4 minute read
Mansfield and sanctuary: leading the way
Nowhere is Mansfield’s role as an Oxford trailblazer more evident than in its work as a College of Sanctuary, championing inclusion by offering scholarships and support to refugees and asylum seekers. In a turbulent world, we strive to be a bulwark against prejudice.
Helen Mountfield KC Principal
Mansfield College was founded to welcome to Oxford University those traditionally excluded from higher education, and – in conjunction with the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights – we are proud to stand up for equal dignity, respect and rights for all.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, while half of refugees worldwide are under the age of 18, only about 3% enter higher education. Witnessing the devastating ongoing conflicts worldwide, and having spent more than 30 years as a barrister fighting for the rights of people without power, I always hoped there was something we at Mansfield could do for people seeking sanctuary, and so live up to the nonconformist, trailblazing legacy of our founders.
In 2020, just before the pandemic, Baroness Jan Royall, Principal of Somerville College, and I met with colleagues from community groups and the Universities of Sanctuary scheme, which was born out of the Cities of Sanctuary movement. We knew our respective colleges – openminded, plural, welcoming – were perfect to lead on becoming Oxford’s first Colleges of Sanctuary, which we achieved in January 2021. Applying to be a College of Sanctuary was a rigorous process, requiring us to show how we would embed key concepts of welcome, safety and inclusion across an institution.
Attaining College of Sanctuary status has helped frame how our College welcomes and supports refugees and asylum seekers. Our students have for many years contributed through their battels to support a Reach Scholar (from a low-income country), and many are active in organisations like SolidariTee (which sells T-shirts to support work with refugees). But this isn’t just about charity or student campaigns. It is also about building intellectual and human networks, to the mutual benefit of sanctuary seekers and the Mansfield community.
A powerful example is the work of our Janet Dyson Fellow in Mathematics, Professor Ian Griffiths. Ian’s leadership of both online and in-person seminars for sanctuary seekers in STEM subjects has brought mathematically or scientifically qualified sanctuary seekers from across the UK together to share ideas, network, explore career paths, and learn about the application of maths to industry. I’m especially proud of this initiative, which highlights how combining academic curiosity and excellence with making human connections can create meaningful opportunities for those seeking refuge. In October 2024, Ian’s work even merited a mention in the Vice Chancellor’s Oration!
This spirit of connection is further reflected in the work of our Writer in Residence, Kate Clanchy MBE. Kate’s Sanctuary Poetry workshops with asylum seekers in Oxford bridge the gap between different communities, and bring asylum seekers living in the City to share our facilities at poetry readings in our beautiful Library, and as part of our annual Mansfieldmas celebration.
Central to achieving College of Sanctuary status was the commitment to provide fully funded scholarships at Mansfield for talented students forced from their home due to human rights abuses or war. Thanks to generous support from alumni and the Council of Lutheran Churches we have welcomed multiple Sanctuary Scholars to Mansfield since 2021. A Ukraine Scholarship followed, and then Hope Scholarships. A Hope Scholarship is tenable by a refugee scholar within the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Programme; Mansfield has the largest cohort, thanks to the generous support of alumnus Jan Fischer (PPE, 1989). Our next ambition – subject to funds – is to become a partner college for the University’s new Crisis Scholarship, which aims to support students who have been displaced by some of the world’s current dreadful humanitarian crises.
You can support our Sanctuary Scholarships by visiting www.mansfield.ox.ac.uk/make-a-gift.
The example of Mansfield and Somerville, as twin Colleges of Sanctuary, plus the efforts of the University to support Ukrainian scholars after the Russian invasion in 2022, led to the development across the University of an integrated programme of scholarships and support for students from displacement backgrounds under its new Oxford Sanctuary Community.
The University of Oxford as a whole was awarded University of Sanctuary status in May 2023. The gardener in me loves how the seed of an idea has germinated and is now growing across the University.
I am so proud that our College, with Somerville, pioneered the way for the world’s leading university to make sanctuary central to its mission. There is much more we can do and to take other universities and colleges with us. But for now, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Mansfield and beyond who has worked so hard to put our Sanctuary initiatives into practice.
