I would remind them of their Public Sector Equality Duty and their Specific Duties under the Equality Act.
Regardless of any ideological stances they may wish to take, since April 2011, Teeside University have been subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty (Part 11 of the Equality Act, Chapter 1, Section 149). This is a legal duty they cannot ignore.
149 Public sector equality duty.
(1) A public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to—
(a) eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under this Act;
(b) advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it;
(c) foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.
(2) A person who is not a public authority but who exercises public functions must, in the exercise of those functions, have due regard to the matters mentioned in subsection (1).
(3) Having due regard to the need to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it involves having due regard, in particular, to the need to—
(a) remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by persons who share a relevant protected characteristic that are connected to that characteristic;
(b) take steps to meet the needs of persons who share a relevant protected characteristic that are different from the needs of persons who do not share it;
(c) encourage persons who share a relevant protected characteristic to participate in public life or in any other activity in which participation by such persons is disproportionately low.
(4) The steps involved in meeting the needs of disabled persons that are different from the needs of persons who are not disabled include, in particular, steps to take account of disabled persons' disabilities.
(5) Having due regard to the need to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it involves having due regard, in particular, to the need to—
(a) tackle prejudice, and
(b) promote understanding.
(6) Compliance with the duties in this section may involve treating some persons more favourably than others; but that is not to be taken as permitting conduct that would otherwise be prohibited by or under this Act.
(7) The relevant protected characteristics are—
age;
disability;
gender reassignment;
pregnancy and maternity;
race;
religion or belief;
sex;
sexual orientation.
(8) A reference to conduct that is prohibited by or under this Act includes a reference to—
(a) a breach of an equality clause or rule;
(b) a breach of a non-discrimination rule.
(9) Schedule 18 (exceptions) has effect.
They must, under the Specific Duties they have been subject to since September 2011, also publish how they comply - they must publish information to demonstrate their compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty ('equality information') and they must prepare and publish one or more equality objectives which it thinks it should achieve to do any of the things mentioned in the general equality duty (‘equality objectives’).
How to do this is set out in Chapter Six of the EHRC Technical Guidance on the Public Sector Equality Duty: England (page 67ff.). This specifies that:
6.5 A listed authority must comply with both the specific duties and the general equality duty. A court may take into account a failure to comply with the specific duties, for example a failure to set one or more equality objectives, in deciding whether a listed authority has complied with the general equality duty.
6.6 Where the equality information published by a listed authority to comply with the specific duties does not adequately demonstrate how it has had due regard to the three aims of the general equality duty, the listed authority may leave itself open to be challenged by its staff, service users or others affected by how the authority carries out its functions. For example, if a listed authority publishes no information about one or more of the aims of the duty, publishes no information in relation to one or more of the relevant protected characteristics, or publishes no information in relation to one or more of its relevant functions.
6.8 The regulations also specify that the published information must include, in particular, information relating to persons who share a protected characteristic who are:
• its employees (for listed authorities who employ 150 or more staff), and
• other persons affected by its policies and practices (for example, service users)
6.10 The equality information published should be sufficient to enable those accessing it to reasonably assess how a listed authority has complied with the general equality duty, and enable them to hold the listed authority to account, if necessary.
6.11 Case law emphasises that to have due regard a body subject to the duty must have sufficient information (see para 5.16). To demonstrate compliance with the duty, listed authorities will, therefore, want to aim to publish equality information based on evidence that is as robust as possible.
By not including the correct protected characteristics in their Equality and Diversity statement, Teeside University is demonstrating that they are most likely not complying with their legal duties as listed above.