Oxford porter asks black alumnus if he robbed college

AN OXFORD college has launched an investigation after a porter asked a black alumnus if he used to rob the place.

St John’s College, founded in 1555, said it was prepared to “take action” after a graduate described the exchange on Twitter. He said: “I went to my old college in Oxford yesterday to look round again. At the door I explained to the porter that I used to go there & he replied, ‘What did you do, clean the windows? Rob it?’”

Last year, the University of Oxford’s students’ union said porters should be given “unconscious bias” training. It followed a series of complaints about porters unfairly targeting black students and asking them why they had entered college grounds.

Each Oxford college employs a team of porters who work from a porters’ lodge at the entrance of the grounds, providing a degree of security by challenging potential trespassers about their purpose on the grounds.

A St John’s College spokesman said they were “committed to ensuring the welfare and well-being of a diverse college community where there is no place for discrimination of any kind”.

They added: “We are aware of a Twitter post about discriminatory language reportedly used by a member of staff towards a visitor.

“We are investigating this incident as a matter of urgency and will take action as appropriate.”

In 2018, another Oxford college sent an email to students telling them to be “vigilant” because a black man was seen walking through college grounds.

Harris Manchester College was accused of “despicable” double standards for urging undergraduates to “alert a member of staff ” if the man was seen again – while white students and graduates frequently “wander around college” without triggering safety alerts.

Femi Nylander, who had graduated from Oxford the previous summer after reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics, said the email was an example of “institutional racism” and he called on the college to apologise.

He said he had also been stopped and asked for identity documents by porters at Brasenose College and Magdalene College on his way to tutorials, and at St Hilda’s College, where he had a play rehearsal.