Magdalen College sparks controversy with Eid dinner on St George’s Day

Magdalen College’s announcement of an Eid dinner on April 23 has sparked controversy, with multiple news outlets, including The Telegraph, claiming that the college “cancelled” an annual St George’s Day dinner.

Records obtained by The Telegraph indicate that Magdalen held a dinner in celebration of the patron saint of England “in each of the four years prior to the pandemic, from 2016 to 2019”. However, a Magdalen College spokesperson told Cherwell that in the past hundred years the college had “only had five such dinners to mark the occasion”, the most recent of which it claims was in 2018.

The Magdalen College spokesperson insisted that they “have not cancelled a St George’s Day dinner”, as the college “had no plans” to hold one this year. The college also re-iterates that they have no longstanding tradition of holding a St George’s Day dinner. The college adds that it celebrates all major Christian festivals and saints’ days in its chapel. On Sunday, the college will fly the flag of St. George from St. Swithun’s Tower “as we always do” and will also host the University Sermon for St Mark’s Day.

According to The Telegraph the issue of the St George’s Day dinner provoked an “unholy row” within various senior members of the college body. The Catholic Herald later described the Eid formal dinner as an event which “scrapped and replaced” Magdalen College’s previous Christian tradition, despite official statements issued to the contrary.

The college, however, insists instead that it was happy to “support” a request made by college members to host the dinner. A Magdalen College spokesperson underscores the communal element of the dinner, describing it as “the first day that the whole community can come together for the start of Trinity”.

Eid-al-Fitr celebrates the end of the holy month of Ramadan that takes place on the 9th month of the Islamic calendar where Muslims observe 30 days of fasting abstaining from food and drink from dawn until dusk. This celebration takes place over three days where Muslims take part in an obligatory prayer and donate money to charity whilst spending time with family and friends. Out of respect for the different dietary needs over the period, the college catering team has also provided iftar meals at a subsidised cost for every evening of the month and aimed to prepare halal meat options too.

One Magdalen student recently spoke to Cherwell about the up-coming celebration, sharing that he “deeply values the different cultures that are celebrated at Magdalen and strongly believe that it is one of the best things about the college. Learning about different religions and traditions is front and centre to increased understanding and harmony”.

Magdalen reiterated that they celebrate all major Christian festivals and also celebrate Diwali, Lunar New Year and Chanukah. According to the college spokesperson, the chapel also remains open to the public who are free to join in the Sunday services and Choral Evensong six days a week.