Team Blitz India
LONDON: High profile alumni and guests, including MPs, Lords, business leaders, educators and members of the press, gathered at the House of Lords to start celebrations for Lord Swraj Paul’s 25 years as Chancellor at the University of Wolverhampton.
The event also introduced people to the university’s new ViceChancellor, Professor Ebrahim Adia, and celebrated the university’s ongoing commitment to providing education and opportunities, widening participation in Higher Education and creating social mobility.
In his welcome address, Professor Adia said: “We are proud of our widening participation credentials; 71 per cent of our students are the first in their family to attend a university, more than half are mature students and 55 per cent are from Global Majority backgrounds.
The university makes a tremendous impact on our local and regional economies and communities. In short, the university is a significant engine of economic growth, supplying graduates to the local economy each year, including thousands of key workers.”
Prof Ebrahim Adia
Vice-Chancellor
He continued to celebrate Lord Paul’s contributions to the university as one of the longest serving Chancellors of a modern university.
“Lord Paul has performed this role with grace, commitment and generosity. He has been an amazing benefactor to the university with tens of thousands of students benefitting from his generosity. I would like to thank Lord Paul on behalf of all these students and the University.”
Lord Paul responded, saying “It has been a pleasure for me to be able to provide for the university, advocating and counselling, providing some facilities and some financial help too. But I think it has been worth it. I have been Chancellor for 25 years, and still going.”
University of Opportunity
Pat McFadden, Labour MP for Wolverhampton South East, and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster also spoke at the event. A great friend of the university and advocate for the region, he said: “The university is such an important part of the city. There is nothing more powerful than giving opportunity and life chances to people who wouldn’t otherwise have had them, or can’t simply buy them. That’s what the university does.”
“The university calls itself the University of Opportunity, and that’s what it’s all about,” he said.
Inspirational peeches
Two alumni of the university delivered inspirational speeches about their time studying in Wolverhampton and how this shaped their lives and future careers. Abi Daré, New York Times bestselling author, and Theo Johnson, filmmaker, actor and BBC1xtra Radio presenter, both attended the event to talk about where their story started and how their paths to success were as a direct result of their studies at the University.
Abi, who studied Law, said “attending the university altered the course of my life almost 23 years ago. My family and I had just concluded our summer holiday in England and my mother had orchestrated for me to stay here and begin studying.” Theo, who grew up in the West Midlands, studied Drama.
“I’m the first in my family to go to university and get a degree. The University of Wolverhampton was always understanding and helped me. The skills I learned helped me see how directors work and film production works, as well as how to write a script and how to teach other performers.” Guests were delighted to be in the House of Lords and to learn about the University’s ongoing work with students from around the world.
