Why we Birkbeck academics oppose Grayling's New College

Anthony Grayling complains at the anger being directed at him for his plans for the New College of the Humanities ( Report , 10 June). Here are a couple of reasons why some of his former colleagues at Birkbeck oppose his proposals. First, the NCH is essentially a for-profit tutorial college. For all the hype surrounding the academic "superstars" involved, precisely how much teaching they will do remains an open question. The argument about smaller class sizes is a compelling one, but academics are angry with the implication that intensive teaching of this sort is a substitute for a vibrant intellectual community in which research informs teaching and vice versa. This spirit of community is thriving at Birkbeck and other public universities, making Grayling's loss of faith disappointing and misplaced. Second, and more seriously, the NCH is at the vanguard of the coalition's assault on public education. The forthcoming higher education white paper will likely further seek to marketise the sector, launching a race to the bottom with private outfits first leeching off then asset-stripping our publicly funded universities to offer knockdown education at a profit. Going down that road will deliver a handful of prestigious research universities, which may choose eventually to become private institutions, and a host of cut-price private providers who care little about educational standards. Far from serving to improve quality or defend the humanities, this opportunistic venture will hasten the decline of the reputation for excellence that British universities, as public institutions, have fought so hard to establish. Together with other colleagues and students, we will be campaigning for the University of London and its constituent colleges to review how private tutorial colleges use university facilities, in order to ensure that our collective resources are not raided by these emerging privateers of education. Dr Alejandro Colás Department of politics, Birkbeck, University of London Dr Jason Edwards Department of politics, Birkbeck Dr Samantha Ashenden Department of politics, Birkbeck Professor Diana Coole Department of politics, Birkbeck Professor Joni Lovenduski Department of politics, Birkbeck Dr Antoine Bousquet Department of politics, Birkbeck Dr Dermot Hodson Department of politics, Birkbeck Dr Rosie Campbell Department of politics, Birkbeck Professor Sami Zubaida Department of politics, Birkbeck Simon Hewitt Department of philosophy, Birkbeck Jonathan Nassim Department of philosophy, Birkbeck Professor John Kelly Department of management, Birkbeck Dr Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick Department of management, Birkbeck Dr Christy Constantakopoulou Department of history, classics and archaeology, Birkbeck Dr Elena Loizidou School of law, Birkbeck Dr Maria Aristodemou School of law, Birkbeck Dr Paul Watt Department of geography, environment and development studies, Birkbeck Dr Rosie Cox Department of geography, environment and development studies, Birkbeck Dr Jasmine Gideon Department of geography, environment and development studies, Birkbeck Dr Martin Frost Department of geography, environment and development studies, Birkbeck Richard Clarke Department of geography, environment and development studies, Birkbeck Dr Laura Salisbury Department of English and humanities, Birkbeck Dr Isabelle Fremeaux Department of media and culture, Birkbeck Dr Karen Wells Department of geography, environment and development studies, Birkbeck Dr Dionyssis Dimitrakopoulos Department of politics, Birkbeck Dr Simon Susen Department of politics, Birkbeck Professor Sasha Roseneil Department of psychosocial studies, Birkbeck Dr Thanos Zartaloudis School of law, Birkbeck Dr Isabel Davis Department of English and humanities, Birkbeck Dr Barbara Zollner Department of politics, Birkbeck Professor Eric Kaufmann Department of politics, Birkbeck Professor Deborah Mabbett Department of politics, Birkbeck Professor Andrew Jones Department of geography, environment and development studies, Birkbeck Dr Joanne Winning Department of English and humanities, Birkbeck • Simon Jenkins says universities are hotbeds of middle-classness, full of staff who "do not teach in sink schools or give literacy classes in prison ... They dine at high table" ( Comment , 10 June). I have taught at two universities, Brighton, and Queen Mary, University of London. At neither do staff dine at high table. At both, however, dedicated staff do indeed run outreach events in and for "sink schools", and numerous staff do get involved in teaching, particularly A-levels, in their discipline in local schools, often in deprived areas. Former colleagues in library schools have been heavily involved in the literacy efforts of prison libraries. Yes, much more needs to be done to attract students from low-income backgrounds, and yes, some staff in some universities may still be dining nightly at high table, but for most institutions significant effort is being put into finding ways to ensure the university system is as widely accessible as possible. Dr Matthew Williamson Queen Mary, University of London