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Oriel College defends hosting Nathan Cofnas after KKK hood protest and cancellation calls

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Summary

  • Oriel College, Oxford, is due to host Dr Nathan Cofnas on 17 November at an event run by the Oxon Universities' Reform Society.
  • A tribunal upheld Cofnas's right to his views but found a blogpost created a hostile environment for Black students at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
  • Dozens of academics, MPs and celebrities urged Oriel to cancel the event, citing duties under the Equality Act 2010.
  • Oriel says it has a statutory duty to uphold freedom of speech within the law, including views many find deeply offensive.
  • Campaign group Led By Donkeys placed a Ku Klux Klan hood on the college's Cecil Rhodes statue in protest.
  • Writer Ebony Riddell Bamber compared the case with her experience of racist lecturer Frank Ellis at Leeds University.

Reactions

  • Oriel College says permitting the event does not imply endorsement of the speaker's views and that it is committed to inclusion and a discrimination-free environment.
  • A letter by the Oxford Students' Coalition against Racism, backed by MPs Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn and musician Beverly Knight, urged Oriel to cancel, saying free speech does not extinguish Equality Act duties.
  • Led By Donkeys placed a white Ku Klux Klan hood and a sign reading 'Racists Welcome Here' on Oriel's Cecil Rhodes statue on 12 November.
  • Ebony Riddell Bamber argues universities must balance academic freedom with equality duties and share any equality analysis transparently.
  • Bamber says platforming racist ideas as a free-expression issue reflects a disconnect with the experience of Black students and staff.

Timeline newest first

  1. Ebony Riddell Bamber writes that Oriel College hosting Dr Nathan Cofnas echoes her experience of racist lecturer Dr Frank Ellis at the University of Leeds, and urges universities to share any equality analysis transparently.
  2. A tribunal upheld Dr Nathan Cofnas's right to his views but found his blogpost created a hostile, intimidating, unwelcoming and degrading environment at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, particularly for Black students.
  3. Oriel College says it is committed to upholding freedom of speech within the law under a statutory duty, including the freedom to express views many find deeply offensive.
  4. Led By Donkeys placed a white Ku Klux Klan hood and a 'Racists Welcome Here' sign on the Cecil Rhodes statue at Oriel College, Oxford, on the morning of 12 November, objecting to Nathan Cofnas's upcoming talk.
  5. Nathan Cofnas, who describes himself as a 'race realist', is due to speak at Oriel College's Harris lecture hall on 17 November at an event organised by the Oxon Universities' Reform Society.
  6. Dozens of academics, MPs and celebrities, including Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn, signed a letter urging Oriel College to cancel the Nathan Cofnas event in the month before it.

Sources newest first

  • Oxford is platforming race baiter Nathan Cofnas. I know how corrosive that will be for Black students | Ebony Riddell Bambertheguardian.com· 2h

    Ebony Riddell Bamber writes in the Guardian that Oriel College's decision to host Dr Nathan Cofnas, whose blogpost a tribunal found created a hostile environment for Black students at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, echoes her experience enduring racist lecturer Dr Frank Ellis at Leeds. She argues universities must balance free speech with equality duties and share any equality analysis transparently.

  • Ku Klux Klan hood placed on Oxford Cecil Rhodes statue in speech protestbbc.com· 2d

    Campaign group Led By Donkeys placed a white Ku Klux Klan hood and a "Racists Welcome Here" sign on Oriel College's Cecil Rhodes statue to protest Nathan Cofnas's upcoming talk, an academic who accused the late Cambridge professor Jason Arday of plagiarism. Dozens of academics, MPs and celebrities had urged the college to cancel the event, which Oriel says it is permitting under its statutory free-speech duty.