Heythrop College

Heythrop College, University of London, is a public university and the specialist philosophy and theology college of the University of London located in Kensington in London and is the oldest constituent college of the federal University of London, being founded in 1614 by the Society of Jesus. Heythrop joined the University of London in 1971, maintaining its Catholic links and ethos whilst offering an educational experience that respects all faiths and perspectives. Heythrop is a centre for inter-religious dialogue and modern philosophical inquiry and is a member of the Cathedrals Group of British colleges and universities.

Heythrop is situated on London's Kensington Square, whilst also having access to University of London facilities, such as Senate House and its extensive library. The college has three main departments offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in philosophy, theology and related social sciences as well as five specialist institutes and centres that promote and research in their specific field.

Heythrop has a total student population of 700, allowing one-to-one tutorship with its academic staff, one of the few institutions outside of Oxford or Cambridge to do so in the United Kingdom. The college is also widely regarded as being home to one of the largest philosophy and theology related libraries in Britain. The college is a registered charity under English law.

In June 2015 the Governing Body concluded that the College in its current form, as a constituent college of the University of London, will come to an end in 2018.

The University of London's charter of foundation, written in 1836, enabled it to grant degrees not only to students of the two existing colleges,University College and King’s College, but to students of other colleges around the country who had reached the required standard. Stonyhurst applied for recognition as an institution preparing for London degrees, and this right was granted it in 1840, allowing both lay and clerical students to prepare for London University degrees: the lay students were called "Philosophers", as had been the students at Liège back in the 1620s. In 1926, the colleges came together in Heythrop Hall, Oxfordshire. At the time of moving to Heythrop, the college was awarding degrees from the Jesuit Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. However, the college sought integration with the British educational system and moved to London in 1970, officially becoming a specialist college of the University of London in 1971, and began to award University of London degrees. Upon moving to London, the College retained the name of its previous home, and has continued to be called 'Heythrop College'. The College moved to its current Kensington Square site in 1993.

In January 2014, the College received decrees from the Congregation for Catholic Education of the Holy See, therefore officially reactivating its ecclesiastical faculties under the patronage of Robert Bellarmine, SJ. The ecclesiastical faculties is today grouped together as the Bellarmine Institute. In June 2014, Heythrop College celebrated the 400th anniversary of its foundation. While the college still retains its original function as a centre for the education of future priests and ministers of the Catholic Church, its student body is now much larger, more international and more diverse.

Unlike many University of London colleges, which are divided among many campuses, the Kensington campus houses all Heythrop College facilities. Its library houses one of the largest philosophical and theological collections in the United Kingdom. All lecture halls are located in the Kensington campus, giving students the ability to communicate with academics more easily. On this site the Alban Hall of Residence is also located, the college's sole residence for its selective student population, as well as the students union, and fully catered student dining hall.

Through Heythrop's affiliation with the Jesuits it also serves as the London centre for a Jesuit University in the United States, Fordham University. Meeting facilities on the premises are often used by external groups: one such meeting in 2012 led to the formation of A Call To Action.

Heythrop has 700 students who prepare for a range of specialist undergraduate, graduate and research degrees. The college has five specialist institutes and centres which promote research, conferences and a variety of educational outreach activities. These are the 'Centre for Christianity and Inter-religious Dialogue', the 'Centre for Eastern Christianity', the 'Centre for Philosophy of Religion', the 'Religious Life Institute' and the 'Heythrop Institute for Religion and Society'. All of these institutes conduct research in their own field with the academic staff based at Heythrop College.

It offers both full-time, and part-time courses. Teaching consists of a combination of lectures, seminars and tutorials. Significantly, Heythrop College, Oxford University andCambridge University make up the only three universities in the United Kingdom to offer one-to-one tutorials after every assignment.This high level of tutelage makes the college noted for excellence in research and a high proportion of undergraduate students go on to study at a postgraduate level.

The College has a growing research profile in more recent years. It participated in the most recent Research Excellence Framework and gained considerable recognition for its research. The combined results for all elements of the REF places Heythrop at 16th in the overall ranking for the Theology & Religious Studies unit of assessment. Overall, 22% of its research outputs was deemed world-leading and a further 40% was deemed internationally-excellent. The research works recognised in its submission reflects efforts in both its Theology and Philosophy departments.

Students' Union

The Union is managed by a team of eleven officers, elected annually. Officers have individual responsibilities, including student welfare, entertainments, societies, communications, development, campaigns and mature students. The team is headed by the sabbatical President and the sabbatical Vice-President, students who have either completed their studies or have taken a year out in order to fill this full-time position and help provide and foster the close-knit society that exists at Heythop College.

The Lion Newspaper

Heythrop's student newspaper, The Lion, was established in 2010 to provide Heythrop students with an independent source of information about the college as well as providing a platform for discussion and debate. The Lion is operated by eight students editors, including two Senior Editors and an Editor-in-Chief. The Lion is a founding newspaper of the London Student Journalism Support Network, which won the NUS "Best Student Media" Award in 2011. In 2015, the Lion ceased future publications of future newspapers. From September 2015, the Lion will continue to be published in the form of magazines instead of newspapers.

The square includes the former home of the composer Hubert Parry at number 17; the former home of the nineteenth century liberal philosopher John Stuart Mill at number 18; the former home of John Simon the sanitary reformer and pathologist at number 40; and the former home of Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones at number 41each of whom is commemorated with a blue plaque. The lawyer and Positivist Vernon Lushington had 36 Kensington Square as his family's London home. It was Lushington who had introduced Burne Jones to Dante Gabriel Rossetti at the Working Men's College. The Lushingtons and Parrys were often in and out of each other's houses.

The scholar and philanthropist Richard Buckley Litchfield lived at number 31 with his wife Henrietta Litchfield who was Charles Darwin's daughter. Their niece, the artist Gwen Raverat, describes visits to the house in her memoir Period Piece.

Between 1831 and 1896 the Kensington School was based in the square, starting at number 31 and eventually occupying number 25-29. The school is notable as one of the founders of the Football Association in 1863. The school built classrooms and fives courts in the gardens of the houses; all that remains is number 27a, the cottage behind number 28.