Harvard abolishes 'master' in titles in slavery row

Harvard University in the US is going to remove the
word "master" from academic titles, after protests
from students who claimed the title had echoes of
slavery.
House masters, in charge of residential halls at the
university, will become known as "faculty deans".
Harvard Law School is also deciding whether to
change its official seal, because of links to slavery.
US campuses have faced a series of protests over
allegations of racism.
Harvard has not agreed that the use of "master"
represented a link to slavery, but it has accepted
campaigners' calls for a name change.
It will mean changing the job titles of 24 members
of staff - but will not affect other uses of "master",
such as a master's level degree.
Harvard academics say that the word "master"
derives from the Latin term "magister" - a form of
address for scholars or teachers. It is similar to
terms such as "school master" or "head master".
But protesters have argued that whatever its original
derivation, the word now has connotations of
slavery.
Student campaigners are also calling for a change in
the official seal of Harvard Law School, with a sit-
in being held this week.
The seal includes the coat of arms of 18th Century
college donor Isaac Royall, who as well as
establishing the college's first professorship in law,
was a notoriously brutal slaveholder.
Isaac Royall, whose money helped to endow the
university, has been accused of burning slaves alive.
A decision on whether to change the seal is expected
to be made soon.
Disputes about race and identity have affected many
US campuses.
Carol Christ, director of the Center for Studies in
Higher Education, University of California,
Berkeley, has said that "symbolic fights are always
about real and current political issues" and race and
diversity remain major campus issues.
"Race is so traumatic and central an issue in
American culture," said Dr Christ.
Last month, Amherst College, in Massachusetts,
accepted student demands to drop links with its
informal mascot, Jeffery Amherst, an 18th Century
general accused of advocating infecting native
Americans with smallpox .
And there have been sit-ins at Princeton in a bid to
rename a school named after Woodrow Wilson,
because of claims the former US president held racist
views.
The protests by US students are part of a wider
international campaign challenging historical titles,
statues and emblems.
But further demands for "safe space", where some
students have called for the right to study away
from attitudes or behaviour they find offensive, have
been rejected by university leaders and others who
have argued for the importance of protecting free
speech.
In South Africa, a statue of Cecil Rhodes was
removed from the University of Cape Town, with
protesters attacking the statue as an emblem of
colonialism and apartheid.
But a call to remove a statue of the 19th Century
politician from Oriel College in Oxford University
was rejected.
Louise Richardson, the university's vice-chancellor,
said students needed to be able to debate and
confront "ideas that make them uncomfortable".