Pembroke - Up For Sale
TWO PEMBROKE FELLOWS have resigned following revelations that the College offered to take cash for places. The Reverend John Platt and Mary-Jane Hilton caught on tape by an undercover journalist promising preferential treatment in admissions in return for a £300,000 donation to the college. Platt admitted, "yes - it has happened before".
A Sunday Times journalist posing as a merchant banker was told that an extra place could be created on a law course for his 'son', over and above the usual quota of ten students. Platt assured him that any application would be looked upon "extremely favourably" and that the law tutors would be "open to the possibility" of prefential treatment for his 'son'. Hilton insisted that the £300,000 bribe should be paid into a secret trust fund to hide it from the press, saying "if this got out, we'd all be blown away".
Platt and Hilton resigned immediately after the scandal was reported on March 24th. Pembroke stated that "both agreed they were acting without authority". Queens, St. Peter's and Mansfield were also approached in the Sunday Times investigation but refused the proposition. Asked to comment, John Baron, Master of St. Peter's, maintained, "you can't do these things".
The Master of the College, Giles Henderson CBE, has defended Pembroke, insisting that "the speed and decisiveness with which the College has acted underlines Pembroke's commitment to the selection of students solely on academic merit". Initial University responses called the behaviour of Platt and Hilton "unacceptable", but in further statements Vice- Chancellor Colin Lucas has expressed support for Pembroke's response, applauding the "speedy and appropriate action". The University has since announced a full inquiry into the college admissions procedures.
Since the scandal there has been speculation as to why Platt and Hilton were prepared to accept bribery, with much focusing on the relative poverty of the Pembroke. In the taped interview, Platt labelled the college "poor as shit".
Members of Pembroke felt angry and distressed and spoke out against the Sunday Times for what they feel to be "victimisation". Sophie Warren-Gash, a second year lawyer, told the Oxford Student: "It is most unfortunate that Rev. Platt was set up in such a cruel way by the Sunday Times, the story should never have been printed". She added, "I cannot see anything wrong with an extra place being created for a perfectly well-qualified student who pays for the place."
OUSU has recognised Pembroke's financial difficulties, saying in an official statement: "with Higher Education funding increasingly squeezed, the temptations are there". VP for Access John Craig maintained, however, that "lack of funds is not an excuse for corruption". JCR President Josh Kern has said, "People are really fucking annoyed. This has done a lot of damage in Pembroke."
But many Pembroke students remain staunch, defending both college and staff. Lawyer Abha Pandya insists that the Law tutors, contrary to the Times report, "knew nothing about this at all". Kern told us that he had received many letters expressing sympathy for Platt and concern for his future: "what he did was inexcusable and wrong. But he will definitely be missed".
The story has once again sparked accusations against the Government, following Education Secretary Estelle Morris' castigation of Pembroke. Students have seen themselves as scapegoats, with Pandya saying "Oxford's easy to pick on".
Some see the corruption as a result of state funding cuts, where Oxford is in danger of slipping down league tables and losing research staff to the privatised United States system. Finance and Funding Co-Chair Dan Harkin commented: "the case is merely endemic in an underfunded system which must resort to 'enterprising', unjust solutions".
25th Apr 2002