Oxford will not rewrite history, says chancellor
Lord Patten says university will resist pressure to remove statue of Cecil Rhodes
- The Daily Telegraph
- 13 Jan 2016
- By Javier Espinoza EDUCATION EDITOR
OXFORD UNIVERSITY cannot rewrite history to pander to “contemporary views and prejudices”, its chancellor warned yesterday.
Lord Patten of Barnes, the former Conservative Party chairman, defended the university’s historical relationship with Cecil Rhodes, saying that many of its scholars depended on activities that would be “unacceptable” in the modern world.
Oxford has faced a growing campaign, led by a South African student, to remove a statue of Rhodes from Oriel College as part of a drive to distance the university and its curriculum from the colonial past.
The college has agreed to review the statue’s position, leading to a wave of international criticism amid wider fears that universities are being undermined by political correctness.
Yesterday, in their first public comments on the furore, both Lord Patten and the university’s new vice-chancellor said that history could not be rewritten.
Speaking as Prof Louise Richardson was installed as Oxford’s 272nd vicechancellor, and the first woman to hold the position, Lord Patten said universities were “institutions where freedom of argument and debate should be unchallenged principles”.
He warned: “One thing we should never tolerate is intolerance. We do not want to turn our university into a drab, bland, suburb of the soul where the diet is intellectual porridge.”
He added: “Education is not indoctrination. Our history is not a blank page on which we can write our own version of what it should have been, according to our contemporary views and prejudices.
“Because we value tolerance, we have to listen to people who shout – at a university, mark you – about speech crimes and ‘no platforming’.
“We have to listen to those who presume that they can rewrite history within the confines of their own notion of what is politically, culturally and morally correct.”
Lord Patten, a former governor of Hong Kong and chairman of the BBC Trust, added that many of the university’s “great buildings” were constructed using the “proceeds of activities that would be rightly condemned today”.
Prof Richardson backed the view that students should be exposed to uncomfortable ideas, and criticised attempts by campaigners among them to censor free speech.
She asked: “How do we ensure that they appreciate the value of engaging with ideas they find objectionable, trying through reason to change another’s mind, while always being open to changing their own? How do we ensure that our students understand the true nature of freedom of inquiry and expression?”
She said, in light of a push from students to create “safe spaces” at institutions, that universities should be places where the young are encouraged to think “critically”.
“If we can provide leaders for tomorrow who have been educated to think critically, to act ethically and always to question, these are the people who will prevent the next financial crisis; who
will help us grapple with the fundamental questions prompted by the accelerating pace of technological change, as we confront profound ethical choices about the prolongation and even replication of life.”
Concerns have been growing that many American universities risk succumbing to political correctness.
Students at Harvard have asked for rape law to be dropped from lectures in case any had been victims of sexual assault, it has been disclosed.
In Britain, a number of people, including Germaine Greer, pop songs and even sombreros have been banned from campuses.
Last month, a number of professors wrote to The Daily Telegraph to condemned campus censorship of anything that causes offence. They said that a generation of students was being denied the “intellectual challenge of debating conflicting views”. Oriel College is considering removing a historic statue of Cecil Rhodes, one of its alumni and benefactors, over his role in the colonisation of southern Africa.
A senior source at Historic England, which will be consulted if the college decides to remove the statue, has suggested it would be nearly impossible because of its intricate relationship with the architecture and history of the listed building where it stands.
Prof Richardson spoke as she was admitted to office at the world’s second oldest university during a ceremony in front of congregation, the university’s parliament.
Oxbridge should not be “harried” into accepting more state school students, Lord Patten suggested. He said that “ill-considered actions” in the name of social mobility “may cast doubt on the ability of some who study… to gain a place on their own merits”.
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Oxford will not rewrite History
Oxford will not rewrite history, says chancellor
Lord Patten says university will resist pressure to remove statue of Cecil Rhodes
OXFORD UNIVERSITY cannot rewrite history to pander to “contemporary views and prejudices”, its chancellor warned yesterday.
Lord Patten of Barnes, the former Conservative Party chairman, defended the university’s historical relationship with Cecil Rhodes, saying that many of its scholars depended on activities that would be “unacceptable” in the modern world.
Oxford has faced a growing campaign, led by a South African student, to remove a statue of Rhodes from Oriel College as part of a drive to distance the university and its curriculum from the colonial past.
The college has agreed to review the statue’s position, leading to a wave of international criticism amid wider fears that universities are being undermined by political correctness.
Yesterday, in their first public comments on the furore, both Lord Patten and the university’s new vice-chancellor said that history could not be rewritten.
Speaking as Prof Louise Richardson was installed as Oxford’s 272nd vicechancellor, and the first woman to hold the position, Lord Patten said universities were “institutions where freedom of argument and debate should be unchallenged principles”.
He warned: “One thing we should never tolerate is intolerance. We do not want to turn our university into a drab, bland, suburb of the soul where the diet is intellectual porridge.”
He added: “Education is not indoctrination. Our history is not a blank page on which we can write our own version of what it should have been, according to our contemporary views and prejudices.
“Because we value tolerance, we have to listen to people who shout – at a university, mark you – about speech crimes and ‘no platforming’.
“We have to listen to those who presume that they can rewrite history within the confines of their own notion of what is politically, culturally and morally correct.”
Lord Patten, a former governor of Hong Kong and chairman of the BBC Trust, added that many of the university’s “great buildings” were constructed using the “proceeds of activities that would be rightly condemned today”.
Prof Richardson backed the view that students should be exposed to uncomfortable ideas, and criticised attempts by campaigners among them to censor free speech.
She asked: “How do we ensure that they appreciate the value of engaging with ideas they find objectionable, trying through reason to change another’s mind, while always being open to changing their own? How do we ensure that our students understand the true nature of freedom of inquiry and expression?”
She said, in light of a push from students to create “safe spaces” at institutions, that universities should be places where the young are encouraged to think “critically”.
“If we can provide leaders for tomorrow who have been educated to think critically, to act ethically and always to question, these are the people who will prevent the next financial crisis; who
will help us grapple with the fundamental questions prompted by the accelerating pace of technological change, as we confront profound ethical choices about the prolongation and even replication of life.”
Concerns have been growing that many American universities risk succumbing to political correctness.
Students at Harvard have asked for rape law to be dropped from lectures in case any had been victims of sexual assault, it has been disclosed.
In Britain, a number of people, including Germaine Greer, pop songs and even sombreros have been banned from campuses.
Last month, a number of professors wrote to The Daily Telegraph to condemned campus censorship of anything that causes offence. They said that a generation of students was being denied the “intellectual challenge of debating conflicting views”. Oriel College is considering removing a historic statue of Cecil Rhodes, one of its alumni and benefactors, over his role in the colonisation of southern Africa.
A senior source at Historic England, which will be consulted if the college decides to remove the statue, has suggested it would be nearly impossible because of its intricate relationship with the architecture and history of the listed building where it stands.
Prof Richardson spoke as she was admitted to office at the world’s second oldest university during a ceremony in front of congregation, the university’s parliament.
Oxbridge should not be “harried” into accepting more state school students, Lord Patten suggested. He said that “ill-considered actions” in the name of social mobility “may cast doubt on the ability of some who study… to gain a place on their own merits”.
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