tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca-fr/topics/cambridge-university-22024/articlesCambridge University – La Conversation2018-02-05T09:31:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/911622018-02-05T09:31:29Z2018-02-05T09:31:29ZCambridge University received 173 anonymous reports of sexual misconduct in nine months<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204585/original/file-20180202-162087-1m05bo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cambridge launched a campaign against harassment and sexual misconduct in 2017. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/home">via shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Trust in universities’ ability to safeguard students and staff from sexual abuse will remain low until reports of sexual misconduct are in triple figures, <a href="https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/tackling-sexual-violence-universities">according to Graham Towl</a>, former chief psychologist for the Ministry of Justice. </p>
<p>The University of Cambridge has now passed that point, with 173 reports received through our <a href="https://www.studentcomplaints.admin.cam.ac.uk/anonymous-reporting-harassment-hate-crime-sexual-misconduct">anonymous reporting tool</a> between its introduction in May 2017 and 31 January 2018. The start of an awareness campaign against sexual misconduct called <a href="https://www.breakingthesilence.cam.ac.uk/">Breaking the Silence</a> in October 2017 prompted the second largest spike in reports.</p>
<p>Several other universities have introduced similar anonymous reporting tools, such as the <a href="https://www.reportandsupport.manchester.ac.uk/">University of Manchester</a>, but Cambridge is the first to publish such a high number of reports.</p>
<p>We expected high numbers, and view it as a metric of success. It appears victims have confidence in our promise that these figures will be used to judge the nature and scale of sexual misconduct affecting students and staff, and to act on it accordingly.</p>
<p>Under-reporting of sexual misconduct is a problem generally, not just in universities. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center in the US, <a href="https://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/publications_nsvrc_factsheet_media-packet_statistics-about-sexual-violence_0.pdf">more than 90%</a> of those who were sexually assaulted on campus did not report it. The charity <a href="https://rapecrisis.org.uk/">Rape Crisis</a> describes the numbers in terms of a pyramid. The wide base is the total number of incidents, reports of incidents are in the middle and at the tip are the few that result in convictions.</p>
<h2>Universities must step up</h2>
<p>A number of recent high profile cases of acquittal have <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42841346">raised significant concerns</a> about prosecution practices relating to disclosure of evidence. They also show the fundamental importance of the rule of law: the criminal justice system must be fair and must be seen to be fair.</p>
<p>But the media coverage of these cases may mean victims of sexual misconduct will be less likely to report what has happened to them to the police – and so other agencies will need to respond. Universities have a particular responsibility for their own students who have been affected by sexual misconduct, but this requires them to be able to identify and then provide support to the students who need it.</p>
<p>The challenge is that one or two complaints a year do not give a university much information with which to formulate a response to the wider problem. Through the anonymous reporting tool, we now have a large number of Cambridge voices who have reported the issues they’ve faced. Using this data, we can start to measure the impact of initiatives and campaigns such as Breaking the Silence. But this data is anonymous, and some of it will be historic. </p>
<p>It supports our belief that we have a significant problem involving sexual misconduct – what we now need to ensure is that those who have been affected receive the support and guidance they need.</p>
<p>The early signs of the impact of Breaking the Silence are encouraging. Before the campaign, 52% of those reporting recent incidents thought nothing would be done if they made a complaint. Following the launch, that has dropped to 30%. Clearly, there is work still to do, but the campaign’s message that those who report will be supported and action can be taken is starting to have an impact.</p>
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<h2>Why anonymity works for some</h2>
<p>As part of our evaluation of the campaign, we held a series of focus groups. I was struck by one student’s comment in particular. She said the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/metoo-45316">#MeToo</a> campaign put people under unfair pressure to disclose, adding that, to her, it was wrong that victims of sexual misconduct were being encouraged to “parade their pain” in the national news.</p>
<p>Anonymous reporting can help survivors’ voices be heard without their rawest experiences being made public in any way. It gives them a voice in a way that is free of the fear of consequences, but also free from accusations that complaints are vexatious as neither perpetrator nor victim can be named. For some, this may be sufficient. For others, they may want action to be taken. </p>
<p>When speaking to our staff who support students affected by sexual misconduct, all describe students who do not want formally to report to the authorities; who do not want others to know; who do not want to have to relive their experience. These students feel there is no benefit to them in reporting, and they are fearful of the reactions of their friends or the perpetrator if they do so.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/understanding-the-myths-that-new-students-hold-about-sexual-violence-and-domestic-abuse-is-key-for-prevention-88888">Understanding the myths that new students hold about sexual violence and domestic abuse is key for prevention</a>
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<p>Without anonymous reporting options there are no opportunities for these silenced voices to be heard. And with anonymous reporting, these students may start to have confidence that they can come forward and be heard in person and be given the emotional support, advice and guidance they might need.</p>
