Are British universities institutionally racist?

How genuine and inclusive are complaints about institutional racism affecting non-white academics and students in British universities?

To find out, over the past half year I’ve made it my business to attend academic conferences (four in all) focused or largely focused on alleged racism at UK universities and the experience of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students and staff.

I had been shocked by the insistence of my colleagues and peers that racism on university campuses is not merely alive and well, but flourishing and growing. Could this be possible, when it seems that every UK higher education institution has draconian policies and procedures in place to combat racism? I am myself a member of an ethnic minority and, over a career spanning more than half a century, have suffered adversely from the very prejudice that these procedures and policies were designed to outlaw. I was therefore more than a little curious to know whether the situation has gotten better or worse since I began my career.