Oxford benefactors threaten to pull donations in colonialism row

THE head of an Oxford college has pleaded with donors not to withdraw their money amid a row over the university’s links to the British Empire.

Prof Maggie Snowling, president of St John’s College, has been accused by angry benefactors of backing an attempt to strip the institution of its colonial past, it is understood.

A number of donors have said they will withhold their grants this year in protest, while others have threatened to do so. In a letter seen by The Sunday Telegraph, Prof Snowling appeals to one furious benefactor to reconsider withdrawing their “kind donation”.

The row was reignited by a job advertisement posted last month on the college website for a researcher to work on a project called St John’s and the Colonial Past.

The successful applicant will be paid £39,000 a year to find “connections between the college and colonialism”. There are “compelling intellectual and ethical reasons for institutions of higher education to face up to the role they played in the British Empire”, the advert said, adding that any findings will lead to “responses” from the university.

It comes after the Rhodes Must Fall movement in 2015 led to students demanding the removal of a statue of the colonialist Cecil Rhodes from Oriel College. A number of universities then decided to remove their links to the British Empire.

The job advertisement prompted an immediate backlash from donors to St John’s. One letter of protest sent to Prof Snowling, seen by The Telegraph, accused the college of bowing to “populist fads such as Rhodes Must Fall”.

“Given that is the case I fail to see how the research will be fair,” the letter says. “My donations … free up funds to be spent elsewhere, such as on £39,000 per annum salaries for researchers.

“In conclusion I feel it is inappropriate for me to continue making donations to the college.”

In reply, Prof Snowling insists that the project will enable “a deeper understanding of St John’s place world historically”.

“It is expected that much of the research will reveal positive stories,” she says. “With respect to your kind donation, for which we are very grateful, the fund you support is used to provide bursaries, scholarships and a range of grants for our students, rather than research, so I hope you will be reassured by that.”

She does not, however, deny that the project may result in the removal of colonial links. “A minority of the cases uncovered may seem more negative, but the research will give us a framework in which to tackle it,” she says.

According to St John’s accounts, donors contributed more than £4.5million in 2016, nearly half of its total “incoming resources”. It has hundreds of wealthy benefactors, including Baron Fraser of Corriegarth, the former Conservative Party treasurer.

“You can’t scrub away the past,” said one, who did not wish to be named.

A spokesman for St John’s College refused to comment.