I’m SUING KCL over the rebrand
He’s not happy
A litigious KCL student is threatening to sue his university after they revealed plans to change the name to “King’s London”.
The rebrand was met with outrage over the Christmas holidays.
Thousands of students signed a petition, which eventually led principal Ed Byrne to announce an open meeting on the rebranding on January.
But legal eagle Filippo Gafaro-Barrera has taken a different approach to the name change.
He set up the Facebook page “class action against rebranding of KCL” which now has more than 3000 likes – and now he’s threatening to sue.
Filippo Gafaro-Barrera, who is the Social Sec of the KCL Tory society, tells The Tab: “I don’t want to sue KCL. I feel I have to.”
“Nobody wants the rebrand! The university’s stubborn pursuit of a rebranding that not only nobody wants, but that would also damages us all – students and staff alike.
“I am not willing to accept to graduate from a different university from the one I applied to.”
But why a class action lawsuit? Isn’t the petition enough?
“The petition – went a long way in pushing for dialogue, and it was a great success.
“Now we need to have this conversation with negotiating power and make clear that under no condition will we let go of our shared legacy. Should the talks fail to stop the rebranding, we should start concerning about how to seek redress.
So what is it that you hate about the rebrand proposal?
Filippo says dropping the “college” goes against everything KCL stands for.
“The blatant ignorance on part of the marketers of the meaning of names and words. King’s College London, as many similarly named institutions, was given this name for a reason: college is a community of peers that operate under common rules.”
“And look I’m Italian. KL sounds vaguely like CULO. Yes, ASS in Italian. And as much as I love a good piece of ass… not my university please! That’s international confusion for you Ed Byrne.”
Would you actually go through with it if management goes ahead with the rebrand?
But will he My hope is that there won’t be any need to, as the probability is that they won’t go ahead.
But yes, I would go through as I have already contacted prospective law firms for advice. If that’s what it takes to stop them from destroying our community, I will sue.
Do you think they will listen to students and stop the rebrand?
“Now that the leadership has decided to hear us out, they will not be as reckless as to follow through with this. The support just isn’t there.
“You can’t expect to be able to change name to any group without asking everyone’s opinion.
Aren’t you worried about what sueing KCL might mean for your studies there?
I am not worried at all because I am not even willing to graduate from an institution that forgets its own history. My aspiration is to graduate from King’s College London, with all the weight of history that its name carries.
Do you think you’d win?
I am no legal expert, so I can’t make any valid prediction. But I do know for sure that a battle is to be fought on its merits, not on the likelihood of winning. Also, do you know any lawyer that would take a losing case?
Do you think there’s much support for what you believe?
Look no further than the thousands of students, alumni and staff that have signed the petition. The Facebook page I launched in support of legal action has attracted over 3000 signatures.
If you have something to say to students what would it be?
Attend the meeting this coming Tuesday. The principal has been very thoughtful in organising such event and we should come to show him how much it means to us that our university stays a College.
In a college we are peers, not adversaries. And as such we should communicate our ideas with passion and respect.
If you feel as strongly about the rebranding as Filippo, don’t forget to head to the open meeting on January 13th, at either 1pm in the Great Hall (Strand Campus) or 5pm in the Harris Lecture Theatre (Hodgkin Building, Guy’s Campus).