Protest on business school
Protestors occupied the roof of the newly-opened Oxford University Saïd Business School early on Monday morning, the day of its opening ceremony, demonstrating against the school's benefactor, Wafiq al Said. The Saudi billionaire donated £20 million to the building of the School, and it believed he earned his fortune through arms brokering with Saudi Arabia in 1986.
One protestor entered the school at 6am and scaled the building to unfurl a banner proclaiming it was "Built with Blood Money". Another attempted to enter the building but was held back by police. The twelve-strong group held a peaceful protest, which lasted over three hours before police assisted the man down to safety from the rooftop.
The demonstrations continued as around 30 protestors from various organisations congregated in front of the SBS from 5 o'clock onwards that evening, while Mr Saïd enjoyed the launch reception inside.
One of the Anti-Capitalist protestors, Darren Locke, described Mr Saïd as "a man with a tarnished reputation" looking to cover up the fact that his wealth emanates from "dealing in death".
Mr Locke said that "the University should be ashamed" for accepting the donation. While protesters agreed that it was "too late" to change the University's decision to accept the money to build the school, they were confident of raising public awareness of the University's questionable ethical conscience in financial decisions. Various University students also showed solidarity with the rest of the community, one banner reading "Not in our name!".
Demonstrator Tom Harrison said that academics making such decisions should "take their blinkers off".
The University said in response to the protests: "The Saïd Business School has been built with donations from a number of sources, including £20m from Wafic Saïd. Any benefaction of £100,000 or more was considered by a committee of senior members of the University before it was accepted. The University of Oxford respects the right of individuals to protest peacefully but cannot condone any breach of the law."
8th Nov 2001