The University of Malaya derives its name from the term 'Malaya' as the country was then known. The Carr-Saunders Commission on University Education in Malaya, which recommended the setting up of the university, noted in its Report in 1948: "The University of Malaya would provide for the first time a common centre where varieties of race, religion and economic interest could mingle in joint endeavour ... For a University of Malaya must inevitably realise that it is a university for Malaya."