1 00:00:08,340 --> 00:00:14,940 In 2016, the university's Equality and Diversity Unit embarked on a project to look into 2 00:00:14,940 --> 00:00:21,000 the way that women and underrepresented minorities appear in Oxford's iconography. 3 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:29,010 A specific concern was that the overwhelming predominance of the male establishment not only misrepresented modern Oxford, 4 00:00:29,010 --> 00:00:34,200 but also was damagingly discriminatory in itself. 5 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:41,880 The examination schools were and are dominated in the main halls where students take their exams by portraits of men, 6 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:48,870 often in judicial or Episcopal robes, with the occasional Kagan or royal prince occupying pride place. 7 00:00:48,870 --> 00:00:59,760 There was hardly a woman to be seen. Dining halls of all former men's colleges similarly exhibited an overwhelming picture of masculine dominance. 8 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:10,500 These, the ultimate authority figures, hardly suggest to any female or to any non-white or traditional male or transgender person that they themselves 9 00:01:10,500 --> 00:01:19,500 might ever aspire to high positions either in the university or in the nation or even in their own college. 10 00:01:19,500 --> 00:01:27,480 What sort of vision of their place in the world did these portraits engender in female and non-traditional students? 11 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:35,070 Were they not intimidated in ways that white males would not be by a collective picture of authority and success? 12 00:01:35,070 --> 00:01:39,960 That very graphically excluded them. Not only that, 13 00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:44,730 but the fact that the vast majority of these portraits were and still are of white 14 00:01:44,730 --> 00:01:51,060 men seriously misrepresents the changes that have taken place in recent decades. 15 00:01:51,060 --> 00:01:55,500 It simply does not do justice to the modern university. 16 00:01:55,500 --> 00:02:04,830 And if there was an uneasy feeling that gender and racial stereotypes might in fact still linger not only on the university's walls, 17 00:02:04,830 --> 00:02:11,350 but also in some of its minds, that made the task of reform more urgent. 18 00:02:11,350 --> 00:02:19,270 The Equality and Diversity Unit, led by Rebecca Surrender as pro vice chancellor and advocate for diversity and inclusion. 19 00:02:19,270 --> 00:02:25,840 And by the then executive head, Trudy Decode designed a project to change all this. 20 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:30,490 They started by cataloguing over 230 existing portraits. 21 00:02:30,490 --> 00:02:37,840 And the next step with the help of funds from our first woman vice chancellor, was to commissions some new ones. 22 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:46,210 The project invited the public to nominate candidates for inclusion in a list of just over 20 new portraits of alumni. 23 00:02:46,210 --> 00:02:51,550 I was honoured to be invited to chair this phrase phase of the project. 24 00:02:51,550 --> 00:02:57,160 The way that Oxford even now excludes or at best downplays the role of women in its 25 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:02,590 history is something that all members of the university will experience personally. 26 00:03:02,590 --> 00:03:11,890 That is the point of this project. So allow me to digress for a moment with some personal background and reflections. 27 00:03:11,890 --> 00:03:19,510 I am a graduate of Somerville College from the days when all of Oxfords colleges were still single sex and the undergraduate body was. 28 00:03:19,510 --> 00:03:26,560 I remember being told in a ratio of as much as five to one, male to female. 29 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:33,370 This college's portraits, however, were and still are overwhelmingly of female subjects. 30 00:03:33,370 --> 00:03:40,750 Beginning with Mary Somerville herself known as a great scientist and scientific writer in her own lifetime in the 19th century, 31 00:03:40,750 --> 00:03:46,420 but debarred from holding office as a fellow at the Royal Society or a professor, 32 00:03:46,420 --> 00:03:55,950 and now reaching to the colleges, to prime ministers and the long still all female list of principals. 33 00:03:55,950 --> 00:04:00,900 I don't remember questioning the dominance of male portraits much when I was a student. 