To our Imperial community, 

Recent and ongoing events in the Middle East have a deep and far-reaching impact and as your President and Provost, our priority is to support all those within our community who are affected, especially those with family and friends in Israel and Gaza. 

We wish to thank everyone who has shown support and compassion for colleagues and students across the College in response to this distressing and complex situation. 

The deaths and suffering of thousands of innocent people has understandably aroused very strong feelings and many in our community will wish to express their views, as they are free to do within the law.

At the same time, we must all consider the impact of the manner in which those views are expressed on other members of our community. 

The feedback from our community makes it clear that some of our members now feel unwelcome or unsafe on campus because of the way in which some views have been expressed.

This runs contrary to our values and is an unacceptable situation. Any form of racist or hateful behaviour, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, will not be tolerated and all incidents will be taken extremely seriously.

As an institution of higher education, our mission is to provide an open forum for debate on and exploration of all topics, in which everyone can participate in a respectful manner within the law. Delivering ongoing commentary on geopolitical events would make it difficult to deliver this. It would also undermine our ability to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our students and staff, which is our highest priority. 

You can access our wellbeing services for staff and students, including our Report and Support tool, our Chaplaincy Multi-Faith Centre and our Confidential Care line which offers 24/7 support and counselling for staff. Beyond Imperial’s own community, organisations like TellMama or the CST can provide specialist support. 

As ever, Imperial must stand as one community and show compassion, understanding and care for each other.

 

Hugh Brady, President 

Ian Walmsley, Provost