, with their website providing a number of different ways to report anti-Muslim incidents.
- University Jewish Chaplaincy and Union of Jewish Students provide a wealth of support for students. They also have a welfare hotline on 020 7424 3288.
If you have questions or would just like some advice, please do get in touch with us via the Digital Student Centre.
Ongoing work
We are establishing dialogues with students and staff directly affected.
We have also held several events to bring our staff and students together and have plans for similar activities in future. Some examples are included below:
- At the end of October, we held a ‘Peace of Cake’ event, facilitated by the local group of that name, to connect people through conversation and cake
- In November we marked Islamophobia Awareness month - this is an annual campaign with information share on our internal communications channels
- In January, we will be holding events to mark International Holocaust Memorial Day
- In February, we will be holding a ‘Words for Peace’ event, providing another opportunity to bring colleagues together for conversation and support
