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@TheOxStu

Trinity Term, Week 7 | Friday 7 June 2024

OXFORD STUDENT The

The University of Oxford’s Student Newspaper, est. 1991

Being invisible in the social media age?

Mind the gap: Sharon Chau on the gender pay gap

Read more on page 23

“Illiberal”, “draconian”: University statute amendments criticised Martin Alfonsin Larsen

hanges to University statutes on discipline have been criticised for being “illiberal, vague, and impractical” and threatening the right to freedom of speech and protest. In a brief viewed by The Oxford Student, it is alleged that proposed amendments to Statute XI, a code of discipline for all Oxford students, could “[restrict] staff and students’ right to freedom of speech and ex-

The Oxford Union. Credit: Gaspard Rouffin

pression on issues concerning the University”. On 13th May, the University Council voted to recommend Statute XI amendments to the statute to University Congregation. The University Gazette states that they are designed to “widen the Proctors’ jurisdiction to investigate more cases of serious misconduct”, and help the University address sexual misconduct and harassment by moving “as much detail as...

Union declares itself institutionally racist Oxford lawns: Tradition after Mowafy removal and sustainability Continued on page 4

Eco Corner

Gaspard Rouffin and Martin Alfonsin Larsen

he Oxford Union Consultative Committee, Secretary’s Committee, and Standing Committee, voted on Monday to pass a motion that stated it was still “institutionally racist”, which passed during the meeting. The motion was passed with no objections in Consultative Committee, which represents Union members. However, Standing Committee, which represents the Union’s governing body, and Secretary’s Committee, also passed the motion. At a meeting of Consultative Committee, the appointed graduate officer Sarah Rana announced her resignation over the outcome of Osman-Mowafy’s tribunal and the “Islamophobic rhetoric” present at the Union.

She was applauded by almost every Union member present. At that meeting, Returning Officer Adam Turner was ridiculed for informed Rana after that “any resignation will need to be in

“We’re going to

remove Ebrahim, he’s not going to appoint a hijabi girl as his Chief of Staff

— Remarks by a Union official

writing”. Louis Wilson, the Union President, also commended Rana’s public resignation. This was met with applause from all members present at the meeting. In an email sent to Wilson and the former Returning Officer,

Keelan Daye, which The Oxford Student has gained access to, Rana stated that she was resigning “with a heavy heart”, but that she could not “ in good conscience symbolically be part of this committee that fails to protect its Arab and Muslims members”. Rana specifically referred to an event where a senior Union member allegedly stated “we’re going [to] remove Ebrahim, he’s not gonna appoint a hijabi girl as his Chief of Staff”. She added that the disqualification of Ebrahim Oswan-Mowafy, the first Arab Union President-elect, was “unsubstantiated”, and “strongly condemned” the “disturbing Islamophobic rhetoric” at the Union. She said that she felt “unsafe, disillusioned, used and extremely disturbed”... Continued on page 3

Sabine Zednik-Hammonds ormal lawns. One of those quirky Oxford ‘traditions’ we never question. Almost every college has at least one of these perfectly manicured and luscious green patches. However, this was not always the case. The formal lawns we see in Oxford quadrangles today date from the early seventeenth century, long after the thirteenth-century founding of Oxford’s

oldest colleges. During that period, the Jacobean landed gentry constantly sought original ways to display their superiority. Manicured lawns, epitomising wasted space with no practical use, provided the perfect symbol of wealth and status. The triumph of grassy order over weedy chaos found in a formal lawn’s symmetrical and uniform look also displayed their control over nature.

Continued on page 27

Christ Church lawn. Credit: Ananya Navale