<p>Challenging sexual misconduct is not only the right thing to do for the safety and well-being of staff and students. Universities are in a unique position to instil a zero tolerance approach to misconduct in their students which they can take with them into the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91162/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graham Virgo works for the University of Cambridge. He is affiliated with Universities UK task force on sexual violence.</span></em></p>Staff and students came forward after Cambridge launched an anonymous reporting tool in May 2017.Graham Virgo, Professor of English Private Law; Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/654252016-09-15T09:43:00Z2016-09-15T09:43:00ZA brief history of why students go away to university<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137735/original/image-20160914-4955-1klk3f8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The long history of students leaving their home town to go to university is beginning to erode.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the middle of September arrives, the annual migration of students going away to university will once again begin. In the UK, this ritual of going away to study is widely regarded as the normal university experience. This is despite the fact that in many towns and cities across the country alternative universities or other higher education institutions are available – and are often much closer to home. </p>
<p>In many other countries, it is much more common for students go to their <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/aug/12/stay-at-home-students">nearest university</a>, which often involves staying in the home town or city. But in England in particular, there is a <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/long-history-of-students-going-to-university-beginning-to-erode">strong historical precedent</a> for going away to university. </p>
<p>A lot of this is based on the fact that until the 1830s, there were only two universities in England – Oxford and Cambridge. So if you wanted a university education, you had to go to these remote (to many) destinations – which developed a complex system of colleges and tutors to house and look after the undergraduates.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137738/original/image-20160914-4980-59sls4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137738/original/image-20160914-4980-59sls4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137738/original/image-20160914-4980-59sls4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137738/original/image-20160914-4980-59sls4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137738/original/image-20160914-4980-59sls4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137738/original/image-20160914-4980-59sls4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137738/original/image-20160914-4980-59sls4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The city of Oxford, home to the original university experience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CBCK/Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>But through the second half of the 19th century, a great expansion of higher education made the university experience much more accessible. University College and King’s College in London were geared to students remaining at home while they studied. And through the system of <a href="http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/community-support-resources/current-students/examinations/examination-centres">external examinations</a>, people from across the country – and around the world – were able to sit degree examinations set and validated by the University of London. </p>
<p>By the end of the century, the industrial and commercial cities, such as Manchester and Liverpool, pioneered a new type of civic institution that was more connected to their home towns. Local students gained access to a <a href="http://www.abebooks.com/Universities-State-England-1850-1939-Vernon-Keith/1969428457/bd">university experience</a> that would benefit both themselves, and their local economy, society and culture.</p>
<h2>A real education?</h2>
<p>But taking Oxbridge as the model, <a href="http://www.abebooks.com/Universities-State-England-1850-1939-Vernon-Keith/1969428457/bd">some argued</a> that studying for a degree should be more than just a nine-to-five existence. Concerns were raised for those students studying in their home town or city about whether the family home could provide a suitable cultural background for an undergraduate.</p>
<p>And so from the 1930s, there was a push to provide residential accommodation at the provincial universities – offering something more like a “proper” Oxbridge-style experience. This led to more students beginning to by-pass their nearest institution – especially after the Second World War, which broadened most people’s horizons. </p>
<p>The new universities of the 1960s – such as Sussex, York and Lancaster – were intended to be primarily residential, forming model academic communities of students from around the country. And the pattern of going away to university became the norm. Universities, however, were not the only form of higher education, and polytechnics and other colleges of higher education maintained a more local student base.</p>
<h2>Home comforts</h2>
<p>Today, there is little real need to go away for a university education. Developing high-level skills and intellectual independence through serious study and reflection does not depend on where you live. And while leaving home to live independently can help young people learn to take care of themselves and grow in self-confidence, these are not skills that are acquired simply by going away to university. </p>
