Meghan Markle has been a champion of diversity in education for several years, long before she stepped into her role as royal patron of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU).
So, it makes sense that the Duchess of Sussex chose to celebrate World Access to Higher Education Day on Tuesday by writing a letter for the ACU discussing the important of access to education for all.
In her letter, the 38-year-old explained 'how important it is for all people, regardless of gender or socioeconomic background, to have the opportunity to access this higher education'.
Read the Duchess's World Access to Higher Education Day letter in full below:
Today, on World Access to Higher Education Day, we are able to celebrate the vital role that colleges and universities play in society and how important it is for all people, regardless of gender or socioeconomic background, to have the opportunity to access this higher education. The value of this cannot be understated. Because education expands mindsets, and those minds can then expand the scope of the world at large. From a micro to a macro level, it is with education that we see great change.
Earlier this year I met Simon Kiongo from Kenya, who grew up on a small family farm, and traded vegetables as a means of covering tuition costs. It struck me as such a prime example of how so many around the world yearn for education and do whatever they can to afford themselves that opportunity. Now, with support from the ACU, he is doing remarkable cancer research for his country, specifically looking at fertilisers in the food supply and the carcinogenic links that has on community health. Simon is higher education in action.
The ACU highlights journeys to belonging – looking at how universities can support access to higher education for those who are most vulnerable – be it refugees or those displaced. Additionally the ACU continues to create opportunities for those within the university structure – the faculty and staff who require grants to maximise the impact of their research studies, and enabling students to exceed even their own expectations of what they can achieve.
I am proud to be patron of the ACU and all that it stands for, as we champion those seeking a higher education and commit to making this world a better place – together.
This is not the first time the Duchess has spoken out about inequality when it comes to academia.
In February, The Times reported that the Duchess was left feeling shocked and appalled after her visit to the ACU upon learning the lack of women and people of colour in professional roles within higher education.
As a result, the mother-of-one expressed her support for a campaign seeking to 'decolonise the curriculum'.
The royal has previously discussed her own experience of higher education and the emotional and financial help she received from her loved ones to achieve her academic dreams.
In a roundtable discussion at the University of Johannesburg during her South African tour with Prince Harry in October, the Duchess spoke of her own time as a student.
'I went to university,' she said. 'It takes a village, doesn't it, to sort of piece it together for people to be able to finance that.
'Families chipping in, scholarship, financially all those things that were the reason that I was able to attend university.'
She also spoke of the power of gender quality in higher education, telling attendees: 'When a women is empowered it changes absolutely everything in the community.
'The goal here is to be able to have gender equality, to be able to support women as they are working in research and higher education roles.'
Announcing three new ‘gender grants’ that would boost women in research leadership roles during the discussion the Duchess explained: 'True to what you said, when a women is empowered it changes absolutely everything in the community and starting an educational atmosphere is really a key point of that.'
Earlier this year, the Duchess of Sussex spoke at King's College London on International Women's Day asking academics and international scholarship students: 'If there’s an injustice and a lack of inequality someone needs to say something - and why not you?'
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