Heythrop negotiating partnership with Roehampton

Fresh talks have started with a new potential partner to avert the closure of Jesuit-run Heythrop College, writes Paul Wilkinson.

The college in west London, which specialises in theology and philosophy, is in negotiations with Roehampton University in south-west London to find ways the Heythrop name can be kept alive.

In June, talks aimed at forging a partnership with St Mary’s Catholic University in Twickenham collapsed and shortly afterwards Heythrop’s principal, Fr Michael Holman SJ, announced it would close in 2018.

Both Heythrop and the Society of Jesus said this week that discussions were being held with a range of organisations and supporters including Roehampton. 

Heythrop was founded by the Jesuits in 1614 and is today an autonomous college of the University of London.

The Jesuits bought Heythrop’s present premises in Kensington, central London from the Religious of the Assumption in 2009 for around £45 million. When it announced its decision in June to close, it blamed the costs of increased regulatory requirements. A spokesman for the Society of Jesus said: “Given all the kerfuffle around the St Mary’s talks, everyone is being very careful not to start hares running in all sorts of directions. We just don’t know at this stage where it is going to lead. The important point is that the Jesuits and Heythrop really do want to try to find a new way forward and in some way or other keep alive what Heythrop was good at.”