<p>A stay-at-home mum juggling family, caring and work responsibilities, while also studying, is likely to be much more resourceful than a feckless youth whose passage through university into privileged internship and career is eased through family wealth and connections.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137739/original/image-20160914-4989-17i1818.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137739/original/image-20160914-4989-17i1818.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137739/original/image-20160914-4989-17i1818.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137739/original/image-20160914-4989-17i1818.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137739/original/image-20160914-4989-17i1818.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137739/original/image-20160914-4989-17i1818.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137739/original/image-20160914-4989-17i1818.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">You can’t always get a hug from mum when you live in halls.</span>
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<p>In the 21st century, the emergence of mass higher education and the financial pressures placed on students, have created a much more mixed pattern. Former polytechnics continue to recruit significantly from their regional areas, while also attracting students from further afield, including overseas. </p>
<p>But older universities are also coming to recognise that notable numbers of students are choosing to stay at home. The reasons students choose to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/aug/12/stay-at-home-students">stay at home</a> are varied, but it often comes down to the fact that living at home can be much cheaper, and more comfortable for new students. </p>
<p>Part-time work and family support networks are also very valuable, especially for more mature students. And social and cultural changes increasingly allow youngsters to enjoy the freedoms of student life – even while living with their parents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65425/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Vernon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In many countries, students go to their nearest institution, but in England in particular, there is a strong historical precedent for going away to university.Keith Vernon, Lecturer in History, University of Central LancashireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/575852016-04-22T12:42:52Z2016-04-22T12:42:52ZThe man who taught infinity: how GH Hardy tamed Srinivasa Ramanujan’s genius<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119682/original/image-20160421-26983-1bcf1xs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Srinivasa Ramanujan (middle) with fellow scientists at Cambridge.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey_Harold_Hardy#/media/File:Godfrey_Harold_Hardy_1.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Throughout the history of mathematics, there has been no one remotely like Srinivasa Ramanujan. There is no doubt that he was a great mathematician, but had he had simply a good university education and been taught by a good professor in his field, we wouldn’t have <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP0lUqNAw3k&nohtml5=False">a film about him</a>. </p>
<p>As the years pass, I admire more and more the astonishing body of work Ramanujan produced in India before he made contact with any top mathematicians. Not because the results he got at the time changed the face of mathematics, far from it, but because, working by himself, he fearlessly attacked many important and some not so important problems in analysis and, especially, number theory – simply for the love of mathematics. </p>
<p>It cannot be understated, however, the role played by Ramanujan’s tutor Godfrey Harold Hardy in his life story. The Cambridge mathematician worked tirelessly with the Indian genius, to tame his creativity within the then current understanding of the field. It was only with Hardy’s care and mentoring that Ramanujan became the scholar we know him as today.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119678/original/image-20160421-27004-1t40n0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119678/original/image-20160421-27004-1t40n0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=822&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119678/original/image-20160421-27004-1t40n0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=822&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119678/original/image-20160421-27004-1t40n0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=822&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119678/original/image-20160421-27004-1t40n0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1033&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119678/original/image-20160421-27004-1t40n0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1033&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119678/original/image-20160421-27004-1t40n0k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1033&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Srinivasa Ramanujan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan#/media/File:Srinivasa_Ramanujan_-_OPC_-_1.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
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<h2>Determined and obsessed</h2>
<p>In December 1903, at the age of 16, Ramanujan passed the matriculation exam for the University of Madras. But as he concentrated on mathematics to the exclusion of all other subjects, he did not progress beyond the second year. In 1909 he married a nine-year-old girl, but failed to secure any steady income until the beginning of 1912, when he became a clerk in the Madras Port Trust office on a meagre salary. </p>
<p>All this time, Ramanujan remained obsessed with mathematics and kept working on continued fractions, divergent series, elliptic integrals, hypergeometric series and the distribution of primes. By 1911, Ramanujan was desperate to gain recognition from leading mathematicians, especially those in England. So, at the beginning of 1913, when he was just past 25, he <a href="http://www.imsc.res.in/%7Erao/ramanujan/newnow/hardyletterindex.htm">dispatched a letter to Hardy in Cambridge</a> with a long list of his discoveries –- a letter which changed both their lives. </p>
<p>Although only 36 when he received Ramanujan’s letter, <a href="http://trinitycollegechapel.com/about/memorials/brasses/hardy/">Hardy was already the leading mathematician in England</a>. The mathematical scene in England in the first half of the 20th century was dominated by Hardy and <a href="http://trinitycollegechapel.com/about/memorials/brasses/littlewood/">another titan of Trinity College, J.E. Littlewood</a>. The two formed a legendary partnership, unique to this day, writing an astounding 100 joint papers. They were instrumental in turning England into a superpower in mathematics, especially in number theory and analysis. </p>
