London 2012: what UK higher education can learn from the Olympics
Along with crowds of local school children last week, I saw the Olympic torch being carried past the University of Sheffield on its way to the London 2012 Games. And when the opening ceremony aired on Friday, I watched Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean) daydream about joining the cast of Chariots of Fire, and reminisced about where I was when the Oscar-winning film, in part about the 1924 Olympics, was released.
When the film first came out, in 1981, I was working in the United States at a great science institute in Boulder, Colorado. During that time, one of the most important things I learned was how much the US had benefited from keeping its academia open to the talent of the world.
Many leading UK universities speak of internationalisation and global ambitions. But there are also counter voices, with attendant worries that we are too open, and questions about whether our motivations are principled and honourable. Perhaps we sometimes feel like Harold Abrahams, one of the British athletes whose story is told in Chariots of Fire: "I am forever in pursuit and I don't even know what I am chasing".
Some are concerned that pursuing internationalisation may neglect British students, that somehow welcoming others will mean rejecting our own or having less to share. This drum beat is increasingly heard in our media and politics, and sits uneasily with our values. Yet it is a natural concern when the purse strings have been pulled tight and university entry's become more difficult.
My own view is that the scales weighing the benefits versus challenges of having international students fall overwhelmingly in favour of us being the welcoming sector we are, and that anything less would be a desperate loss for us all. Far from pulling back from internationalisation, we should take it more deeply into ourselves and be challenged and developed by the power of exchange.
This does not mean that it is always easy to teach students from different backgrounds. Creating an international home where each voice can speak and be heard in safety is in itself an education and takes dedication, a broad vision and preparedness to hear new things.
At the University of Sheffield we seek the richness which comes from this conversation - not just in teaching and learning but also in the student experience. The university and students' union are working with partners outside our institution, including Universities UK and local MP Paul Blomfield on a Sheffield campaign to recognise, welcome and lobby on behalf of international students, valuing their contribution in ways that go beyond financial.
A different vision
The central question is what do we want our university to be? We are called as never before to help our country in perplexing and troubling times, providing intellectual leadership out of an economic crisis. At Sheffield we are absolutely committed to taking our privilege and putting it to work but we cannot 'build Jerusalem' by ourselves.
We can only make a difference to our region and nation's economy by looking beyond our borders to international partnerships. In times of constrained resources, uncertainty and fear it is too easy to turn inwards, for UK higher education to retreat into a narrow fight for competitive position, or to forget the first principles which inspired its founders.
In spite of these pressures, I believe there is real resistance to that loss of belief. Staff, students and the children who came to watch the torch want something better: a vibrant international community of connection and learning that goes against the grain in a world fearful of change, shaken by challenges on every side and increasingly drawn to the familiarity of nationalism.
Like the Olympics, higher education can be a place of truce, where those of talent can come together, putting aside their divisions, to compete and celebrate a commitment to excellence. We need to unite around these principles and allow them to give energy and expression to our work.
Professor Keith Burnett is vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield
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