The Oxford University Student Union Council voted 81-5 in favour of an emergency motion with 11 abstentions in reaction to Oriel College’s January 27 decision to keep standing its controversial statue of Cecil Rhodes.
The motion, proposed by Vice President-elect for Access and Academic Affairs Eden Bailey, states that the Council resolves “To condemn Oriel College’s failure to follow through on commitments made to students which primarily affect those in already marginalised and oppressed groups.”
It also mandates “the OUSU Sabbatical officers to inform Oriel College of this condemnation, and the reasons for it, which include that “Oriel College have shown a callous disregard for the students who were promised an opportunity to be heard”.
The motion also touched on the role of donors, stating that the council believes that “Oriel College has a duty to support the education and wellbeing of its current students first and foremost, before honouring the wishes of alumni.”
In discussion, a member from St. Antony’s College made the point that a JCR vote in favour of RMF should not be taken as a sign of support for the OUSU motion.
Oriel JCR President Kate Welsh said that she would abstain as she believed there had not been enough time to hear why Oriel made the decision that it did. A motion to move to a vote followed soon after instead of longer debate.
Eden Bailey, who proposed the motion, told Cherwell, “This is precisely the role of a Student Union, to support one another when college authorities are screwing other students over and not following through on promises they have made to them.
“If a student union does not condemn this, what does it do, other than give institutional authorities the message that they can do what they want without any regard for students?
“This incident is particularly concerning because a promise had been made to listen to students from a minority group, who habitually suffer oppression and marginalization in college and university. Of course, breaking a commitment to any students is dishonest and unfair, and therefore unacceptable.”
