Leicester honouring the man who pushed through the £9k fees

The man who caused university degrees to cost £9,000 – at a very minimum – is due to receive one for free on 15th August. The University of Leicester has chosen to award former Universities Minister, David Willetts, with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree during the upcoming graduation ceremonies.

The Lord Willetts, who was Minister of State for Universities and Science within the Con-Dem coalition government between 2010 and 2014, directly oversaw the increase in tuition fees from £3,000 to £9,000 in 2012,and the sale of student debt to the private debtors Erudio Student Loans in 2013.

The Rt. Dishonourable The Lord Willetts

The awarding of this honorary degree, then, seems a peculiar decision on the University’s behalf, considering its frequently quoted but rarely practiced motto “Elite without being Elitist”.

Whilst there have been opportunities in the past to question University decisions, this is perhaps the first time that the University has chosen to ally itself with somebody who can be held directly responsible for decisions that have had a negative impact on the poorest students in the country.

Jay, a PhD student at Leicester, told The Tab: “Along with many others I marched and protested against tuition fee increases. I did so in the vain hope that future students would not be saddled with increased debt or that potential candidates from socially disadvantaged backgrounds were not put off from accessing HE.

“I find it insulting that the institution that promotes itself as being ‘elite without being elitist’ is awarding such an individual with an endorsement of this kind.”

It could be argued that the decisions made by the Universities and Science department under Willetts’ stewardship were a direct precursor to this government’s scrapping of maintenance loans, setting a precedent for the gradual stripping back of safety nets in place to protect the most vulnerable students. Likewise, there is widely cited evidence to suggest that the increase in tuition fees has had a negative effect on the poorest potential students in the nation, discouraging many from attending university at all due to the increased cost.

In addition to all this, Willetts was quoted in 2011 as stating that feminism was the “single biggest factor” affecting social mobility in Britain. He blamed the opening up of the education system to women in the 1960s for ambitious working-class males being unable to attend university or access top jobs. Rather than choosing to address the issues surrounding social mobility, Willetts decided to baselessly blame women, stating that “this transformation of opportunities for women ended up magnifying social divides”.

It therefore remains to be seen what Willetts has done to deserve this honour, especially considering that – aside from giving a speech in June of last year and having opened the University’s space research facility – he has no connection to the University of Leicester whatsoever. He was born and privately educated in Birmingham, read PPE at Oxford, and currently employed by King’s College London, earning £30k a year for one day a week of teaching.

Not elitist? Sure.

@mattieallenn