<p>Hardy was not the first mathematician to whom Ramanujan had sent his results, however the first two to whom he had written judged him to be a crank. But Hardy was not only an outstanding mathematician, he was also a wonderful teacher, eager to nurture talent. </p>
<h2>Genius unknown</h2>
<p>After dinner in Trinity one evening, some of the fellows adjourned to the combination room. Over their claret and port Hardy mentioned to Littlewood some of the claims he had received in the mail from an unknown Indian. Some assertions they knew well, others they could prove, others they could disprove, but many they found not only fascinating and unusual but also <em>impossible</em> to resolve. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119679/original/image-20160421-27001-1vds5zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119679/original/image-20160421-27001-1vds5zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119679/original/image-20160421-27001-1vds5zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119679/original/image-20160421-27001-1vds5zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119679/original/image-20160421-27001-1vds5zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119679/original/image-20160421-27001-1vds5zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119679/original/image-20160421-27001-1vds5zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Godfrey Harold Hardy, Ramanujan’s mentor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey_Harold_Hardy#/media/File:Godfrey_Harold_Hardy_1.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
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<p>This toing and froing between Hardy and Littlewood continued the next day and beyond, and soon they were convinced that their correspondent was a genius. So Hardy sent an encouraging reply to Ramanujan, which led to a frequent exchange of letters.</p>
<p>It was clear to Hardy that Ramanujan was totally exceptional: however, in spite of his amazing feats in mathematics, he lacked the basic tools of the trade of a professional mathematician. Hardy knew that if Ramanujan was to fulfil his potential, he had to have a solid foundation in mathematics, at least as much as the best Cambridge graduates. </p>
<p>It was for Ramanujan’s good that Hardy invited him to Cambridge, then, and he was taken aback when, due to caste prejudices, Ramanujan did not jump at the chance. <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/a-passage-to-infinity-the-untold-story-of-srinivasa-ramanujan/">As a Brahmin</a>, Ramanujan was not allowed to cross the ocean and his mother was totally opposed to the idea of the voyage. When, in early 1914, Ramanujan gained his mother’s consent, Hardy swang into action. He asked E.H Neville, <a href="http://www.imsc.res.in/%7Erao/ramanujan/newnow/nevilletodews.htm">another fellow of Trinity College</a>, who was on a serendipitous trip to Madras, to secure Ramanujan a scholarship from the University of Madras. Neville’s wrote in a letter to the university that “the discovery of the genius of S. Ramanujan of Madras promises to be the most interesting event of our time in the mathematical world …”</p>
<p>Ramanujan sailed for England in the company of Neville, and arrived in Cambridge in April 1914. </p>
<h2>Fearless mentoring</h2>
<p>I cannot but admire Hardy for his care in mentoring Ramanujan. His main worry was how to teach this astounding talent much mathematics without destroying his confidence. The last thing Hardy wanted was to dent Ramanujan’s fearless approach to the most difficult problems. To quote Hardy:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The limitations of his knowledge were as startling as its profundity. Here was a man who could work out modular equations, and theorems of complex multiplication, to orders unheard of, whose mastery of continued fractions was, on the formal side at any rate, beyond that of any mathematician in the world … It was impossible to ask such a man to submit to systematic instruction, to try to learn mathematics from the beginning once more. </p>
<p>On the other hand there were things of which it was impossible that he would remain in ignorance … so I had to try to teach him, and in a measure I succeeded, though I obviously learnt from him much more than he learnt from me.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119688/original/image-20160421-30266-12jsnvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119688/original/image-20160421-30266-12jsnvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119688/original/image-20160421-30266-12jsnvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119688/original/image-20160421-30266-12jsnvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119688/original/image-20160421-30266-12jsnvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119688/original/image-20160421-30266-12jsnvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119688/original/image-20160421-30266-12jsnvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jeremy Irons as GH Hardy and Dev Patel as Srinivasa Ramanujan in The Man Who Knew Infinity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Warner Bros</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For almost three years, things went extremely well. In 1916 Ramanujan got his BA from Cambridge and his research went from strength to strength. He published one excellent paper after another, with a great deal of Hardy’s help in the proofs and presentation. They also collaborated on several great projects, and published wonderful joint papers. Sadly, in the spring of 1917 Ramanujan fell ill, and was in and out of sanatoria for the rest of his stay in Cambridge. </p>
<p>By early 1919 Ramanujan seemed to have recovered sufficiently, and decided to travel back to India. Hardy was alarmed not to have heard from him for a considerable time, but a letter in February 1920 made it clear that Ramanujan was very active in research. </p>
