The IC Global Café: Open Minds – Have we lost our north star? Can collective campaigning tackle rising public scepticism?

Open Minds is a new series of IC Global Cafés and at our first 2026 Café we are going to focus on whether universities have strayed from a key mission of fostering respectful and diverse views leading to increasing public scepticism. Through our conversations we aim to explore how sector leadership can address and potentially counter this.

Our first IC Global Café of 2026 will:

• unpack the reasons behind rising public scepticism toward UK universities
• examine key factors contributing to this distrust
• ask whether universities have truly strayed from their mission to empower diverse voices and what the consequences of this are
• consider how institutions can re-establish themselves as crucial anchors for open, balanced, and respectful debate
• discuss whether collective campaign action has a role to play.

Facilitator & Expert speakers

Facilitator:

• Sirin Myles, Co-founder and Director, The IC Global Partnership

Expert speakers:

• Dr. Diana Beech, Director of the Finsbury Institute, City St George’s University

Diana joined City St George’s, University of London in April 2025 as the inaugural Director of the Finsbury Institute – a new public policy hub for the City of London. She previously held senior leadership and policy roles in higher education, including as CEO of London Higher and Policy Advisor to three Universities and Science Ministers under the last government. She holds a PhD in German Studies from the University of Cambridge and has held university research positions in Canada, Germany and the UK.

• Seb Gordon, Director of Communications, Universities UK

Seb Gordon has a long background working in communications roles in the public sector and regulated industries, including the London Fire Brigade and the Local Government Association. He joined Universities UK after spending a decade in senior communications roles in the rail industry. This included as Director of Communications for the Great British Railways Transition Team, where he influenced the policy of successive governments towards the biggest reforms to rail in a generation. Before this, he worked in a membership organisation acting as the voice of the railway on a range of operational and policy issues ranging from rail fares to train punctuality and reform of the sector. At Universities UK, Seb is similarly leading the development of a strategy to reposition the reputation of universities in the face of widespread criticism of the sector.