More than 3,000 students and alumni have signed a petition to campaign for Cass Business School to keep its name.
The London school, which hosts the Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance, announced plans last week to drop mention of Sir John Cass (1661-1718), an English merchant who made part of his fortune in the Atlantic slave trade.
The move was undertaken by the school's parent, City, University of London, after the escalation of the Black Lives Matter movement worldwide.
The university said the Cass name is "incompatible with our values of diversity and inclusivity" and it will take on the name of City’s Business School temporarily.
The Change.org petition (accessible here) was created by Cass alumnus Brian H Robb, whom TradeWinds was unable to contact.
As well as retaining the Cass Business School name, the petition demands that all Cass alumni and students be compensated if the name is changed, because degrees from the institution could lose their value.
"Simply put, we paid for a degree from Cass Business School, and the reputation associated with such, and represented to us during recruitment," the petition's outline states.
"If City is to move forward with a name change, which should only be made after full and proper consultation if at all — for there might be many other possibilities garnered by proper consultation — it needs to refund all tuition paid by alumni of 'Cass Business School'."
Cass Business School is one of the world's top 15 business schools, according to the Financial Times.
Hypocrisy?
The petition also calls out the business school for what it says is "self-serving hypocrisy" in accepting a grant from the Sir John Cass Foundation in 2002, which led to the school taking on his name.
"City’s knee-jerk actions do not even address such concerns in regards to racism: in fact, they diminish it by trivialising the issue to one of mere change of name," the petition says.
"On City’s own 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, and City seems not to intend to return the money, in self-serving hypocrisy if it proceeds with its proposal."
Giving her reason for signing the petition, Cass alumna Thi Kim Thu Nguyen said slavery was "a social and economic norm" before humanity made a "significant moral progression" in the past hundred or so years.
"But selectively purging our history is, in my view, not the way forward. It also further supports what is a relatively widespread, divisive, and incorrect interpretation of the history of slavery by restricting it to the transatlantic slave trade," she wrote.
"That is merely one chapter in a very long book. If we are going to apply 21st century morals to history, there won’t be much left standing."
Others echoed this thought and voiced the need for compensation in the loss of value to their Cass degrees.
A spokesman for City, University of London, told TradeWinds that a change of name would not affect the quality of tuition or the school's reputation.
"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. The consultation is yet to commence and further details will follow," he 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."
A long line of high-profile shipping executives have studied at the Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance.
Its founder and chairman told TradeWinds that the opinions of its student body would be taken into account.
"As chair of the Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance, I can assure you that we always take very seriously the views of our graduates and students, as they are our most important and valued asset," Professor Costas Grammenos said on Monday.
