Oxford college’s Rhodes hypocrisy revealed

Regular readers of Steerpike may recall last month the 150 Oxford academics who made headlines by boycotting Oriel College and refusing to teach its students in protest at the decision to keep up a statue of Cecil Rhodes. At the time Mr S published a full register of the names of academics backing the stunt, with top of the list being none other than Kate Tunstall, head of the self-styled ‘People’s Republic of Worcester College’ alongside five other members of the same college. 

Tunstall, a French literature expert, is the interim provost of Worcester and a professional feather-ruffler since stepping into the post in September 2019, having tried (unsuccessfully) to end the traditions at meals of standing for dons and saying an Anglican grace in Latin. She has also sought to replace the historic ceremony readings from ‘a range of set texts of thanksgiving from any world culture, religious or not’ while in May, at the height of the Israel-Gaza conflict, she sent out a mass email to congratulating students who attended a pro-Palestine protest.