VC Update: Wednesday, 29 May 2013

Why academia?

Many of us will have been shocked by the violent murder of the young soldier in Woolwich. And we will have been saddened, but sadly not surprised, by the outbreaks of violence against Muslims across the UK
that followed.

You, like me, may have wondered what we could possibly do to heal some of the wounds that we see opening in our society. Wounds that separate people and communities through mistrust and fear.

Faced with terrible images and ugly repercussions, so often the immediate reaction is one of helplessness. How could one individual make a difference to the failings of a whole society? How might a University, away from the heat of conflict, begin to impact on divisions that seem so broad and deep?

In spite of the shock of witnessing cruelty and fanaticism, whatever its source, we cling to our hope that hatred will not have the last word. How can we help build that hope?

I have to start with the teachings of the greatest philosophies and religions that reject the idea of individuals as islands, responsible only for their own preservation. Instead they teach that I am responsible for the well-being of all my brothers and sisters. And that means all. 

And there is more. In what became known as 'the Golden Rule', the common wisdom core to many cultures in fact demands justice and understanding be extended to my neighbour, and even 'the stranger'. It insists I am not allowed to choose whom to love. Martin Luther King, in his book 'Strength to Love', hammers home the fact that this love is no pious injunction for an unachievable utopia, but a simple necessity for survival: "History is replete with the bleached bones of nations that refused to listen." He reminds us that what we need is not a sentimental bond, restricted to those we naturally like or comprehend. It is a yearning to understand 'the Other'.

I am lucky in where I work: a place where this approach is not uncommon, despite the fact that, as individuals, we are as likely to harbour hurts and grievance as anyone else.

A university is a community made up of mostly young people with hope for a better future. Their hopes, and how they want to live with one another, tell me why a University is so important. Universities are not simply places that revere knowledge and privilege understanding – they seek to be places willing to respect not only insights, but their sources - people. We have come to realise that, as well as learning in libraries and laboratories, many of our most important interactions are those we have with one another. And over time we have become more open about whom that includes.

What we and our students from so many backgrounds and nationalities also discover is that, if you live in a society that listens and learns, it can be a place not only of challenge but also of resolution. So a healthy university is one that lives by values of mutual respect; where it is normal to reflect on why we hold particular values; where we ask ourselves how we explain to others the reasons for what we do.

How do we know that our values and our reasons are right? We don't. We certainly cannot claim to have all the answers. What we have is a place where it is safe to ask questions, and where being open to the views of others has been found to be the best way to build a sound approach to life with them. And that is intrinsic to scholarship and every scrap of research we do.

As we are open to and encourage the questions of others, we do not need to be threatened. While it may seem a risk to remove the defensive armour of certainty, it is at the heart of universities to believe understanding is the true source of our strength. The day we refuse to listen is the day that strength seeps away.

This approach also gives us a deeper level of confidence not to be defined by what others think of us. We make our own future, based on learning and teaching one another.

This University of ours is special. At times of mistrust and fear, it is a place in which mutual understanding can grow.

So, in the face of the current fears of many, I believe I know what I should do, and I am confident both colleagues and students will join me. We should continue to be the place of which John Masefield once wrote, "There are few more earthly things more beautiful than a university - a place where those who hate ignorance may strive to know, where those who perceive truth may strive to make others see."

Perhaps now more than ever, I believe he was right.

Professor Sir Keith Burnett                                                                                                                                    

Vice-Chancellor