Lincoln Unites

2020 not only marked the start of a new decade, but also the exciting launch of Lincoln College’s first ever Equality and Diversity Week, ‘Lincoln Unites’.  Taking place across the second week of Hilary term (27 January – 2 February 2020), this event has marked a great opportunity to celebrate the diversity of the College and to spark important conversations about the progress that still needs to be made. In an effort to bring the College together during this wonderful event, Fellows, staff, and students were invited to participate in the free events on offer!

Lasting seven days, ‘Lincoln Unites’ was almost a year of hard work in the making. It was organised and run seamlessly by a committee of dedicated JCR and MCR liberation officers. Together, the committee wanted to push matters of equality and diversity to the forefront, with the hope of shedding light on the inequalities that exist in society and the discussions that need to be had in order to come closer to challenging such inequalities. All of this was achieved while celebrating the diversity of the College and giving voice to different groups who have been historically disregarded in society. With the support of College staff, we put on a whole host of events, ranging from: gender panel discussions and workshops, an international food fair and sensory arts session to a soul music night, LGBTQ+ film screening and ‘Facial Recognition’ exhibition about Lincolnites of mixed heritage. These events represented disabilities, CRED (Culture, Religion, Equality and Diversity), gender, heritage, the international community and the LGBTQ+ community.

In solidarity with ‘Lincoln Unites’, our wonderful Chaplain and Student Welfare Coordinator, The Rev. Dr Melanie Marshall, welcomed a number of different speakers across Hilary term for Sunday services in Lincoln College Chapel. Addressing the theme “In all our difference”, we heard from speakers with minority perspectives- queer, feminist, disability-aware, race-aware and interfaith-focused.

‘Lincoln Unites’ was a fantastic success! We welcomed a number of interesting speakers and facilitators who, alongside more artistic events and workshops, well and truly captured what we wanted to achieve as a committee. The positive feedback that we received from Fellows, staff and students has only inspired us to organise more events in the near future.

Beyond this week, there are many issues of equality and diversity that still need to be addressed. We need to constantly strive to make our society better and fairer for everyone, and to be more representative of marginalised voices; we hope that ‘Lincoln Unites’ has encouraged more events at Lincoln to do just that.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank the College for endorsing our initiative and for funding the week with the Lincoln for Life Fund. We truly appreciate the support that we have been given to raise issues of equality and diversity in an inclusive and welcoming community. We hope that this year’s popular ‘Lincoln Unites’ week will spark the beginning of a wonderful annual tradition at Lincoln.

 A special thank you to all of the ‘Lincoln Unites’ committee members who helped to make this event a great success:

JCR and MCR Representatives: Amy Dunning (JCR President), Ben Barrett (JCR Disabilities Rep), Cameron Gardner (MCR LGBTQ+ Rep), Gemma Bond (JCR LGBTQ+ Rep), Heather McTaggart (MCR Secretary), Lucy Tirahan and Sam Mendis (JCR CRED Reps), Nupur Patel (MCR President), Margot Harvey and Olivia de Csillery (JCR Gender Reps) and Selina Abächerli (MCR Equality and Diversity Rep)

Marketing team: Adele Jackson (MCR Equality and Diversity Rep), Alex Willis (Promotional Material Designer), Akshey Rajani, Clara Riedenstein, Dylan Bohm, Llana Cantor, Jess Hoar and Margot Harvey (Designer of Lincoln Unites Crest)

Photography: Edward Jones, Emma Lalande, Lucy Tirahan and Nupur Patel