UCL issues formal apology for past involvement in eugenics movement
UCL issued a public statement in which the institution formally apologised for its role in the “development, propagation and legitimisation of eugenics.”
On January 7, UCL’s then-President & Provost Professor Michael Arthur delivered a formal apology on behalf of the university, related to its historical links with the eugenics movement. Arthur stated that “the legacies and consequences of eugenics still cause direct harm through the racism, antisemitism, ableism and other harmful stereotyping that they feed. These continue to impact on people's lives directly, driving discrimination and denying opportunity, access and representation.”
The apology emphasised UCL’s status as the first UK institution to accept students regardless of their gender and religious faith, suggesting that such “values of equality, openness and humanity” stand in opposition to the institution’s past involvement in eugenics. “As a community, we reject eugenics entirely” Arthur said.
In addition to the apology, UCL has pledged to implements a series of measures to address the inequality suffered by disadvantaged students. These include an action plan to improve the experience of disabled students and staff at UCL; increased accessibility for students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds through the contextual offer programme and greater prominence of UCL’s history of eugenics in teaching at the university.
This comes as the latest development in UCL’s efforts to confront its racist history and decolonise the curriculum after the findings of an inquiry into the history of eugenics at UCL were released in early 2020. After the report was published, UCL decide to “dename” several university facilities that were named after two of the founders of eugenics: Francis Galton and Karl Pearson.
Francis Galton coined the term “Eugenics” in 1883 and later allocated a portion of his will to UCL for the creation of “The Galton Professorship of Eugenics.” Having studied under Francis Galton, Karl Pearson was also instrumental in the development of eugenics and was the first academic to hold the position of “Galton Professor of Eugenics” after Galton’s death in 1911.
The former Galton Lecture Theatre, Pearson Building and Pearson Lecture Theatre have all now been renamed as Lecture Theatre 115, Lecture Theatre G22 and the North-West Wing respectively.
UCL’s controversial legacy of eugenics research has long been the subject of criticism by its students. In 2018, approximately one hundred students protested outside the Provost’s office and chanted “decolonise UCL” in response to the institution’s more recent involvement with eugenics research. The demonstration was provoked by the revelation that a UCL Senior Lecturer in Psychology James Thompson had organised annual conferences at UCL which promoted research on the alleged links between genetics, race, and intelligence.
At the end of UCL’s formal apology, the former President & Provost Michael Arthur promised that the legacy of eugenics will continue to be challenged: “UCL pledges to continue to confront its history of eugenics and ongoing legacies openly and critically.”
The full apology is available here.