De Montfort students ‘ashamed’ of its name

LEICESTER’S De Montfort University is facing calls to change its name as it is linked to a medieval earl who persecuted Jewish people.

Student campaigners are calling for it to drop its association with Simon de Montf ort, who l ed England’s barons in revolt against Henry III and is regarded as the father of Parliament.

However, as Earl of Leicester he expelled Jews from the city and as England’s de facto leader cancelled debts owed to them through the violent seizures of records which ended in massacres.

De Montfort University changed its name from Leicester Polytechnic to honour the earl in 1992. But the student union has launched a campaign, l ed by Aisha Ismail, a student opportunities and engagement executive, to ditch the name.

The union told The Times that although he was regarded as the founder of democracy, Simon de Montfort was “known for his antiSemitic views and hatred towards the Jewish community, which ultimately led to the expulsion of the entire community from Leicester and the massacre of hundreds of Jews across the country”.

The statement said the name i s not one “anyone within our c ommunity would want to be associated with”, adding: “This is not a name we say with pride. It is not reflective of our core values and beliefs.”

The union said that cutting ties with De Montfort should be seen as a way of ensuring t he university “actively begins to start dismantling any signs of anti- Semitism within the institution”.

A spokesman for the university said it “stands against racism in all its forms, including anti-semitism” and had “long-standing objectives of genuine equality, inclusion and diversity”. He added: “We very much welcome the discussion the De Montfort Students’ Union campaign will bring and are very happy to work alongside our students to ensure the future of our university is fit for us all.”