University of Exeter - Exeter City of Sanctuary

Exeter University:

Sanctuary Working Group and ‘Sanctuary Scholarships’

Since 2015 students and staff at the University of Exeter have been coming together and working on campus to build a culture of welcome for sanctuary seekers. Prof. Nick Gill has been a key figure in leading and developing this work over the years and there is now a dedicated sanctuary working group on campus, committed to seeing the University achieve ‘University of Sanctuary’ status.(https://universities.cityofsanctuary.org/) Members of the university group have played a central role in the work of ExCoS over the years. Happily these strong links are still continuing with a number of students volunteering with ExCoS and the start of the new ‘Students for Sanctuary’ initiative in 2018 (see below )

The university group has been involved in facilitating awareness raising events, workshops, lectures and talks both on campus and across the city. They have also been working hard to promote access to HE for sanctuary seekers -so crucial for the wellbeing and successful integration of refugees and asylum seekers. Exeter University are now offering 3 ‘sanctuary scholarships’ to asylum seekers from this year (2017/18).

Prof. Gill’s research around Asylum, Justice and Migration is widely published and he has been a trustee with City of Sanctuary (national) developing it’s Universities of Sanctuary stream nationally. He is also a board member of the charity Justice. Dr. Jen Bagelman, lecturer at the University, has more recently joined the sanctuary working group and co-ordinates a unique new module on Displacement and Sanctuary in the Geography Dept’

We are delighted that Nick Gill and Jen Bagelman joined ExCoS committee in Sept’17.

Students for Sanctuary: a University of Exeter & ExCos Partnership, 2018

The Department of Geography at the University of Exeter and Exeter City of Sanctuary are endeavoring in a unique partnership commencing in 2018. Under the supervision of Dr Jen Bagelman, and in collaboration with ExCos, 100 Geography students will be creating ‘zines’ (mini-magazines) which will address and consider how to promote the goal of welcome and hospitality in Exeter. This partnership hopes to encourage younger generations to engage, at the local scale, in pressing issues relating to displacement. Moreover, this project hopes to nourish links between the city and university in an effort to make Exeter a more welcoming home for all.