Talk:University of Leicester

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I wonder as to the rights and wrongs - based on Wikipedia's neutral point of view principle - of calling this a 'major' research institution. Fundamentally this is an opinion, not a fact. Actually, no honest person would call it a 'major' research university. Is it a rival to Harvard or Cambridge? Perhaps Leicester, and this article would be enhanced by a more honest - and acceptable Wikipedia article approach. Call it a university and be frank.

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[edit] Alumni

Should we create a leicester people subcatagory, i think there may be enough people on there to warrant it now, any opinions? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 87.112.64.142 (talk • contribs) 15:22, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Sounds good to me. JRawle (Talk) 23:00, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Leicester's Status

Can anyone explain where Leicester fits in to the catagorising of UK universities, is it considered proto-red brick, or plate glass, also why isn't it a member of either the Russell or the 1994 groups? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.3.50.60 (talk • contribs) 20:03, 4 March 2006 (UTC).

It doesn't fit into any category really, and in any case categorising doesn't always make sense. I'm not sure why Leicester didn't join (or wasn't invited to join) the Russell group, as it's now comparable with those institutions (may not have been when the RG was formed), or why it didn't join the 1994 group either. It's not plate glass (founded far too early, and given full university status a few years before the Robbins expansion), I've heard it described as red-brick though that really only applies to the universities founded between the 19th century and the end of WW2. "Proto-red brick" would mean first or earliest (I think that's an error in Red Brick universities). --ajn (talk) 23:45, 4 March 2006 (UTC)
Those categories don't really make sense (I do hate the way everything has to be labelled...) Therefore I may as well suggest the term Yellow brick – if you visit the campus, you'll see why! JRawle 15:00, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
Though 'redbrick' originally referred to Victorian universities (usually in far more industrial cities than Leicester and due to the actual colour of the brickwork used in their construction), Leicester University, founded in 1921, is classed as a redbrick university (and yes, the campus itself actually contains very few red bricks- there is more grey and yellow brick and glass)- Paul Wilde (Picnico) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Picnico (talk • contribs) 20:29, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

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If you feel it neccessary to debate the various merits of universities visit a student forum, such as www.thestudentroom.com. Wikipedia discussion pages are for discussion of the article, not general debate. Tomber —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Tomber (talk • contribs) 16:22, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bob Mortimer?

There is no mention of the University of Leicester on Bob Mortimer's biography article, where it states that he is a graduate of the University of Sussex. --TheoClarke 21:44, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I think his article is wrong and this one is right. This page University of Leicester web page suggests he went to Leicester, and not Sussex. Also "Bob Mortimer"+university+Leicester scores more google hits than "Bob Mortimer"+university+Sussex. Rje 20:31, Jan 28, 2005 (UTC)
Here's a better link: [1]. Rje 20:44, Jan 28, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] John McVicar?

On John McVicar's article it states he obtained a degree from the Open University, not Leicester. Sparky132 12:56, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I used to know people who were staff at the time and remembered him. This[2] says he did an external London degree while in prison, and a postgrad degree at Leicester when he got out. This[3] agrees, and it's what I understood too. What's questionable is whether he did an Open University degree rather than a distance-learning one from London. --ajn (talk) 13:17, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Famous graduates - Liam Donaldson

http://www.le.ac.uk/press/press/welcomereturn.html

"Famous graduates of the University include former Crimewatch presenter Sue Cook, journalist Michael Nicholson, comedian Bob Mortimer, incoming Chief of the Met. John Stevens, British ambassador to India Sir Rob Young, authors CP Snow and Malcolm Bradbury, Chief Medical Officer Professor Liam Donaldson and a number of MPs."

[edit] The Attenborough Brothers

There is no mention of either Sir Richard or Sir David Atteborough whose childhood home was the university campus and who both have strong ties with the university. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.6.89.132 (talk • contribs) 13:06, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Nor about their father, Frederick, who was Principal of the University College. Why not add something about them yourself? --JRawle 13:16, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Notable faculty / alumni

These lists are getting ridiculously long now, with one or two names being added nearly every day. Therefore I propose removing all but a handful of the most famous, and adding the rest to appropriate categories, Category:Academics of the University of Leicester and Category:Alumni of the University of Leicester. We can then add See also Category:Academics of the University of Leicester, etc. to the top of the subsections so that people can find the whole list.

I suggest copying the structure of Category:People associated with Imperial College London for example. This solves the problem of where to put the Attenboroughs, as they can go in the parent category.

Anyone have any comments? JRawle (Talk) 00:12, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I think this is a good idea User:Tomber 10:46, 2 November 2006

[edit] University ratings

(I'm posting this to all articles on UK universities as so far discussion hasn't really taken off on Wikipedia:WikiProject Universities.)

There needs to be a broader convention about which university rankings to include in articles. Currently it seems most pages are listing primarily those that show the institution at its best (or worst in a few cases). See Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Universities#University ratings. Timrollpickering 22:54, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

The University website says it has moved into the top 20 in the Guardian League tables, this should probably be updated. Also to the above post, I do think the Times and the Guardian are good sources for the rankings but maybe we could find other sources than Newspapers, do they government do OFSTED reports like they do for school :)

[edit] Tallest Paternoster

The article claims Leicester has the highest paternoster, but surely the 78m, 20 storey Arts Tower at Sheffield Univeersity is higher. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 88.110.40.34 (talk) 16:38, 5 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Media/Pop Culture

They mention the University of Leicester in House M.D - Season 3 Ep 16 - I thought that was pretty cool, with reference to this research: http://www2.le.ac.uk/ebulletin/news/press-releases/2000-2009/2007/03/nparticle.2007-03-05.9006371083

Alot of pages have a popular culture section but this doesn't thought I'd put the info here instead if anyone wanted it --~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.17.167.74 (talk) 20:26, 17 January 2008 (UTC)