CRS Seminar: The ‘Sanctuary Template’: developing a shared vision of sanctuary in higher education across the UK and Canada
April 23, 2026
1:00-2:30pm (Toronto)
This is a hybrid event
In person: 857 Kaneff Tower, Keele Campus
Virtually:
Guest speakers: Rebecca Murray, Lecturer in Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield; Brantella Williams, Executive Director, S4 Collective
‘Sanctuary’ is a term frequently used to describe initiatives and activities that create belonging and safety for people who hold precarious immigration status. Beyond this broad definition there is huge diversity in how sanctuary is conceptualised, applied and understood within and across different contexts (Aberman & Murray, 2025). Bordering in higher education is viewed here as an extension of state-led immigration control. However, university practices are contradictory as they simultaneously enforce and resist restrictions imposed on students with precarious immigration status (Villegas & Abernam, 2025; Murray & Gray, 2021).
The ‘Sanctuary Template’ is a tool designed by young migrants across Ontario (Canada) and South 91ÑÇÉ«shire (UK), experienced in navigating university alongside precarious status, to support higher / tertiary education providers to implement their vision of sanctuary. Over the course of 12 months, in participation with 30 young migrants, we sought to transcend the limitations of immigration status in order to (re)imagine the university as a space that is accessible, welcoming, provides opportunities for progression and prioritises protection during all stages of university life. Our aim is to share our journey from conceptualising sanctuary through the lens of higher education to exchanging knowledge across different contexts to develop the template.
Our contributions in this space are twofold. The first relates to the cyclical nature of grounded research, which seeks to not only develop new ways of thinking, but translate this thinking to new forms of praxis. The second, centres on the role of the template in furthering our understanding of hope (and joy), in the growing social, political and economic context of despair (hooks, 1998; Braidotti, 2018; Elsrud et al, 2025).
Dr Rebecca Murray is a Lecturer in Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield (UK) where she sits on her institutional sanctuary oversight group, and is a member of the national University of Sanctuary steering committee. Rebecca’s extensive practice and research in relation to bordering and post compulsory education has been developed in partnership with young migrant-led grassroots campaigning initiatives. Her research centres on ‘(Re)imagining the Higher Education Border’, seeking to explore the scale of bordering practices across UK-universities, whilst creatively (re)imagining them in collaboration with project researchers, experienced in displacement, studying within and lobbying for improved access to higher education. The ‘Sanctuary Template’ is the product of a knowledge exchange project between the South 91ÑÇÉ«shire region in the UK (young migrants, City of Sanctuary and the University of Sheffield) and Toronto, Canada (young migrants, the S4 Collective and the Sanctuary Scholars programme), which aimed to envision a university free from immigration borders. Rebecca (she / her) is a white British cis-gender woman who has no lived experience of migration or displacement.
Brantella Williams (She/Her) | Executive Director | S4 Collective (Sanctuary Students, Solidarity and Support Collective)
Brantella Williams is a systems-change advocate advancing equitable access to education, with a focus on Sanctuary Students and precarious migrants. With a degree in Political Science from 91ÑÇÉ«, she works at the intersection of policy, research, and community organizing to dismantle structural barriers in post-secondary education. She has contributed to multiple research projects, workshops, and panel discussions with 91ÑÇÉ«, Toronto Metropolitan University, the University of Toronto, including Peel Community Engagement Toolkit and People for Education (PFE). Brantella attended the UN High-Level Political Forum in New 91ÑÇÉ« twice as a UN Youth Delegate, contributing to Canada’s Voluntary National Review (VNR), and has served as a panelist with CCR conference in Winnipeg and many other community forums. Her advocacy is grounded in anti-racism and pro-migrant campaigns that elevate migrant voices and drive institutional and policy change.
