Re: Correction to Article Published 5th September 2023 by Evening Standard

Dylan Jones (Editor-in-Chief) Evening Standard, Alphabeta 14-18 Finsbury Square London, EC2A 1AH England

Re: Correction to Article Published 5th September 2023

Dear Dylan Jones, 7th September 2023 We are writing in reply to your article, published in the Evening Standard on 5th September 2023, which contains the erroneous claim made by University of Chichester “that only one student had graduated from the course [MRes in the History of Africa and the African Diaspora] in the past three years.”

This claim is categorically untrue. Understandably, we are outraged by the statement, first made by Chichester in The Voice article on 31 August 2023 and which has been propagated by your newspaper.

Further, we are very disappointed to see this flagrant falsehood reprinted by your outlet without any due diligence or effort to check the veracity of the claim.

There have in fact been nine graduates of the MRes in History of Africa and the African Diaspora in the past three years. Six of the total number of MRes graduates since the course began have gone on to do PhDs at the University of Chichester. The claim is all the more inexcusable to us, since the same institution which made it undoubtedly has a record of their past and current students. Our Open Letter to the University of Chichester is publicly available on the campaign website and is signed by several former MRes graduates. You will also note that our public petition, which has over 12,000 signatures, documents the above. Finally, you can see five MRes graduates pictured in the attached photos (taken last year), which provides clear evidence to refute this blatant mistruth.

As MRes graduates, spreading this disinformation does a disservice to our discipline, to the culmination of our hard work and the work of Professor Hakim Adi. It also jeopardises our ongoing challenge, to uphold the course and the rights of the students and Professor Hakim Adi to fair treatment.

On account of these facts and their indefensible consequences, we call for the Vice Chancellor, Professor Jane Longmore, to resign from their position.

Finally, we ask that you redact this article and print a correction, immediately upon receiving our letter.

Signed,

Rey Bowen Cliff Pereira Claudia Tomlinson

Elaine Buchanan Claudius Steven Marlene Worrell

Hannah Francis Aleja Taddesse

Tirivashe Jele Danny Thompson