Authors

We often refer to anti-racism as a journey and part of this involves understanding our past in order to look to the future. We have responsibilities today as a result of the history and legacies of slavery and colonialism. In commissioning research into our institution's history, we acknowledge and better understand our historic connections to slavery.

We acknowledge both how challenging the findings of the report are to our institution, and how painful and difficult this will be to many in our community, city and beyond. We are determined, then, that this report must be a critical moment for us as an institution, and mark a new, long-term dedication to the research, review, and assessment both of our institution's history and of how that history should inform our future actions.

Central to our ongoing work will be conversations across our University about restorative justice. Professor Olivette Otele, in the next section, suggests forms of restorative justice and notes some recommendations. We welcome debate on future approaches. One of the first steps we have committed to is consulting on the naming of our buildings associated with the family names highlighted in the report.