Oxford’s diversity strategy: portraits of privileged white women replace portraits of privileged white men

It’s been a testing few weeks for Oxford University officials. First they faced a student uprising with the ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ campaign, then the Prime Minister took a pop at the academic establishment for a lack of diversity, claiming they are ‘not doing enough to attract talent from across our country’.

Happily, one college is doing its best to tackle diversity issues head-on. Wadham College have commissioned a series of photographic portraits of graduates who have been nominated by members of the Wadham community. The aim is to ‘address the predominance in Hall and around College of portraits of white men’:

‘These are grand figures from Wadham’s past and they deserve their place in our history. But Wadham in the twenty-first century is a community that is proud of its diversity and it’s time to reflect this in the portraits that adorn our walls.

Over the coming months we shall be unveiling some inspirational images to represent Wadham as it is today.’

So, who have they picked to represent diversity at the university? Well, it turns out they have plumped for a white privately-educated woman who is married to a Tory minister.

Amelia Gentleman is one of the first to be awarded the honour, with her husband Jo Johnson –who was a member of the Bullingdon Club during his time at Oxford — even retweeting the college after they announced the news:

While Mr S suspects they mean well, the college may have scored an own goal by putting forward Gentleman — who attended the £20,874 per year St Paul’s Girls’ School — for this PR stunt. After all, only at Oxford could portraits of privileged white men being replaced with portraits of privileged white women be considered diversity!