In 11th century Bologna a group of young immigrants acted to better their lives. They were being harassed and persecuted by the local population so if one of them committed a misdemeanour they were all punished.
These immigrants – like many throughout history – formed communities to support one-another and to protect their collective rights. Over time they realised that one of the ways to better their prospects was to seek an education, so they pulled the little money they had and hired lecturers.
They did this in national groups – nationes – with a focus on law, theology and what today we would call the liberal arts. These communities became known as universitas scholarium, which loosely translates as an incorporated groups of scholars or students. The communities began to merge together to form a larger association or studium, a centre of study.
This is the founding story of the West’s oldest university – the University of Bologna, in Italy. A university founded by students for students. It is a story of student action. It is a story of social justice. It is a story of progress.
Today, universities are being attacked for being progressive and seeking social justice. Whilst a long-time coming, one of the catalysts for the current critique of the social justice model of higher education followed the resignations of the Presidents of Harvard University (Claudine Gay) and the University of Pennsylvania (Elizabeth Magill) after their appearance before the US Congress on 5th December 2023.
