Thousands of graduates are demanding a tuition fee refund because their London business school intends to drop the name of a slave trade company director.
Alumni of the Cass Business School – part of City, University of London – say the parent uni has a “poor reputation” and that removing the Cass brand will cause a “loss of value” to their degrees.
City’s student union disputes this, saying the business school’s reputation is built on the hard work of students and staff rather than its links to Sir John Cass, who has been described as a “major player” in the transatlantic slave trade in the 17th century.
The university announced in July it would ditch Cass’s name – which was added to the business school following a donation from the Sir John Cass Foundation in 2002 – saying the connection had caused “great pain and hurt” to students and staff.
The decision followed a successful campaign by students, who argued that “people who benefited from the enslavement of individuals do not deserve the honour of a school named after them”.
“The name of the Cass Business School commemorates John Cass and by so doing embodies the racist and inhumane nature of his actions,” they said in a petition.
According to the Sir John Cass Foundation, which has also vowed to change its name, part of Cass’ wealth came from his role as the director of the Royal African Company, which was involved in the trading of enslaved people. He has been described as a “major player” in the slave trade.
Despite this, more than 3,500 people have now signed a petition calling on City to backtrack on its decision to rename the school – or to refund the tuition fees of business students and alumni.
Campaigners claim that dropping the Cass Business School branding would “diminish” the value of their degrees.
Graduate Brian Robb, who launched the petition, said he fully denounces racism and slavery – but that he chose to study at City’s business school because of the strength of the Cass brand.
“The reason why Yale and Stanford do not randomly change their names is because of the prestige and quality of education inherent in the brand,” the petition reads.
“For City to reverse, suddenly and precipitously, 20 years of marketing the Cass name will not only adversely affect all alumni, but take away the validity our degrees have in the external environment.”
The university has said that the business school will be known as City’s Business School until a new name is decided.
But the petition claims that this “further diminishes our degrees” because City’s reputation is not as prestigious as that of the business school.
“The direct and consequential losses to us all will be profound,” it reads.
Robb told HuffPost UK: “City has abandoned a brand name on which it enticed thousands of students over decades without any consultation to alumni or current students.”
The business school was first named after Cass in 2002, following a donation from foundation.
Robb said: “When the university accepted my funds to attend for a master degree, [...] they never once expressed concerns over the name, or a racist association to Sir John Cass, of whom the business school was named after.
“And on City’s own currently expressed concerns, surely it should have refused the donation over 20 years ago? It can hardly be that conduct alleged in the 1700s was not visible at that time.”
Describing City’s decision to rename the school as “knee-jerk”, Robb said believed the move could be seen to play down racism “by trivialising the issue to one of a mere change of name”.
“To deny the past is intellectually fallacious: we must learn from the past, something that cannot happen if it is expunged,” he added.
Despite both City and the Sir John Cass Foundation setting out Cass’ specific links to slavery as the director of the Royal African Company, the petition accuses the university of being “obfuscatory” about how Cass was connected to the trade.
It reads: “Serious allegations require serious discussions and consideration of competing considerations: nothing less should be expected from an organisation that purports to be a university.”
But Shaima Dallali – who set up the original petition calling for the university to rename the business school – said keeping the Cass branding in light of his connection with the slave trade would be “incompatible with our commitment to support the Black community and to actively oppose all forms of racism”.
“I strongly believe that there should be no room for racism or racists in our institution, past, present or future,” said Dallali, who is now a vice-president at City’s student union.
“The struggle for justice and equality do not conflict with the aspiration that the business school will continue to produce students that have been immersed in one of the most innovative business teaching environments.
“John Cass’s contributions to academia cannot outweigh being involved in slavery, a system of murder, rape, imprisonment and forced labour of a group of people,” she added.
Meanwhile, City Students’ Union president Saqlain Riaz said the business school’s prestigious reputation was down to the hard work of students and staff.
The students’ union supports the decision by the university to cut its ties with Sir John Cass over his connections with the slave trade, he said.
“We recognise how this may impact our student members, both in terms of positive change as well as the perceived negative impact of a change in the brand name.
“Our business school has a prestigious reputation owing to the quality of teaching and learning from the hard work of staff and students alike.”
The union will work to make sure the business school’s “hard-earned rankings and prestige” are maintained, Riaz added.
A spokesperson for City, University of London said the continued use of the Cass name was incompatible with City’s values “because of its direct links to Sir John Cass and his involvement in the transatlantic slave trade”.
“We will be consulting our key stakeholders, including current students, alumni and staff on a new name for the school as part of the rebranding process,” they said.
“While the name will change, the quality of our business school and its worldwide reputation, which is evidenced in part by its position in all major league tables, will remain.
“Our business school will continue to deliver the world class education and research for which it is globally known and we are strongly committed to ensuring that it is an inclusive place to work and study.”
City is not the only university to have binned its links to the Cass name.
In June, London Metropolitan University announced it was dropping the name from its Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design.
The university said the use of Cass’s name was “incompatible with our commitment to support the Black community and to actively oppose racism in all forms”.