King’s College to replace busts of ‘bearded white men’ with wall of diversity
KING’S College London must replace busts and portraits of some of its founding fathers with ethnic minorities amid pressure from students, a dean has said.
The plans to move portraits of former staff from the main entrance wall, which are being implemented by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, follow concern among academics that current teaching is too “intimidating” for ethnic minorities.
The plans were unveiled by Professor Patrick Leman, the Institute’s dean of education, who said that faculty halls and lecture theatres would be refitted with more modern, diverse scholars so that the Institute feels less “alienating”
The Left-wing academic, who describes himself as “tribal Labour” in online blogs, said portraits lining the main entrance are “almost entirely white, middle-aged men” and will be replaced with a “wall of diversity”.
He added that all current portraits of former deans would be “taken down”and rehung, with some being placed in less prominent positions.
Meanwhile, teaching materials, such as diagrams of the human anatomy, will be changed to feature a “range of ethnic groups”, rather than just the “standard white male”. Prof Leman said the decision had been backed by the faculty’s student body, which has been “exceptionally good” in pushing for a diversification of the curriculum.
Prof Leman said: “[We are] making sure that the space in which students learn … doesn’t just have the busts of the bearded 1920s men, but also has pictures of people from different ethnic groups, different cultures. It’s not that we’re throwing anything into the bin.”
Founded in 1923 as a medical hospital, the Institute owes its existence to a donation from Dr Henry Maudsley, a pioneering British psychiatrist, and Sir Frederick Mott, a neurologist who drew up plans for university courses for training in the field of psychiatry in 1896.
Their busts, which are believed to be the subject of Professor Leman’s remarks, were placed in the Institute in recognition of their work.
But Sam Barrett, President of the King’s Conservative Association, said it was “political correctness gone mad”.
“It’s a de-colonisation of the curriculum,” he said. “Any sort of view that some students disagree with – if you shout loudly enough the university will react to it. Some [students] clearly have a problem with being taught by a white man – that’s the reality of it. If that person who knows their subject is white, why should that matter?”