The Business School 

A UNIVERSITY has chosen a new name for its business school in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests.

The Cass Business School in Finsbury, part of the City, University of London, is renowned as a top place to study for aspiring entrepreneurs and financiers.

But the global protests which followed the murder of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer last year sparked a student-led campaign to have Sir John Cass’s name removed.

Hundreds signed a petition calling for links to the 17th-century merchant, and his association to the slave trade, to be dropped. The University commissioned a consultation survey to find a new name in response.

More than 8,000 students and members of staff responded and the “Bayes Business School” was chosen.

It honours Thomas Bayes, a nonconformist theologian and mathematician best known for his foundational work on “conditional probability”.

His grave is in Bunhill Fields, opposite the Business School.

Bayes’ theorem suggests that we get closer to the truth by constantly updating our beliefs in proportion to the weight of new evidence.

His ideas are seen are the foundation of artificial intelligence and machine learning which powers social media.

The new name will “formally launch” on Monday September 6 – the beginning of the 2021/22 academic year. Until this point, the School will continue to be referred to as “The Business School”.

Professor Paolo Volpin, dean of the school, said: “In Bayes Business School, we believe we now have a name that reflects who we are and the values we hold.

“Even though Bayes lived a long time ago, his ideas and his name are very much connected to the future rather than the past.”

The university has already committed to addressing issues surrounding inequality and opportunity, particularly around race and ethnicity.

City has committed to funding five PhD scholarships for black British students each year – one for each of City’s five schools, including the Business School.

The Business School will also launch a scholarship programme for black British undergraduates. This programme will run for ten years and offer 10 scholarships per year, covering all tuition fees.