Room dedicated to sex abuse professor ‘must be renamed’

AN OXFORD college has voted to rename a room dedicated to a renowned classicist following allegations that he harassed female students.

Students at Corpus Christi want to rename the “Fraenkel room”, remove Eduard Fraenkel’s portrait, and take down a plaque from the door.

Prof Fraenkel, one of the most prominent classical philologists of the 20th century, was chair of Latin at the college from 1934 to 1953.

Baroness Mary Warnock, a philosopher and former mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, accused Prof Fraenkel of sexually harassing female students, including her, while he was a professor at Corpus Christi, in memoirs published after his death in 1970.

Freya Chambers, a classics student who proposed the motion, said: “The allegations of sexual harassment against Fraenkel are not a secret and should not be ignored. Men like Fraenkel should not be given a free pass.” A college spokesman said: “The college has been notified of the JCR’S resolution and is meeting with their representatives to discuss their concerns.”