Oriel College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, has installed an explanatory plaque next to its controversial statue of Cecil Rhodes. The new panel explicitly describes the 19th-century mining magnate and politician as a “committed British colonialist” who was responsible for exploiting “the peoples of southern Africa”. This development marks a significant step in how the college addresses its historical ties to Rhodes, whose legacy has been a source of intense debate and protest for several years.
The plaque is positioned outside Oriel College, where Rhodes was a student and later bequeathed a substantial sum of £100,000 to the institution. Rhodes also served as the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, a British colony in what is now South Africa, from 1890 to 1896. His name is synonymous with the expansion of the British Empire in southern Africa and the establishment of Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe and Zambia, through often brutal means and policies that dispossessed indigenous populations of land and resources.
The installation of the explanatory panel comes after extensive public pressure, most notably from the 'Rhodes Must Fall' campaign, which gained prominence in 2015. This movement called for the removal of the statue, arguing that it represents a glorification of colonialism and racial oppression. The campaign at Oxford mirrored similar movements globally, challenging the presence of statues and monuments linked to figures with problematic colonial histories.
While the college had previously expressed a desire to remove the statue in 2020, citing the need to reconcile its history with modern values, it later reversed this decision. The college stated that the “complex challenges” of removing the Grade II listed monument, including planning restrictions and significant costs, made it unfeasible. Instead, Oriel College committed to a programme of contextualisation and education, with this new plaque being a direct outcome of that pledge.
The move to add an explanatory plaque rather than remove the statue represents a compromise, aiming to provide historical context and acknowledge the contentious aspects of Rhodes's legacy without physically altering the building. This approach seeks to inform visitors and students about the full scope of his impact, including the detrimental effects of his actions on indigenous populations, rather than solely commemorating his philanthropic contributions.