University of Essex

University of Essex   (University)
Motto	Thought the harder, heart the keener.
Type	Public
University in Essex, England.

The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established in 1963, welcomed students in 1964, and acquired university status by royal charter in 1965. The university has produced many notable alumni in several fields, including two Nobel Prize laureates, a head of state, foreign ministers, MPs, scientists, artists, politicians, authors, and filmmakers.

Criticism

In her article "Diary: Why I Quit" in the London Review of Books, the novelist and the chair of judges for the 2015 Man Booker International Prize Dame Marina Warner compared the University of Essex to "the world of Chinese communist corporatism where enforcers rush to carry out the latest orders from their chiefs in an ecstasy of obedience to ideological principles which they do not seem to have examined, let alone discussed with the people they order to follow them, whom they cashier when they won’t knuckle under."

In "The Strange Death of the Liberal University", Michael Bailey describes the university as a place that promotes "divisive competition, false economies and philistine instrumentality". In 2021, following the Reindorf Review, the university was obliged to apologise to Professor Rosa Freedman and Professor Jo Phoenix after they were disinvited to speak. The Vice-Chancellor Professor Anthony Forster said: The report makes clear that we have made serious mistakes and we need to do our very best to learn from these and to ensure they are not repeated. The review notes the particular responsibility placed on universities to protect freedom of speech within the law, and to ensure that a diversity of voices and views can be heard on our campuses. On behalf of the university, I have issued an open apology to each of Professor Phoenix and Professor Freedman.

In 2021, the university received criticism regarding the invitation of Richard Kemp by the conservative society on the Colchester campus. Members of the Feminist society, the LGBTQ society and other societies who represent minorities on campus have protested on square 3 the invitation of Kemp as speaker on the day he was present.

 

Alumni on Wikispooks

Person	Born	Nationality	Summary	Description
Gilad Atzmon	9 June 1963	Israel	Author Musician	Jazz saxophonist, novelist, political activist and writer - mainly on the subjects of Israel and Judaic power
Virginia Bottomley	12 March 1948		Politician Lobbyist Deep state functionary	UK lobbyist politician possible deep state functionary
David Claydon	December 1970		Banker Businessperson
Chris Curtis	1994	UK	Pollster	British pollster; Future Labour MP?
Peter Cuthbertson	1983			Think tanker and Conservative politician turned public affairs professional
Hugh Kerr	9 July 1944		Politician Academic
Ruth Lister	3 May 1949
Siobhain McDonagh	20 February 1960
James Paice	24 April 194 JL		Politician	UK Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2010–2012
Priti Patel	29 March 1972		Politician
Celia Szusterman	September 1947	UK	Academic Deep state operative	UK academic and suspected deep state operative. She was a director of the Institute for Statecraft for 2011 until the group was officially wound up in 2023
Yanis Varoufakis	24 March 1961		Politician	Greek politician and later Minister of Finance. In the last role played a much publicized campaign against the selling of Greek (state) companies during the Greece/Debt crisis.
John Zysman	1946	US	Academic	Academic on political economy at Berkeley who attended the 1978 Bilderberg meeting.

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