<p>Ramanujan’s letter contained <a href="http://mathworld.wolfram.com/MockThetaFunction.html">some examples of his latest discovery, mock theta functions</a>, which have turned out to be very important. A main conjecture about them was <a href="http://www.maa.org/news/puzzle-solved-ramanujans-mock-theta-conjectures-0">solved 80 years later</a>, and these functions are now seen as interesting examples of a much larger class of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/ramanujans-mock-modular-forms_n_2371680.html">mock modular forms</a> in mathematics, which have applications to elliptic curves, <a href="http://www.math.unt.edu/%7Erichter/afbridges/sites/default/files/lecture_notes_hill.pdf">Borcherds products</a>, <a href="http://www.ams.org/journals/tran/1961-100-01/S0002-9947-1961-0140126-3/S0002-9947-1961-0140126-3.pdf">Eichler cohomology</a> and <a href="http://www.math.ias.edu/%7Ertaylor/longicm02.pdf">Galois representations</a> – and the nature of black holes.</p>
<p>Sadly, Ramanujan’s recovery was short-lived. His illness returned and killed him, aged just 32, on April 26 1920, leaving him only a short time to benefit from his fellowship of the Royal Society and fellowship of Trinity. </p>
<p>Ramanujan’s death at the height of his powers was a tremendous blow to mathematics. His like may never be seen again, and certainly such a partnership as that which Hardy and Ramanujan built will not either.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57585/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Béla Bollobás is a Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge</span></em></p>The unlikely friendship that allowed an untrained Indian mathematician to become an acclaimed academic.Béla Bollobás, Professor of Pure Mathematics, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/563262016-03-23T10:08:12Z2016-03-23T10:08:12ZThe history of student loans goes back to the Middle Ages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115834/original/image-20160321-30929-1usscp2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A early chest, belonging to Sir Thomas Bodley, founder of The Bodleian Library at Oxford Unviersity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21804434@N02/5937432201">mira66</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1473, Alexander Hardynge, who had finished his bachelor’s degree at Oxford nearly two years previous, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Biographical_Register_of_the_Universit.html?id=8DkkAAAAMAAJ">borrowed money through an educational loan service</a>. The loan came with a one year repayment deadline.</p>
<p>With some of that money, he rented a room at Exeter College and offered tutoring services to college students. He soon repaid that loan. In 1475, Hardynge took out a second loan – again, in part to rent teaching space. </p>
<p>Then, in 1478, he was appointed as a subdeacon, a post two orders lower than a priest, likely in Durham, a city in the north of England. From all evidence, it seems that he promptly packed his robes and abandoned his teaching gig. There is also nothing to suggest that he gave a single penny to his lenders. </p>
<p>For students today, Hardynge’s story would be too good to be true. Not only did he get his bachelor’s degree without incurring debt, but also, he did not have to repay the money he borrowed. </p>
<p>Prompted by my own anxiety about educational debt, an anxiety that intensified several years ago with the birth of my own prospective college students, I have been researching the long history of educational loans in order to get a better context for the current student debt crisis.</p>
<p>With student loan <a href="http://educationbythenumbers.org/wp-content/uploads/Student-Loan-Debt-Time-Series.jpg">growth rates</a> spiraling out of control, it behooves us to think through the ways other time periods and cultures have monetized, funded or <em>not</em> funded student labor.</p>
<h2>Loan chests, books as collateral</h2>
<p>The history of student loans starts with the establishment of institutions of higher learning in medieval Europe from the late 11th century.</p>
<p>The University of Bologna, considered the first official university, <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/US/academic/subjects/history/european-history-1000-1450/history-university-europe-volume-1">was quickly followed</a> by the University of Paris, Oxford University and Cambridge University. All of these places offered degrees to young men, training them for positions in the Catholic Church and, later, in government. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sir Thomas Bodley’s chest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ndw/915249333/in/photolist-s6qztf-7h7g9p-n8fX8k-6iuJK3-ietpvH-q2UJeg-ifXqaC-bHWQbe-q2NCWf-6kZGZT-q2NjEf-8jZNvv-6iqAKn-pnmMsC-8zx7ut-6HBBFV-E2Yec-8zx8dV-A5FGZ-8a7w93-8zAiQJ-8K5zV2-8zx8UH-ifAbW6-7SUpWf-8zAikj-8K5znK-7P6frk-2oSTJV-dnt4px-8zx4mF-bHWSmF-5jXGhe-8K5zPz-4pdh6o-dnt4mR-3iNoaF-dnt4sp-8K8BU1-aVyJ1B-8K8BUQ-aT7Vj8-aT7Vbn-aT7V4F-mZXRmY-8d4DE1-BMZRFp-BCpExG">Norman Walsh</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At first, scholars who needed money did not differ from other borrowers: everyone took loans from the same lenders. But in 1240, <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/grosseteste/">Robert Grosseteste, the bishop of Lincoln</a>, used Oxford University money to launch the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=AkJO3TAxMtwC&pg=PA279&lpg=PA279&dq=st+frideswide%27+chest&source=bl&ots=QQEsr8YR14&sig=Loh2SzLEpeD-9mIgTVW0c4riobo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj3tZesvMXLAhWqyIMKHbnPAUYQ6AEILzAD#v=onepage&q=st%20frideswide'%20chest&f=false">first documented student loan system</a>. He named it St. Frideswide’s Chest. </p>
<p>St. Frideswide’s Chest was literally a chest. Bound by two different locks, with each key held by a different college magister, or faculty member, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=AkJO3TAxMtwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=endowment%20universities&f=false">it resided at St. Frideswide’s Priory</a>, a religious house in central Oxford, amid the city’s colleges, academic halls and student apartments. </p>
<p>To get a loan from St. Frideswide’s, a borrower had to be a scholar of modest means – and likely took an oath for proving so. He also had to have something of value to deposit in the chest as collateral. From the pledge notes I’ve seen in roughly 100 manuscripts and descriptions of manuscripts, it’s clear that scholars hocked everything from silver spoons to gold plates. </p>
