Lecturers quit in protest at Nottingham's 'humiliating' link with BAT but vice-chancellor remains defiant
Jump to full article: The Independent (uk), 2001-06-19
Author: Sarah Cassidy / Education Correspondent
Intro: An English university is facing accusations that it has sold its good reputation for £3.8m from a tobacco company in a dispute that has divided its academic community.
The deal between Nottingham University and British American Tobacco has been described as "a terrible humiliation" for the university and prompted predictions of a mass exodus of staff because of its "ethically wrong" decision.
One senior university figure, the East Midlands MEP Mel Read, who resigned last week, is the latest in a long line of academics, lecturers and advisers to have severed their links with the university in protest at BAT's donation to set up Britain's first international centre for business ethics. . .
The deal has caused anger on the university's 330-acre parkland campus where, with 10 applications for every student place and an excellent research record, people usually try to get in, rather than get out. . .
Outrage at the decision is widespread, says Sandi Golbey, of the Association of University Teachers. In an AUT survey of more than 200 University of Nottingham lecturers, more than 80 per cent, agreed the donation had brought the university into disrepute. Ms Golbey said: "It is literally unbelievable that they have taken this money. BAT have a lot to gain by association with a university of the calibre of Nottingham. People will think that they can't be all bad if Nottingham will take their money."
The Student Union has called for university rules to be changed to ban future donations from tobacco companies. . .
The vice-chancellor, Sir Colin Campbell, has fully backed the project. The university insists it has done nothing wrong and believes the long-term benefits of establishing the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility will outweigh any short-term negative publicity.
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Quotes from this article:
BAT is a legitimate company; the Treasury takes its money in tax and spends it on things like the NHS. Why is it wrong to take money from it and plough it into higher education?
Professor Ian Gow, head of the business school where the BAT's "International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility" will be based. The Nottingham saga continues in, Cassidy, S., <I>University torn apart by £3.8m tobacco deal</I>
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