Hundreds join appeal against closure of Heythrop College

"I am a graduate of Heythrop College. My course of study didn't just gain me a degree. It also changed the course of my life" .. .Hundreds of academics and students from around the world have appealed for the Governing Body of Heythrop College to reconsider their decision to close the 402 year old institution.

At the end of June the governors announced that because of financial issues, "the College in its current form, as a constituent college of the University of London, will come to an end in 2018 - although its mission and work will not."

Since then letters appealing for a reprieve for Heythrop, signed by professors and academics have been published in the Times Higher Education Supplement, the Times and other publications. A petition launched this week has already attracted hundreds of signatures are comments from present and past students. Some of the signatories' comments follow:

"I am a graduate of Heythrop College. My course of study didn't just gain me a degree. It also changed the course of my life, teaching me to think critically, to question fundamentalist dogma and to make informed choices. Surely this is the essence of Undergraduate Study and something Heythrop does better than most. As a College, it's too important to lose."

"I studied at Heythrop in the 80s and the tuition was head and shoulders above my first university course. With the increasing popularity of Philosophy and Ethics in schools we want a first class place for their further study."

"The depth of education and the one to one support of an outstanding faculty is unparalleled in post grad education but certainly in undergrad. My entire life
changed as a result of the challenges and accomplishments I encountered at Heythrop and my friendships and associations have lasted long past graduation. Keep Heythrop as the amazing educational heritage and progressive centre for thought that it has always been and should continue to be."

"The closure of Heythrop College is a tragedy for British higher education. It is part of our national, educational and philosophical heritage. Please save the
college."

"I was hoping to study at Heythrop as it was the only university that truly suited me but then they cancelled my application because of the possibility of shutting down. It makes me sad that such a wonderful college with an amazing array of subjects and vibrant community is considering closing down."

"We live in deeply philistine times. Heythrop is a beacon of light, promoting radical inquiry into the deepest questions in philosophy and theology. Its academics have set very high standards of scholarship; and in both their teaching and research exemplify the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. This decision must be reversed. The academy cannot acquiesce in this dismal act of intellectual vandalism. It takes a long, long time to build something like Heythrop up, it cannot be merely tossed aside."

"Heythrop College is one of the leading intellectual centres for philosophy and theology in the UK and this expertise and intellectual engagement is even more important now in an age of cultural and religious diversity, dialogue and conflict."

"The challenges of the 21st century are and will be partly religious. To meet them, we need the thoughtful approach that the encounter of philosophy and theology alone can offer. Heythrop College is more current than ever, and stands to benefit policy-making as well as research and culture at large more than ever."

"Heythrop College has offered for many years something unique and highly valuable. It has a long and distinguished history. It would be a great loss for London and, more generally, British philosophy if it was closed.

"Heythrop is a unique and vital institution; it is senseless to close it. There are too few places already where what it is to be human can be openly discussed."

To add your name to the petition see: https://netivist.org/campaign/stop-the-closure-of-heythrop-college