London: The Business School of City, University of London has been renamed as Bayes Business School ahead of the 2021/22 academic year.
In June 2020, there was increasing awareness of the links between Sir John Cass and the slave trade, which made the School, and its stakeholders, reflect on whether such a link was consistent with the School’s values. The School has decided that, in line with its values and principles, it needs to increase its focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The decision to select Bayes as the new name followed a comprehensive and transparent consultation process, which was carried out with staff, students, alumni and partners.
“As an institution, City is committed to seeing Bayes reinforce its position as a distinctive globally leading Business School,” Professor Anthony Finkelstein, President of City, University of London, said.
Thomas Bayes was a theologian and mathematician who is best known for Bayes’ Theorem, which suggests that we get closer to the truth by constantly updating our beliefs in proportion to the weight of new evidence. It is this idea that is the motivation behind adopting this name.
“Inspired by Thomas Bayes’ ideas, our approach as Bayes Business School will be to have the courage to do things differently. As a community, we will nurture diversity to stimulate new perspectives and learn from each other,” Professor Paolo Volpin, Dean, Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), said.
Alongside the new name, Bayes Business School is addressing inequality and participation more widely.
“The decision to rename the Business School marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter and is reflective of the values we hold as a University. It is an important part of our ongoing work to address racial inequality across City and we are committed to doing everything we can to ensure that we are a diverse and inclusive place to work and study,” Julia Palca, Chair of City’s Council, said.
The College expects over two thousand new students to now undertake inclusive teamworking workshops as part of their induction. It stated that a complete curriculum review is underway to embed ethical and socially responsible values throughout, to ensure that Bayes educates professionals and business leaders who work towards building an equitable and sustainable future.
Bayes has also instituted a scholarship programme for Black UK-domiciled undergraduate students to widen participation. This will cover all tuition fees along with an annual stipend for ten students from the start of the 2022/23 academic year.
Located in the heart of one of the world’s top financial centres, the business school is a leading global business school which has also been at the forefront of business education for more than 50 years, developing leaders who help businesses thrive through change and uncertainty.
– global bihari bureau
