Vice-Chancellor Professor Graham Galbraith addresses the ongoing situation in Ukraine
Today, our Vice-Chancellor Professor Graham Galbraith emailed all students and staff regarding the ongoing Ukrainian crisis:
I’m sure like me you have been seeing the events unfold in Ukraine with horror.
The unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces is rightly facing widespread condemnation. It feels very reminiscent of some of the darkest days in the history of Europe, and ones we had all hoped we would not see in our lifetime. The invasion and the resulting consequences will affect all of us, including Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian students and staff both in the UK and in their home countries.
As a University we have been contacting our Ukrainian and Russian staff and students to offer what support we can at this time. I do not believe that individuals can be held responsible for the behaviour of their states. We will provide support to all those impacted by this crisis regardless of nationality. I know you will support your peers too. Our priority right now is identifying areas of support for students and staff affected including for financial hardship and welfare.
Like many other institutions we are also in the process of reviewing any relationships we have with Russian organisations.
While we have contacted Ukrainian and Russian staff and students known to us, I know that others may be impacted by these events. This could be through links with friends, family and colleagues, or just understandable anxiety about what is happening and the unknown of what could happen next.
We pride ourselves on our University being an inclusive and supportive community and while we cannot control events in Ukraine we can support each other here. We want Portsmouth to be a safe place for everyone, regardless of nationality where we are judged on our own actions not on the actions of others.
If you need to talk to someone, or are struggling with your studies, please reach out to your peers, your course team or one of the student wellbeing academic support services.
We will all continue to watch events unfold and hope that peace quickly prevails. My thoughts are with all those impacted.