On the LSESU Blog, Kara Dunford (LSE MSc Politics and Communications 2015) explored some of the key moments from 120 years of LSE.
The life of the School has always been a life of adventure
William Beveridge, Director of LSE from 1919 to 1937, uttered those words in 1930, when the university was a mere 35 years old.
From Kennedys to Rockefellers, winners of the Nobel Prize to musicians, a wide variety of individuals have called the university their stomping ground.
The Fabian Society
In 1895, George Bernard Shaw, Beatrice and Sidney Webb, and Graham Wallas established the university. Members of the Fabian Society, the country’s oldest political think tank, LSE’s founders envisioned “a School of Economics” that would promote a fairer society by studying the causes of poverty and inequality. For Nobel laureate George Bernard Shaw, the connection to the school bled into his work. In his 1913 play Pygmalion, the central character Eliza Doolittle enrols in bookkeeping and shorthand classes to enhance her business acumen. Today, LSE is home to the Fabian Society archives.
John F Kennedy
The 35th president of the United States is one of a number of world leaders the university counts among its former students. However, although Kennedy did enrol as a General Course student in 1935, he never began his studies due to illness and the school paid back his fees as he returned to the U.S. LSE was however responsible for the introduction of Kennedy to American billionaire David Rockefeller, a student at the university between 1937 and 1938.
Mick Jagger
The Rolling Stones’ lead vocalist was a finance and accounting student at LSE in the early 1960s, but dropped out to pursue his career in music. During his time at LSE, he was just getting started with the band, going to classes during the week and playing gigs on the weekends. He admits while at the time it was a “totally stupid decision,” he didn’t particularly like the academic life. Mick Jagger has since been knighted for his contribution to popular music.
Malcom X
Just ten days before his assassination, Malcom X addressed a full house in the Old Theatre after receiving an invitation from the Africa Society. The Beaver (pictured above) covered the speech and reported on Malcom X’s “brilliant rhetoric.” Tim Gospill, editor of The Beaver at the time, noted Malcom X was “quite intimidating” and possessed considerable charisma.
Angelina Jolie
This past February, LSE welcomed UNHCR Special Envoy and actress Angelina Jolie and First Secretary of State William Hague to campus to launch the Centre for Women, Peace, and Security. The centre will undertake research on women in conflict areas and promote policy solutions to end sexual violence in conflict. Jolie and Hague are co-founders of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI).
A Life of Adventure was originally posted on the LSESU blog
This post was published during LSE’s 120th anniversary celebrations
Thank you for the informative and readable material.
Jagger and academic life: alumnus John Mair filmed an interview with Jagger in the late 90s, discussing his LSE days, as part of an effort to raise money for library refurbishment; in the interview Jagger spoke in positive terms of his LSE experience and about how people around the globe were always interested in his LSE background, and he said complimentary things about using the library. I do not know what has happened to the film -there were all sorts of legal restrictions imposed on its usage, but I am sure I saw it at a School event/social evening in early December 1996. I recall Richard Layard, Sonia Livingstone and Jonathan Steele (from the Guardian) were present for the screening, among others.
Kennedy: of course he did not stick around long, but it is always worth emphasising that the family connection is quite strong; the father very much wanted his son to attend, the older brother spent I think a year at the School and was close to Laski, and Bobby Kennedy’s son, RFK junior, is an alumnus.
Anyway, thanks again for the excellent material.