On Monday, UniversitiesUK launch their pro-EU and anti-Brexit campaign. It is notable for the sector’s desire to be out-of-the-blocks quickly and for its unrelentingly positive focus. It seems likely to get lots of media coverage.
The difference between the last major referendum in the UK – the referendum on Scottish independence – is stark, as HE sector bodies typically sought to avoid coming down on one side or the other that time.
In a piece in the current edition of Research Fortnight (freely available online), the Director of HEPI outlines some thoughts on how the sector could campaign most effectively on the European question. The piece argues above all that it should not just be about the money. Similar themes are also addressed in two recent pieces by Emran Mian of the Social Market Foundation and John Morgan of Times Higher Education.
Separately, another piece by the HEPI Director in this week’s Times Higher considers the origins and tenacity of the boarding-school model of higher education. Going away from home to experience a full residential university experience seems normal to many British families, but it is not the norm in many of the country’s core competitors.