The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Black rectors making history at universities
After Martina Chukwuma-Ezike was announced as the new rector of Aberdeen University, her husband leaned over to whisper in her ear.
“Did you hear her?” Uchenna asked.
“She said you were the first black person for a university that is 525 years old. Can you imagine that?”
The Nigerian asthma charity boss was following in the distinguished footsteps of figures including Winston Churchill and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie by taking on the centuries-old role last year.
But as the first person of African descent and only the third woman in the position, she would be broadening that path in a way none of her predecessors had.
She looked back at her husband and said: “Well, no pressure. I guess I will do my best.”
But her achievement was even more significant than it first appeared.
She was among three black women who have been elected rector of one of Scotland’s ancient universities within 13 months, following Dr Leyla Hussein of St Andrews and Debora Kayembe at Edinburgh.
All three were making history as the first women from Africa to serve in that role.
They met up for the first time at Dr Hussein’s installation on April 15 – despite being the first of the three to be elected, in October 2020, she was the last to go through the formal investiture ceremony after it was repeatedly delayed by the pandemic.
She had insisted Mrs Chukwuma-Ezike and Ms Kayembe were invited.
The Fife university’s new rector describes herself as a campaigner, psychotherapist, clinician and activist.
Her “privileged” Somali family lost everything in the country’s civil war when she was 10, and two years later they moved into a council flat in East London.
Less than a decade later, she started getting involved in campaigns around female genital mutilation – something she experienced herself.
Her work in the area has led to her being Baftanominated for a 2014 Channel 4 documentary she presented, as well as being awarded an OBE.
When she was first approached about running for rector, she was reluctant, knowing she would soon be moving to Kenya for work, but the students’ passion won her over.
Among her predecessors in the role is Jan Christian Smuts, who led the segregated Union of South Africa for 14 years in the first half of the 21st Century.
Similarly, Mrs Chukwuma-Ezike said she has a firm list of priorities to tackle during her time as rector – student mental health, climate change and employability – and hopes her story can be inspirational to everyone at the university.
Edinburgh University rector Ms Kayembe said all three of the women would agree that they cannot deny the existence of racism, adding: “institutional racism is still very much present”.
Ms Kayembe has since been embroiled in controversy relating to a tweet in which she accused the Rwandan president of orchestrating the 1994 genocide in the country.
Amid calls to resign her role at Edinburgh, she has now locked her Twitter account, while the university has distanced itself from the remark.
All three black women rectors said their election signified something important for Scotland, a country where the first women of colour MSPs were only voted in last year.
Dr Hussein said: “Scotland’s always been ahead, in comparison to the rest of the United Kingdom – we kind of know that – but this has just been proven.
“I guess the next step for Scotland is... there has to be actions followed up.”