January 31, 2020 2.31 pm This story is over 50 months old

University of Lincoln Vice Chancellor celebrates diversity and friendship on Brexit Day

‘Committed to friendship’
Professor Mary Stuart is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lincoln.

The University of Lincoln will continue its mission for an international community and will celebrate diversity beyond Brexit, its boss has promised.

After three-and-a-half years of political turmoil, Britain, with bags packed, is saying its farewells to the European Union on Friday, January 31.

Some are celebrating the action of the democratic vote in 2016, while others are actively protesting against the UK’s new independent future.

In Lincolnshire, Conservative council leaders shared optimism at the country’s opportunity to “take control of our future”, while Labour Lincoln council leader Richard Metcalfe hoped a fair deal would be struck by the government in times of continued uncertainty.

Just as three million 50p coins will face periods of tension with a gesture of togetherness, ‘peace, prosperity and friendship’ was also the massage from the Vice Chancellor at the University of Lincoln, one of the biggest employers in the city and home to an international community of staff and students.

Vice Chancellor Mary Stuart said: “The University of Lincoln has always been an internationally focused organisation. We have forged partnerships across Europe and around the world. Students have joined us from more than 140 countries and they have graduated to become members of our global alumni family.

“This approach has enabled us to prosper and rise into the ranks of the UK’s top 20 universities, making us known globally for the quality of our teaching and research. Many members of our community come from Europe and we have benefited from their contribution to our academic life, just as we have benefitted from relationships with European partners, as well as from links to EU research funding and networks.

“The UK leaves the EU later today and its relationship with Europe will change and there are a number of new opportunities that, as a university that looks to the future, we will be looking to develop.

“The University of Lincoln has been working with various groups and societies including UUK and others to ensure the rights of current and future EU students and staff and to ensure that we will continue to work effectively with European partners in the future. At Lincoln, we will continue to aim to recruit the best students and staff regardless of nationality and to influence and engage in world-class collaborative research with organisations from countries all over the world.

“Lincoln has always held global ambitions; a leading university should aim to create a global community for its students. We will continue to welcome international staff and students now and in the future. We will sustain and develop existing links with colleagues on the European mainland as well as other parts of the world and we will build new relationships to underpin future success.

“Members of the University of Lincoln are part of one community who today and always will be committed to celebrating diversity and friendship.”