Cecil Rhodes WILL fall: Oriel College in Oxford opts to remove statue of British colonialist - less than 24 hours after latest protests through the city in wake of BLM movement

The governing body of Oxford University's Oriel College says it wants to remove the controversial statue of Cecil Rhodes. 

Board members met today to discuss the future of the monument, which is one of dozens of targets appearing on a list of statues Black Lives Matter protesters want to see taken down for links to racism and colonialism.

Recent Black Lives Matter protests reignited discussion on whether the statue should be removed - particularly in the wake of a monument to Edward Colston being pulled down and dumped in the harbour in Bristol. 

Critics argue Rhodes paved the way for the apartheid in southern Africa, and raise issue with his time as leader of the Cape Colony, from 1890 to 1896, when government restricted black Africans' rights by increasing the financial criteria people required in order to vote.

Demonstrators have been marching through the streets of Oxford this week as senior administrators met to discuss the future of the Rhodes sculpture. 

The board has now decided they want to remove the statue, along with the King Edward Street Plaque, but an independent commission into the statue will be set up before any action is taken.

The college said in a statement: 'The Governing Body of Oriel College has today voted to launch an independent Commission of Inquiry into the key issues surrounding the Rhodes statue. 

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The governing body of Oxford University's Oriel College says it wants to remove the controversial statue of Cecil Rhodes 

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The board has now 'expressed their wish to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes and the King Edward Street Plaque' (pictured: Protesters in Oxford)

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Protesters in Oxford for the removal of the statue of Cecil Rhodes yesterday. Oriel College opened its Rhodes Building in 1911 after receiving a £100,000 from the former student, who died in 1902

'They also expressed their wish to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes and the King Edward Street Plaque. This is what they intend to convey to the Independent Commission of Inquiry. 

'Both of these decisions were reached after a thoughtful period of debate and reflection and with the full awareness of the impact these decisions are likely to have in Britain and around the world. 

'The Commission will deal with the issue of the Rhodes legacy and how to improve access and attendance of BAME undergraduate, graduate students and faculty, together with a review of how the college's 21st Century commitment to diversity can sit more easily with its past.' 

A plaque in honour of Rhodes’s ‘great services’ to the UK on an outside wall of the college facing the street is also due to be removed. In a statement, Oriel College’s 40-strong governing body said it had ‘voted to launch an independent commission of inquiry into the key issues surrounding the Rhodes statue’.  

The college said its inquiry, which will take evidence from Rhodes Must Fall supporters as well as historians and former students, will report back by the end of the year. 

Oriel College opened its Rhodes Building in 1911 after receiving a £100,000 from the former student, who died in 1902. 

A petition with 180,000 signatures calling for the statue to be removed is the latest rallying cry in five years of campaigning.

In 2015 students at the University of Cape Town successfully lobbied to have a statue of the imperialist taken down. However attempts to change the name of Rhodes University were unsuccessful.

The Rhodes Must Fall campaign soon arrived at Oxford. In January 2016 students voted to remove the statue in a poll not affiliated with the university.

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A statue of Cecil Rhodes, top centre, the controversial Victorian imperialist, stands mounted on the facade of Oriel College in Oxford

The Rhodes Must Fall campaign group welcomed the statement by Oriel College's governing body but said they demanded a 'commitment' to remove the Rhodes statue.

The group said in a statement: 'We have been down this route before, where Oriel College has committed to taking a certain action, but has not followed through: notably, in 2015, when the college committed to engaging in a six-month-long democratic listening exercise.

'Therefore, while we remain hopeful, our optimism is cautious. While the governing body of Oriel College have 'expressed their wish' to take down the statue, we continue to demand their commitment.'

The group added: 'Until such time as the Rhodes statue ceases to adorn the facade of Oriel College on Oxford's High Street, we will continue to galvanise the goodwill and energy seen across the university, particularly among an astonishingly wide variety of academics.'

The statement concluded: 'This is a potentially epoch-defining moment for our institution, the University of Oxford. We can, potentially, offer a powerful example of the decolonial project in higher education in the UK and beyond.'

On Sunday Oriel Middle Common Room - the college's student body - passed a motion to endorse the removal of the Rhodes statue. In total 124 students voted for it 62 against, and 17 abstained.

The statue of Cecil Rhodes was erected in his honour by Oxford University's Oriel College after he made a donation for a new building.    

The Oriel College commission will produce a report for the governing body by the end of the year, the statement continued.

It went on: 'The commission is intending to draw upon the greatest possible breadth and depth of experience, opinion and background.

'The inquiry will, in turn, invite submissions from a broad range of stakeholders from Oxford itself and the country as a whole; the students, representatives of Rhodes Must Fall and Oxford City Council, as well as alumni of Oxford and Oriel and citizens of the city. Written and oral evidence will be requested.

'It is intended that some oral evidence sessions will be held in public, with similar rules of engagement to that of a parliamentary select committee.

'By setting up this commission, Oriel governing body is demonstrating that it is willing to be guided by all its stakeholders.

'The governing body believes that this decision will allow a serious, appropriate and productive resolution of a complex series of issues.'

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A 'hit list' of 78 statues and memorials to some of Britain's most famous figures has been created by an anti-racism group urging local communities to remove them because they 'celebrate racism and slavery'

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Protests took place yesterday ahead of a meeting between Oriel College board members, who have now expressed their desire to see the statue removed

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Protesters in Oxford for the removal of the statue of Cecil Rhodes on June 16. Last week, the University of Liverpool announced that a hall named after former prime minister William Gladstone would change after students pointed out his links to the slave trade

It comes after the campaign to remove the controversial statue of Cecil Rhodes from an Oxford college had been called 'short-sighted' by the universities minister.

Michelle Donelan said we should 'remember and learn' from history rather than 'edit' the past.

Her comments came after protesters renewed calls for the statue of the British imperialist to be taken down from Oriel College at Oxford University.

When asked about the Black Lives Matter movement and whether universities could do more to tackle equality issues, Ms Donelan said she agreed with the Prime Minister that we 'should not seek to censor or edit our past'.

Speaking at a webinar hosted by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), she said: 'Recent actions, such as renaming buildings named after Gladstone or campaigns to remove the statue of Rhodes, I think, are quite short-sighted.

'Because if we cannot rewrite our history, instead what we should do is remember and learn from it.' 

Last week, the University of Liverpool announced that a hall named after former prime minister William Gladstone would change after students pointed out his links to the slave trade.

In a letter in the Daily Telegraph, a group of Oxford professors criticised the university vice-chancellor's response to the Rhodes Must Fall campaign.

Professor Louise Richardson, vice-chancellor of Oxford, told the BBC that 'hiding our history is not the route to enlightenment'.

But the academics argue in the letter that the 'opposite is true', adding that it is 'a full and frank accounting for Britain's history' that was being demanded.

Demonstrations have taken place outside Oriel College calling for the statue to be removed from the High Street entrance of the building, as well as protesting against racism following the death of George Floyd in the US.

An Oriel College spokesman said: 'The governing body and all concerned parties at Oriel College are fully aware of the responsibility they hold with regard to both the Rhodes statue and wider issues under discussion, and they will of course talk about this during their upcoming scheduled meeting.' 

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Black Lives Matter protests took to the streets on Tuesday, with around 200 people thought to be in attendance 

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The Rhodes Must Fall movement started in 2015 in South Africa, where students managed to have a statue of Rhodes removed from their campus - attempts to do the same in Oxford have so far been unsuccessful