It was announced yesterday that both the Centre for Professional Ethics, and the philosophy programme at Keele, have been spared the axe.  From Angus Dawson’s Facebook message:

We are delighted to announce that due to substantial discussions over the last two days the proposals to close PEAK (the Centre for Professional Ethics at Keele University) have been withdrawn.  This decision was accepted and endorsed at today’s meeting of Keele University’s Senate.  This means that existing and prospective students need not be concerned about their studies.  PEAK remains committed to teaching and research excellence – and is actively recruiting for next year’s intake to our courses.

However, we are required to produce a business plan outlining ways to ensure the required cost savings over the next few weeks.  This means that we may need to reactivate this campaign, but for now, we are focusing on positive developments for the future.

We would like to thank all of our friends and colleagues from across the world for their support.  We would particularly like to thank all those that took the time to write letters of support that went to our VC, DVC and Dean.  It was very important to our case that they considered our international reputation and you all made this obvious in the strongest terms.

This has been a difficult week (to say the least) for all of us and our families.   However, your solidarity and support has really helped us to put the evidence and arguments forward.

This is a remarkable victory in a relatively short period of time – and it is due to you all.

Congratulations to everyone there.