<p>But the most commonly collateralized items were books. Not fancy, illuminated books. Just textbooks. In the late Middle Ages, this included works by Aristotle, the Bible, law codes and medical tracts. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/balliolarchivist/8448286566/in/album-72157632695518524/">Here’s a link to a manuscript</a> at Balliol College that was used as collateral. The lines on the final page record two loans taken out by a scholar, Thomas Chace, in 1423 and 1424. The Merton College manuscript (pictured) contains eight pledge notes from the same century.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Merton MS 32, fol. 137v taken by Jenny Adams with permission of the Warden and Fellows of Merton College Oxford.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Warden and Fellows of Merton College Oxford.</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These were not textbooks as we know them today. They were manuscripts made from animal skin and completed through hours of scribal labor. They fetched large sums. As in modern times, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=PAVZAAAAYAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=the+provision+of+books">medieval textbooks too derived part of their value</a> through the educational market. </p>
<p>Today, for example, the <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Encyclopedia_of_international_media_and.html?id=pPgKAQAAMAAJ"><em>Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications</em></a> (US$305 secondhand) commands a high price because faculty use it to teach and students use it to research in one of the fastest-growing majors. Back then, it was <a href="http://hviewer.bl.uk/IamsHViewer/Default.aspx?mdark=ark:/81055/vdc_100000000042.0x000109">Peter Lombard’s <em>Sentences</em></a>, a staple of the Oxford curriculum and also the book Hardynge used for collateral. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Leaf from Peter Lombard’s <em>Sentences.</em></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/58558794@N07/9082818327/in/photolist-eQBQoc-eQBPrZ">POP</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sadly, the pledge note in Hardynge’s text, as recorded in the British Library’s on-line description of its manuscripts, does not include the loan amount. But on another leaf of the manuscript one can see a scrawled “precii xl.s.” or “price 40 shillings.” </p>
<p>Hardynge almost surely did not get a loan of this amount. As noted by other scholars who have written extensively on medieval loans and debt collection, the <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674737280">value of the collateral far outweighed</a> the actual amount of the loan. But given that a student in the early 15th century could <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=PAVZAAAAYAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=careers+of+scholars">pay for an entire series of lectures for six shillings</a>, even a loan of 20 shillings, or half the book’s value, would have represented a hefty sum. </p>
<h2>Loans for scholars</h2>
<p>This system might sound like a pawn shop crossed with a secondhand book store. But the use of collateral meant scholars did not always feel the need to repay their loans. Once employed, they could walk away from their debts, just as Hardynge did. If that happened, the chest manager would then put the collateral back into the market. For many borrowers like Hardynge, who had finished his education, buying back his book was simply not worth it. Now employed, he had little need for his copy of Peter Lombard’s <em>Sentences</em>. </p>
<p>By the end of the 14th century, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=AkJO3TAxMtwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=endowment%20universities&f=false">roughly 20 more loan chests had appeared</a> in Oxford. The chests had also moved in 1320 from St. Frideswide’s Priory to the university’s congregation house, and they held the equivalent of millions of today’s dollars. Most often the money came from wealthy patrons who either wanted to support scholars or liked the thought of having their name associated with a chest.</p>
<p>This later impulse seems to have been the case with some of the later chests, which were funded by professionals rather than the nobility. Thus, while King Edward I’s consort, Queen Eleanor of Castile, founded a chest in 1293, the Guildford Chest (1314) and the Robury Chest (1321)<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=AkJO3TAxMtwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=endowment%20universities&f=false"> were founded, respectively,</a> by a judge and an attorney-turned-judge. </p>
<p>These later chests opened borrowing to all scholars, not just poor students. In short, the chests now targeted the Alexander Hardynges of Oxford. Hardynge was not poor. He probably funded his education through parental handouts and part-time work, or received on support from a wealthy patron. But clearly by several years after his graduation, he needed money to stay afloat. </p>
<h2>Printing press changes the system</h2>
<p>For 300 years, the loan chest system thrived. Then, one evening in early March of 1544, two men – Robert Raunce and John Stanshaw – armed with an “iron bar and hammer,” <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=TGGCrgEACAAJ&dq=The+Register+of+Congregation,+1448-1463++University+of+Oxford&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiAgvWx_9HLAhUCDT4KHfFwAoYQ6AEIHDAA">broke into the congregation house</a> and smashed all of the loan chests. Although Raunce and Stanshaw were eventually tried and sentenced, their burglary still managed to wipe out much of the chests’ wealth. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The arrival of the printing press changed the value of a book.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/172495285/in/photolist-gf5QD-a4NSNT-9FouSy-bXa8uS-dpHzex-kuXPS6-4M3Rft-a31HYv-aigYFd-eDxQL6-fdaMBP-47TLJP-dTrnwK-cVuNxh-do5vAx-fKdEge-dsuGRq-dfT8Xx-unttkF-jQijKd-49Kjo7-81JzpW-dmCBA5-47TM6c-iD74WS-mjZZUa-9edpnc-ksdAbM-9egoDj-dKtBR5-fJVcs1-9VPpRB-9egu3U-eh2w4s-9egkn1-ee5N2Q-9edioz-Ks3zR-aFtm4e-acSfCn-jtezvG-cYJ5BW-aey4N8-dWFqTq-e4XwrL-dmCbxp-deExRT-eokxpq-a8Eb9P-7KpoZ2">Thomas Hawk</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet even before this, the loan system had started to decline. Although the arrival of the printing press in the late 15th century didn’t have an immediate effect on manuscript production, <a href="http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/william-caxton-and-canterbury-tales">it would eventually make books cheap and thus no longer worth collateralizing</a>. Even in the chests’ final century of use, the use of gold plate and jewelry was increasing and by <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=TGGCrgEACAAJ&dq=The+Register+of+Congregation,+1448-1463++University+of+Oxford&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiAgvWx_9HLAhUCDT4KHfFwAoYQ6AEIHDAA">1500 had surpassed the use of books</a>. </p>
