'Colours for Scholars' – Marking International Students' Day

Linking communities across the world
Colours for Scholars logo

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We live in a beautifully diverse world. Nothing symbolises the diversity of the human species as much as COLOUR. It is often a cause for celebration, as it should rightly be. Yet, at times, it attracts unignorable negativity, including hate crime.
International students are one of the most beautiful reminders of our diversity. They represent our collective hope for the future.
International Students' Day
International Students’ Day is celebrated on 17 November each year. The day was chosen to mark the tragic events connected with the storming of Czech universities in 1939 by Nazi troops, a day that led to death and misery to many. It is a day that should serve as a constant reminder of the horrors of division and compel us to seek unity, across all nations. Yet, sadly, we continue to engage in mutual destruction as a species.
A group of truly inspired individuals from the University of Plymouth came up with a beautiful idea of commemorating that day by twinning the vibrancy of colour with the global phenomenon of international students to highlight the need for unity.
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‘Colours for Scholars’
We therefore launched the 'Colours for Scholars' initiative on Friday 17 November 2023.
An amazing collection of nine countries spread over three continents responded to our call, with many participants dressing up in eye-catching colours to show their support. Many more from other countries joined in subsequently.

The success of that initial launch convinced us that 'Colours for Scholars' should not just celebrate international students, but ALL students who engage in LIFELONG learning.

The type of learning that happens every day, in an array of settings; the learning that helps us become the best we could be through contributing to the shared wellbeing of the community. It should include people of all ages, in all stages and modes of learning including learning-by-experience, in all corners of the world. 
That means it should involve every single person in our community!

Poorna GunasekeraDr Poorna Gunasekera
Associate Dean International

 
 

Colours for Scholars Photo Competition: Share Your Story

As part of our celebration of International Students' Day, we are excited to announce the Colours for Scholars 2024 photo competition. We invite you to take part and share a story that truly reflects the values of our campaign.
Our previous campaign united participants from 9 countries and 12 educational and community organisations across Europe, Asia, and Africa. This truly global movement demonstrated the power of storytelling to foster unity and celebrate diversity.

Competition details

Submission Deadline: 31 January 2025
Results: The results will be announced within 2 weeks.
Colours for Scholars campaign participants

How to enter
  1. Print the Colours for Scholars campaign logo and capture a photo with it. View and download the Colours for Scholars logo (PDF) .
  2. Share a story with your photo that aligns with at least one of our campaign’s core values (word limit: 100 words):
    • Unity: Building bridges and fostering connections in our community.
    • Diversity: Celebrating our rich tapestry of cultures and backgrounds.
    • Positivity: Promoting harmony through positive actions.
    • Empowerment: Strengthening partnerships for lifelong learning.
    • Respect: Valuing the unique contributions of all individuals.
    • Equity: Ensuring fairness and addressing systemic disparities.
    • Inclusivity: Creating a space where everyone feels they belong.
  3. Upload your photo to social media (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn) with a brief story about the place and its relevance to the values of the campaign.
  4. Use the hashtag #ColoursForScholars2024
  5. Send your photo and link to your social media post to international@plymouth.ac.uk
y Watch our video for inspiration
  • Selection Process: Our judging panel will choose the Top 3 entries.
  • Submission Deadline: 31 January 2025
  • Results: The results will be announced within 2 weeks.
For any questions, please contact us at international@plymouth.ac.uk

Example of an entry
“This photo was taken in Portland Villas, Plymouth – a place that beautifully captures my academic and professional journey as an international student. Just five minutes from here is the train station where I first arrived in Plymouth in 2019. To my left is UPIC, where I completed my first year, and to my right, the office of International Student Recruitment, where I now work to support other international applicants. This spot represents my journey into this diverse community and the team that helped me grow as a professional.”
#ColoursForScholars2024
Explanation
This entry includes:
• Place
• Story
• Reasoning behind the choice of the place
• How this story reflects values (at least one) of the campaign
You don’t need to follow this template. However, you must include these aspects in your story.
 
 

Prizes on offer include

  • [1st place: £500

  • [2nd place: £300

  • [3rd place: £200

 

The first anniversary

We are now approaching the first anniversary of the launch of 'Colours of Scholars' on Sunday 17 November 2024.
If anything, what has happened over the past few months, in many localities, has highlighted the urgent need for stronger collaboration between students, staff and host communities. We need to emphasise the positives of communal harmony far more proactively. 'Colours for Scholars' is an ideal platform to do so.
We therefore want to use that day to launch a series of initiatives that will link communities across the world.
We want to go beyond just dressing up to celebrate a day, to working together to make the world a better place, every day! And we want to emphasise the links between students, staff and host communities as a vital part of that empowering process.
How can we contribute?
We would love groups of people all over the world to start initiatives that will link different sections of the local community to highlight the fact that learning is open to all, in all circumstances.
We want to celebrate the real learning that empowers us to live productive, fulfilling lives that enhance the wellbeing of our local communities. Learning that is not limited to acquiring degrees or titles, but also celebrates lifelong experiential learning.
We can do so by a series of small steps:
  1. Just form a group.
  2. Discuss how to focus on your community.
  3. Plan the best way to achieve that unity and then...
  4. Start making that happen!
We would love you to own this initiative and share that ownership with your wider local community.
At Plymouth, we created this webpage to galvanise our community to action. That marked the first step of our strategy, which is being followed by a phased programme to reach out to the widest possible audience. The dissemination of this message is very much a part of that effort. You may elect to do the same or do something entirely different. We want all of us to become genuine co-owners of this initiative. The sheer variety in our efforts will only highlight the beauty of diversity!

Please would you join us; enrich us all with your ideas! We would love to hear from you.

For now, please email our convenor Poorna Gunasekera on (poorna.gunasekera@plymouth.ac.uk).
We could then share our logo to use as you see fit and exchange ideas on how we could use 17 November to create a global movement of local harmony and wellbeing!
 

Event photography and video

Please be aware that some of the University of Plymouth's public events (both online and offline) may be attended by University staff, photographers and videographers, for capturing content to be used in University online and offline marketing and promotional materials, for example webpages, brochures or leaflets. If you, or a member of your group, do not wish to be photographed or recorded, please let a member of staff know.