Race Equality Lecture 2025: Professor Gary Younge Equal opportunities not photo opportunities
The University of St Andrews is hosting this first annual Race Equality Lecture. Established as part of the Race Equality Charter Bronze Award action plan, this lecture series will reflect our institutional commitment to advancing race equality through critical dialogue and public scholarship.
The 2025 lecture, Equal opportunities not photo opportunities, will be given by Professor Gary Younge.
Gary Younge is an award-winning author, broadcaster and Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester. Born in Hertfordshire to Barbadian parents, Gary studied at Heriot Watt University before moving to journalism. He has received numerous prizes for his journalism, including, most recently, the Robert B Silvers Award (2025) and Orwell Prize (2023).
Gary is the author of numerous books, including:
- Dispatches from the diaspora — from Nelson Mandela to Black Lives Matter (Faber & Faber, 2024)
- Another day in the death of America (Faber & Faber, 2016)
- Who we are — and should it matter in the 21st century (Bold Type Books, 2011)
He co-hosted the podcast Over the top, under the radar with Carys Afoko and has made radio and television documentaries on subjects ranging from gay marriage to Brexit.
Gary, who is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, states:
“To make sense of a moment in which diversity initiatives are under attack and the Conservative party is on its second non-white leader in a row, all at a time of escalating inequality and intense polarisation, we must interrogate what we want both from diversity and representation. These lessons go beyond electoral politics. The aim should be to change the way a system works not simply the way that it looks; so we must recognise that it is possible for organisations to appear different and still act the same. Only then can we understand that diversity's essential value is not as a goal in itself but as a route towards greater equality that must be tied to thoroughgoing institutional change and collective uplift. In the absence of such change perceived advances are symbolic, but rarely substantial, and benefit individuals but not groups. This cosmetic progress leaves both the dominant and the underrepresented cynical about the need and prospects for both equity and equality.”
The lecture will be followed by a short Q&A session facilitated by Race Equality Charter Chair, Dr Akira O'Connor. There will be a reception for attendees after the lecture.
This is a public lecture and is open to all. Doors open at 5.05pm for a 5.15pm start. Please reserve a space at the event so we have an idea of numbers.