Heythrop: the last chance saloon
We write as lay alumni of Heythrop College, now working in a number of different fields across church and society in England and Ireland, to express our concern at reports that talks aiming to negotiate a future partnership between Heythrop College and the University of Roehampton have stalled.

We are acutely aware of the unique resource that the college represents. The combination of Ignatian-inspired, robustly academic, pastorally grounded and broad-based philosophical and theological training is irreplaceable. The range of pastoral, ethical, spiritual and philosophical formation provided by the staff of Heythrop is not currently on offer in any other Catholic higher education institution in the UK. Its distinctive combination of courses, taught in intensive, small group contexts and supported by a full faculty of Catholic scholars and scholars of Catholicism with international reputations for excellence in their field, helped support the development of our own professional and personal skills. Heythrop has helped equip us to make a difference as Catholics in the public and private sectors, in the Church and in public life.