Aziz Foundation visits Partner Universities hosting roadshows

The Aziz Foundation visited three of its university partners hosting roadshow events during the month of November. The overall purpose of the roadshow was to promote the Foundation's scholarships and philanthropic work, as well as to raise the professional aspirations of British Muslim students.

At the University of Sussex, the Foundation was joined by two Pro-Vice Chancellors - Professor David Ruebain (Culture, Equality & Inclusion) and Robin Banerjee (Global and Civic Engagement) -  as well as the Mayor of Brighton, cllr. Mohamed Asaduzzaman. In addition, Aziz scholar Enis Avdovic (LLM BPC, University of Law) spoke about his professional and academic experiences and the difference the scholarship made to his life.

During the University of Birmingham's Postgraduate Open Day, Foundation staff were joined by Aziz scholar Aqil Ghani  (MA Creative Writing, University of Birmingham) and former CEO of NZF, Iqbal Nasim. Aqil relayed the importance of assisting British Muslims in the creative industries, as well as the value of mentorship and support networks. Iqbal centred his talk on why British Muslims should maintain an outward focus and how this adds to and enrichens the practice of faith.

The most recent roadshow took place at DMU in Leicester, and was attended by a range of researchers, professional services staff and students. Professor of Education, Richard Hall spoke about the DMU's match funded Aziz Foundation project for which he is the principal investigator,  An analysis of how British Muslim, first-year students experience their Muslimness in HE spaces. The research project aims to understand how the learning environment at DMU either hinders or enables the expression of British Muslim faith identity.

The Foundation would like to express its gratitude to the universities which have participated in the roadshow by hosting these important events. Furthermore, it looks forward to strengthening its engagement with its partner institutions in the coming year.