New university Chancellor gears up to make his mark

The new Chancellor of Birmingham City University is hoping to “change a lot of lives” and become “a torchbearer for disability rights”.

Television presenter, journalist, disability campaigner and Paralympic medallist Ade Adepitan, 51, was officially installed as successor to Sir Lenny Henry CBE at a ceremony at The Grand Hotel in Birmingham on Tuesday evening.

In front of more than 150 guests, including the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Birmingham, Ade called Sir Lenny his “hero” and “a trailblazer” in an emotional and rousing speech, adding that the 66-year-old actor, comedian and writer would be a very tough act to follow.

Sir Lenny, who served as Chancellor for eight years and will remain involved with the University via the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, described his role as “one of the most wonderful things I will ever do” and backed Ade to be a huge success. 

Sir Lenny added: “BCU took a risk with me - and I’ll always be grateful for that.”

Ade, who uses a wheelchair after contracting polio as a child, will serve as Chancellor for an initial period of three years, working alongside Vice-Chancellor Professor David Mba, Chair of the Board of Governors Anita Bhalla OBE, and the University’s leadership team.

 Ade told guests at the ‘Passing The Baton’ ceremony: “Like Sir Lenny before me, I never thought there would be a day where I would lead a university. 

“People of my background, my experience, my ethnicity… this isn’t where we usually get to sit. At the top table, in a position of authority, and of influence.

“I don’t want to get all ‘Spider-Man’ about this, but I am very aware that with ‘great power comes great responsibility’, and my immediate responsibility is to be an advocate for thousands of dedicated colleagues, and a representative for tens of thousands of students.”

Brought up in East London after moving to England from Nigeria at the age of three, Ade described Birmingham as a “cultural hotspot” and vowed to be an advocate for the city.

He also pledged to stand up for disability rights. 

“When it comes to sport, or culture, or education, it’s so important that people can see someone that looks like them,” said Ade, who helped Great Britain’s wheelchair basketball team win a bronze medal at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens.

“Currently, this isn’t always the case when it comes to disability representation. It’s 2024, and it’s still true that, if the Paralympics isn’t on screen, disabled people are invisible to the majority. We don’t appear on billboards. We don’t promote perfume. We’re not in the public eye.

“And by not being in the public eye, we consequently don’t get the same opportunities. Services aren’t designed with us in mind. Policies are drafted with disability as an afterthought.

“It shouldn’t be like this. It’s why me becoming Chancellor is a step into the unknown. Historically, Chancellors don’t look like I do.”

Ade, who was joined at the ceremony by members of his family, including his wife, Linda, and three-year-old son, added: “I have the potential to make a difference.

“I’ve always spoken strongly about diversity, but I’ve never done this from a position of authority. Nor have I done it with a wealth of knowledge and research to back my beliefs.

“That all changed when Sir Lenny gave me my robe. Not just because it was my chance to try on some slick new ceremonial threads. But it’s because this is when I start helping BCU in its ambitions to be a force for good.

“It’s the point I can help steer the University in its mission to create and share knowledge for a better - and more inclusive - society. 

“It is the moment that BCU can think about becoming a torchbearer for disability rights.”