Update on UAL's statement regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict

I would like to return to the statement UAL issued last May regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict, to provide an update on the actions the University has been taking in light of ongoing discussions and feedback.

Support for our community

It is clear that many of us continue to feel deeply affected by the terrible conflict in Israel, Palestine and across the wider region and by other wars around the world.  The loss of innocent life is deeply abhorrent and now more than ever we hope that lasting peace can be achieved. Our staff and student body are from a range of backgrounds, some of whom have been directly affected by these horrifying events. We know that many of you have reached out for support and we encourage people to continue to do so – either through your line managers or through services such as the employee assistance program (or for students through our student support teams). Our first priority, throughout this difficult time, has been the safety and wellbeing of our community. There is no place for any forms of harassment, bullying or racism on our campus. If you witness or experience any forms of discrimination, please report through Tell Someone – we take every report we receive very seriously.

Freedom of Expression

We have sought to create a culture where everyone feels safe to express their opinions, whilst also recognising others' rights to be free from harm. We are a large community with a wide range of views on these important issues. We believe that Universities should be places where people are enabled to express a multitude of views and where freedom of speech, within the law, should be upheld. We have dedicated significant staff time to ensure our staff and students' right to peaceful protest and assembly is protected. In practise this has meant ensuring that protests can happen whilst also making sure the normal business of the University – namely teaching, learning, knowledge exchange and research– is not disrupted. Staff in College and University-wide roles have worked hand in hand to ensure students are able to protest freely – and this has included actively working with our neighbours and local residents. We can confirm that at no point has the University called the police or asked them to attend as a result of a protest.

The same attitude to freedom of expression and academic freedom means that as a University, we won’t be changing our stance on decisions around who we work with both from a corporate and academic perspective. This means that we will not be ending long term partnerships with companies such as LVMH and L’Oreal whose support enables some of our most important student events – such as shows and exhibitions - which are vital to the student experience. All partnerships continue to go through existing ethics and philanthropic processes ensuring rigorous due diligence.

Definition of Antisemitism

We have continued to discuss the definition of antisemitism as part of the evolution of our Freedom of Speech codes of practice. It is still our belief that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which has been adopted widely across the Higher Education sector, is the right one. We have heard that some people remain worried about whether the definition prevents criticism of the State of Israel, but the definition itself is clear that “criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic’. UAL has not and will not prevent the criticism of Israel.

We continue to hear strong feedback from some in our community that the IHRA definition is an important form of protection against antisemitism and that it has consensus of support in the Jewish community. We’re also told that it reflects the nature and content of the discriminatory incidents that have occurred in the UK over recent months, including on university campuses.

Supporting students, academics, universities and cultural institutions impacted by conflict 

Staff in the Global Engagement team continue to work closely with CARA (the Council for At-Risk Academics) to explore how we can support academic institutions in Palestine. The challenges around the scheme remain difficult to navigate with limited safe routes for students and academics from Gaza to reach the UK. We have dedicated funds in place so we can move quickly if and when circumstances allow. Given the sensitivity of these arrangements, it is unlikely we would be able to announce when an academic joins us under these circumstances – but we want to underline the continued valued work by colleagues who remain dedicated to supporting academics around the world who need urgent help to escape from discrimination, persecution, violence or conflict.

A significant amount of work has been done to support individual students impacted by the ongoing situation in Israel/Palestine, including substantial financial assistance and the organisation of counselling services. I would like to express my gratitude to the student services team for their dedication in providing daily support to so many of our students during this challenging time.

UAL is working towards becoming an accredited University of Sanctuary, strengthening UAL’s commitment to inclusivity by supporting individuals affected by displacement, including refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons, and stateless persons. This includes students and scholars. As part of this work, we have launched a Community of Practice for UAL academics and confirmed £100k for Sanctuary scholarships (launching in 2025/26). We are currently working on a programme for Refugee Week that will focus on engaging with staff, students and the broader community, enhancing our relationships with a number of Boroughs of Sanctuary.

Further, an important focus this year is to have a comprehensive support package for students who have experienced displacement, including Wellbeing Circles and trauma informed training for our staff. We will be launching the new Sanctuary webpage and Refugee Week programme in early April.

UAL’s investments and banking relationships

UAL holds a small endowment fund of just over £7m which is invested ethically through fund managers aligned to the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment. Our cash investments are held with a fund manager, Kingswood. We are a customer of Lloyds Bank for our current account and some debt financing that has supported our building programme. For clarity: we are not an investor in Lloyds and cannot therefore ‘divest’.

We are working to bring our ethical principles into all of our supply chain, including our choice of bank. That is why, last year, UAL brought financial services provision into the Terms of Reference of our Responsible Investment Group and brought an Arts SU representative onto the committee. Future decisions about who we bank with will be considered in the light of our Responsible Investment Policy.

We do not anticipate moving away from Lloyds Bank as our principal provider of banking services. A review by the independent campaign group The Ethical Consumer identified only five banks with a higher score than Lloyds, none of whom currently provide current accounts to the Higher Education sector. However, as the market and our needs evolve we will continue to keep this under review.

We want the financial services sector to do better. We have joined a consortium led by Cambridge University to put pressure on the financial services sector to create a new ethical vehicle for cash investments. We have conducted an ethical review of our cash investment portfolio, in partnership with our fund manager, using data from MCSI and Sustainalytics. We have written to Lloyds to continue to put pressure on them to drive for continuous improvements in their ethical performance.

Conclusion: 

We recognise that the issues raised here and the daily influx of news from around the world can feel challenging and overwhelming. The Executive Board and I hope by giving a detailed account of what actions the University is taking we provide further insight into the work that valued colleagues across the university are doing to make a difference. We thank them for their dedication and care for our whole community.