THE
OXFORDSTUDENT One step ahead since 1991
Volume 73 Issue 5
Thursday 21st May 4th Week
oxfordstudent.com
Meet writer Juliette Towhidi
Jersey Boys come to Oxford » OXII Page 6
Sub-fusc: the voting begins
» Page 13
» Page 8
Tory tussle: OUCA students attacked ‘for political beliefs’ • Student “seized by the throat” after singing ‘I Vow to Thee My Country’
LAURA WHETHERLY DEPUTY EDITOR
Partial success for divestment
University has promised to ban any future investment in coal and tar sand Fossil Free Oxford Campaign
A first-year Oxford student has claimed he was assaulted for his political beliefs, following the Conservative Party’s success in this month’s General Election. Shane Finn, a student of Christ Church College, described how he was returning from a third week Port and Policy meeting organised by the Oxford University Conservative Association when he was “seized by the throat” near the steps of the Bodleian Library. According to Finn, he and a small group of fellow OUCA members were approached by two individuals singing “The Red Flag”, a traditional socialist song, just before one in the morning. According to Finn, the OUCA members decided to sing “I Vow to Thee My Country” in response, with the song intended as “light-hearted political banter”.
One of the ‘Red Flag’ individuals then allegedly “seized” Finn by the throat and “started to squeeze for about ten seconds” before being pulled away, having apparently “shouted that [Finn] was a traitor to his country for being Irish and supporting the Conservative Party”. Following the advice of his college, Finn has brought a report to the police, who may prosecute. The case may also be deemed a “racially motivated attack” because of the alleged references to Finn’s nationality.
Finn said: “It’s shocking that this has happened, but not necessarily unforeseen given the amount of hate and vitriol being slung against the Conservative Party. With the venom we were on the receiving end of, it was only a matter of time before violence came into it.” On the morning of the election result, Finn had also reported being targeted for his political beliefs, posting on Continued on page 5 »
Oxford University to move away from coal and tar sand investment
• Full divestment fails to make the cut, but OUSU and Fossil Fuel Oxford express their support for the change
NEWS TEAM
Oxford University Council announced on Monday that Oxford will “avoid any future direct investments in coal and oil sands”, following a year of campaigning by OUSU and other groups. This decision, while ensuring that the University has legislation in place to prevent investment in some environmentally-damaging materials, does not go as far as the full divestment proposed by OUSU. Louis Trup, OUSU president, commented: “I’m delighted that the University has taken a step in the right direction by pledging not to invest in coal or tar sands in the future. In the meeting, it was clear that the students who have been campaigning for this through OUSU’s environment and ethics campaign have
changed the minds of some major critics.” “The work the campaign has done alongside Dan Tomlinson and Ruth Meredith (OUSU’s previous and current VPs for Charities and Community) over the past 2 years should be applauded. However, this is only the first step. Now that the University has committed to some form of ethical investment, it must continue to take further steps to ensure that its wider investments are not funding devastating environmental disasters. But all in all, today is a good day.” Cara Turton-Chambers, OUSU’s Environment and Ethics Secretary, added: “We are delighted that the University has recognised that investment in coal and tar sands is unethical. The University has agreed to becoming more transparent with its investments, we believe that transparency is a key issue with the
university’s investment which needs be combated within university policy. “This decision marks important progress in the divestment campaign but campaigning will continue until the University agrees to full divestment.” In their press statement, Oxford University stated that it believes “this balanced investment policy strongly complements its wide-reaching research into climate change and its ambitious sustainability targets.” However, the position taken by the University has come under criticism from some, who have claimed that it has not gone far enough by failing to pledge full divestment. Juliet Davenport, founder of renewable electricity company Good Energy and graduate of Merton College, said in a statement: “I’d like to see a commitment
to divestment from all fossil fuels. The University is raising significant funds for investment in its future, so now’s the time to take a strong stance. “Oxford knows only too well what the effects of climate change could mean for its own historic city and its buildings… It’s a no brainer from an economic and an environmental point of view.” The decision has also been criticised for applying only to direct investments, and leaving a loophole which means that the University can invest in companies which deal in coal or tar sands as long as less than 10% of the company’s income comes from these fossil fuels. This means that Oxford University would still be able to invest in companies including Shell and BP. Andrew Taylor, Fossil Free Campaigns Manager at People & Planet,
said: “When it comes to big oil this is a cautious first step. Tar sands need to be kept in the ground and universities should divest from any company digging them out. If you live in the shadow of tar sand extraction and you have been air lifted to hospital after drinking the water after a spill, it doesn’t matter if under 10% of the culprit’s production comes from tar sands.” Oxford’s divestment campaign, Fossil Free Oxford, had stepped up their campaign in the weeks leading to the decision, including holding a protest dressed in boiler suits at the Radcliffe Camera on the grounds that “if the university is supporting the fossil fuel industry, we may as well dig up the Radcliffe Camera and search for oil there.” Other UK universities are expected to make decisions in coming months.