UoN revokes honorary degree of man who found ‘institutional racism doesn’t exist in UK’

Tony Sewell has called the university ‘cowards’


The University of Nottingham has revoked the offer of an honorary degree to Tony Sewell CBE after he produced a report that found institutionalised racism does not exist in the UK.

Sewell, who is a British educational consultant and the CEO of the educational charity Generating Genius, had his offer of an honorary degree from the university revoked after the publication of a report on the subject of race in Britain.

As the chair of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, Sewell published a report in March 2021 that stated although the UK is not yet a “post-racial society”, there was no evidence of institutionalised racism. The report was written as part of a major study for Boris Johnson and concluded that Britain’s multi-racial society was a model to the world.

In late 2019, UoN chose to honour Dr Sewell with the offer of an honorary degree as a result of his work with his charity Generating Genius which helps support black children getting into higher education. However, only months after the publication of his report, UoN decided to rescind the offer as Sewell had become a “subject of public controversy”, as the uni has “strict criteria” about awarding honorary degrees.

Dr Sewell has since commented on the reconsideration, and, in an interview with the Daily Mail, said: “I have helped thousands of black children from poor backgrounds to get into universities. I’m a one-man levelling-upper.

“But [University of Nottingham] said it would no longer be appropriate to award me the degree because they didn’t want to offend the students at an award ceremony.

“How can you offend students with a report which says the equalities watchdog should have more power, that stop and search should be improved and that we need to get more people from ethnic minorities into university?”

He went on reference R. Kelly and Bill Cosby, arguing that: “These are the type of people you decide to withdraw honours from. But they [the university] have acted like cowards, subject to lobbying groups.” He also claimed: “English universities are like the Soviet Union. There is no free speech”.

In response to Dr Sewell’s statements, a university spokesperson said: “The university has strict criteria governing the award of honorary degrees, as these are conferred at our public graduation ceremonies. The criteria preclude us from awarding them to figures who become the subject of political controversy.

“In withdrawing the offer, the university is categorically not making any judgement on Mr Sewell personally or expressing a view on his work. It is simply about ensuring that we apply the same criteria to all of those we consider for the accolade of an honorary degree from the University of Nottingham.

“We fully appreciate that was disappointing news and last December we offered Mr Sewell a sincere apology alongside an explanation for the decision. He remains a notable alumnus of the university, and it is deeply unfortunate that we have had to withdraw the offer.”

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