<p>Around the same time, bankers began to make loans on the premise of future returns rather than in exchange for real property. The shift toward anticipated future earnings soon came with the England’s 1624 legalization of interest-bearing loans, <a href="https://www.economics.utoronto.ca/index.php/index/research/workingPaperDetails/439">which pushed even more people into this model of lending</a>. </p>
<p>With their loan chests gone, students again became just like other borrowers. And just like other borrowers, they, too, could end up the <a href="https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-gaol-the-story-of-newgate-londons-most-notorious-prison/">notorious debtors’ prisons</a> that began to swell with inmates as early as the 17th century. </p>
<h2>Modern-day loans</h2>
<p>Student loans arrived in the United States <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2011/06/13/deduct-this-the-history-of-the-student-loan-interest/#9989a2037518">in the mid-19th century</a>. Like the medieval loan chests at Oxford, these loans started through a singular university, in this case Harvard, which administered them. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">UMass students protest against student loans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jenny Adams</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>This localized system changed in the mid-20th century with the creation by the Department of Education in 1965 of <a href="http://atlas.newamerica.org/federal-student-loan-programs-history">federally guaranteed student loans</a> made by private lenders and available to students across the country.</p>
<p>Students were once again put into a special category. But in this case, this meant they could now collateralize their estimated future incomes (without even knowing what those incomes might be) in order to obtain a degree.</p>
<p>For a long time and for many students (this writer included), this model of credit worked. Loans opened up college to many people, allowing them to pursue a career path otherwise unavailable. But now that we’ve entered the age of six-figure student loans, this freedom seems more like a virtual debtors’ prison than a chance to economic mobility. </p>
<p>I would never advocate a return to the Middle Ages. Yet as we consider the current morass of educational debt, we need to think harder about historical precedent. </p>
<p>True, medieval universities excluded many groups – religious minorities, feudal villeins (a commoner legally tied to a feudal lord in the Middle Ages) and women were barred from entry. Yet poor young men with talent had a chance. Fees were not high. Patrons helped out. And if one needed money, one might be able to pledge a book – not a future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56326/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenny Adams has received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. </span></em></p>When the first universities opened in Europe, some 800 years ago, students literally borrowed from a chest and used their books as collateral.Jenny Adams, Associate Professor of English, UMass AmherstLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/496232015-10-23T16:30:02Z2015-10-23T16:30:02ZRevealed: the panic that followed the defection of the Cambridge spies<p>New papers released from the National Archives spell out the dismay and disarray that followed the <a href="http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/tag/cambridge-five/">dramatic defection of Cambridge spies, Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess</a> more than 60 years ago as colleagues and friends struggled to come to terms with the treachery of two men they had considered to be erratic and promiscuous, but not traitors.</p>
<p>The papers also shed light on the Foreign Office’s obsession with Burgess’ sexuality which led to the introduction of harsh measures which would blight the lives of homosexuals employed in the Foreign Office for the next four decades. </p>
<p>Given the nature of the activities of the Cambridge spies, the value of the official government record in relation to their treachery will inevitably have some quite obvious limitations. Yet one area where this material has particular value is in shedding light on the fallout that followed within the Foreign Office, at both a departmental and a personal level. </p>
<p>Departmental distaste for security matters is immediately made apparent – while there was a wealth of personal knowledge about both men and their at times erratic behaviour, very little of it was “officially” known. As a report prepared at the request of the then prime minister, Clement Attlee, was forced to admit: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>As a result of intensive investigation by the Security Service and of statements volunteered by friends and acquaintances … we have learnt a good deal about their character and personal behaviour which we did not know before.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Never ‘peach’ on a friend</h2>
<p>Prior to their disappearance, colleagues and friends within the Foreign Service had been reluctant to make formal reports, even when they had cause to question their behaviour. To do so – to tell tales – would have been considered to be in bad taste. <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituaries-lord-gladwyn-1360227.html">Lord Gladwyn</a>, by this time Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations, recalled Burgess as: “about the most unreliable man I ever met” and questioned “whether I should not at an earlier stage have expressed to someone … my own doubts about Burgess’s character”. </p>
