#ProudToBe campaign

Dan Blasczyk, Student Engagement Coach, Shrewsbury College

Shrewsbury Colleges group launched an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion campaign called #proudtobe where they will be highlighting all the characteristics of equality and diversity through activities and events throughout the year. The campaign was orchestrated after discussions between staff and students in an equality, diversity and inclusion working group.

Dan Blasczyk is the college’s student engagement coach; he has been working closely with students on the project.

‘’I recently joined Shrewsbury Colleges Group in a student engagement role and one of my main aims was to highlight and celebrate the diverse college community here. The key for me was to speak to students and get an idea of what students were passionate about and how we can highlight our diversity in the college’’.

‘’After speaking to students, the initial idea put forward was to encourage students to bring in a flag of their choice which could be Country of birth, ancestry or religion and we could then get a big group photo of students to show how diverse we are. Several Students then asked if they could hold a flag which represented their special educational needs, disability, gender and sexuality.’’

‘’On the initial launch of the campaign I got the opportunity to interview students and ask them about their flag. Some of our students held their flag of birth and talked about how proud they were of their culture and heritage whilst some of our students wanted to celebrate that they had a special educational need and it has not held them back. For example, one of our performing arts students held a flag which represented ADHD. In her interview she explained that she has so much energy and is loud but this is a gift for her as she aims to become an actress and perform at the west end’’.

Students and staff are now planning the next big cross college event which will be Diversity Week in February highlighting and celebrating religion, race and culture. Dan Blasczyk said: ‘’Students will he encouraged to wear traditional clothing, bring in traditional food for other students to try and we will also educate students on our different beliefs’’.