<p>Yet despite considering him a “positive menace” and “a deplorable selection for the Foreign Service”, Gladwyn added: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>On the other hand, one never wants to blacken somebody’s character if one can help it and to say nothing is often the line of least resistance.</p>
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<p>Lord Pakenham now provided details of Maclean’s recent behaviour, reporting that at a recent dinner Maclean: “was drinking very heavily … His whole behaviour gave the impression that he was definitely unhappy and distraught and that he would be capable of any rash and violent act.” (Underneath this an official has scribbled: “This reinforced what we have heard from other sources”). </p>
<p>Nor at any point did the Foreign Office appear to have been made fully aware of Maclean’s behaviour during his posting to Cairo, during which time he committed a series of drunken assaults. George Middleton, head of the personnel department at the Foreign Office, conceded: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We never really got a full picture from Cairo of the extent and seriousness of his breakdown there … I had heard vague rumours of domestic quarrels but these are so common that I had not paid much attention … I had also heard rumours that he was drinking rather heavily. But there was nothing to suggest that his work was anything but first-class … Having known Donald pretty well for a number of years I did not take any of the scandal-mongering very seriously.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Even in the aftermath of their disappearance, and with the need to ensure: “an adequate check on the personal behaviour of members of the Foreign Service”, the Foreign Office was loath to institute “a system of spying which would be both repugnant to our traditions and destructive of morale”.</p>
<p>To complicate matters, the Foreign Office’s own internal security department locked horns with personnel over who held responsibility for personal security. It is acknowledged in the documents (by no less a figure than <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-sir-dick-white-1474703.html">Dick White</a>, who would go on to head both MI5 and MI6) that, had there been a “complete pooling of information” between the security and personnel departments, then Maclean “would certainly have been suspect somewhat earlier”.</p>
<h2>‘Homosexual tendencies’</h2>
<p>The disappearance of Burgess and Maclean also led officials to focus on the standard of personal conduct inside the Foreign Office. This led to <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-love-that-dared-not-speak-its-name-in-the-foreign-office-1931127.html">policy developments on the employment of homosexuals</a> that would blight the careers of many diplomats for almost five decades until the 1990s.</p>
<p>As the full sordid details of the case – drunkenness, violent behaviour and sexual promiscuity – began to emerge, a committee was established, chaired by <a href="http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/24th-march-1950/7/the-retirement-of-sir-alexander-cadogan-from-the-p">Sir Alexander Cadogan</a>, former Foreign Office permanent under-secretary, to report on security standards across the Foreign Service. Informally, the purpose of the inquiry was described in somewhat different terms – MI5 deputy director-general, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20088973">Guy Liddell</a>, recorded in his diary that: “there is to be a highly confidential enquiry in the Foreign Office about the security risks of employing homosexuals”.</p>
<p>Alongside a range of relatively minor changes to relations between the security and personnel departments and the Foreign Office reporting system, the committee’s final report paid particular attention to homosexuality, on account of the “homosexual tendencies” the men were “alleged to have had”. </p>
<p>It recommended changes to the future employment of homosexuals, who were felt to have not only the potential to “bring discredit on the Service”, but were also considered to constitute a particular problem as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In this and some other countries some forms of homosexuality involve offences under the criminal law. A practising homosexual is therefore especially liable to blackmail, and on this account represents a serious security risk.</p>
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<p>As such, the report suggested that they needed to be “carefully watched”.
While the report demurred from setting down “hard-and-fast rules” to deal with homosexuals in the Foreign Service, the concerns expressed were quickly followed up. During a meeting in February 1952, officials set out “specific guidance” to protect the public reputation of the Foreign Office, with “categories” of homosexual misconduct established to prevent any future scandal. </p>
<p>In the least serious of cases, suspected homosexuals would be investigated and, if necessary, warned that “if the stories persist, his usefulness to the Service will inevitably be diminished”. In cases where homosexuality had been established but there was no risk of public scandal, individuals would be warned that “if any future case of homosexual practices comes to notice he will have to leave the Service, since there was some risk of scandal”. </p>
<p>In what were considered the most serious cases, where an individual had brought disgrace on the diplomatic service, they would be dealt with under “disciplinary regulations”. These categories were later approved by the the foreign secretary, Anthony Eden. </p>
<p>The persecution of homosexuals in the Foreign Office remains an important, if often overlooked, legacy of the Burgess and Maclean scandal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49623/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New papers shed light on the aftermath of the dramatic flight of two of the notorious ‘Cambridge Spies’.Christopher J. Murphy, Lecturer in Intelligence Studies, University of SalfordDan Lomas, Programme Leader - MA Intelligence & Security Studies, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.