34 00:04:00,900 --> 00:04:08,790 Far too busy with life and academic work except to take pride in the great iconic figures like Nobel Prise winner 35 00:04:08,790 --> 00:04:16,620 Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin and the long lists of leading novelists and public figures associated with the college. 36 00:04:16,620 --> 00:04:26,880 Nor do I remember noticing the larger than life sized portraits of worthy or unworthy gentlemen in the examination schools as more than wallpaper. 37 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:29,670 But I did believe that women, of course, 38 00:04:29,670 --> 00:04:39,540 could achieve whatever they wanted to and very parochially that the first woman prime minister of the U.K. would probably be a sum of Éliane, 39 00:04:39,540 --> 00:04:44,940 Shirley Williams and Margaret Thatcher. Whether two contenders at that time. 40 00:04:44,940 --> 00:04:50,280 This feeling was reinforced by the role models portrayed on the college walls. 41 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:57,360 Further reinforcement came from the emergence of the Indira Gandhi, also as some civilian as prime minister of India. 42 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:09,560 In 1966. Rita Chakrabarty, the journalist and BBC presenter, an alumna of Exeter College and from a later generation than I seems to have felt. 43 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:21,020 Much as I did that she was too busy with her own life to worry about the overrepresentation of men and people of exclusively white ethnic background. 44 00:05:21,020 --> 00:05:25,580 But she has said of this project. I loved my time at Oxford. 45 00:05:25,580 --> 00:05:29,900 There weren't then many people from my background at university there. 46 00:05:29,900 --> 00:05:34,640 But that didn't stop my experience from being overwhelmingly good. 47 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:40,940 I hope this project will show that Oxford is open to everyone and that it wants to be more so. 48 00:05:40,940 --> 00:05:52,190 I hope, too, that it reflects present day Oxford back at itself and that it encourages an ever more diverse range of people to study the. 49 00:05:52,190 --> 00:05:59,450 When in 2010, I became principal of the mixed female and male college that Somerville now is. 50 00:05:59,450 --> 00:06:09,890 I took great pride in leading one of the great institutional standard bearers which had been founded, as I like to say, to include the excluded. 51 00:06:09,890 --> 00:06:19,960 I believe it's true to say that Somerville's as the only college dining hall where the permanent portraits are exclusively of of women. 52 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:24,310 In my experience, many male undergraduates, as well as the women, 53 00:06:24,310 --> 00:06:32,620 are proud of the college's progressive reputation and regard the strong female presence as a token of that identity. 54 00:06:32,620 --> 00:06:39,820 Even so, it needs to be borne in mind that male students will not find men so well represented at Somerville. 55 00:06:39,820 --> 00:06:42,280 As in other parts of the university. 56 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:51,790 And that absence, that absence probably needs to be rebalanced to some extent, though, as principal, I didn't get round to doing so. 57 00:06:51,790 --> 00:06:58,750 Correcting the overall university imbalance in the other direction seemed more urgent. 58 00:06:58,750 --> 00:07:04,900 Institutional pride extends, of course, from the colleges to every part of the university as a whole. 59 00:07:04,900 --> 00:07:12,640 We are now grappling as never before, with the inherited iconography of empire and race. 60 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,340 Rhodes must fall. Black Lives Matter. 61 00:07:15,340 --> 00:07:26,050 And the continuing fallout from the events and campaigns of the past few years have replaced gender inequalities at the top of the most public lists. 62 00:07:26,050 --> 00:07:33,910 Though transgender is now a hot topic, Oxford might like to be a leader in progressive attitudes to these issues. 63 00:07:33,910 --> 00:07:44,900 But it's more often portrayed as part of the problem. It is instructive to see the feminist agenda through the lens of these developments. 64 00:07:44,900 --> 00:07:50,960 One case from the Diversifying Portraiture Project is particularly pointed. 65 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:58,700 I wrote to invite Jan Morris and received back a polite but firm refusal. 66 00:07:58,700 --> 00:08:06,560 Dear Dr. Prohaska, thanks so much for your letter. I am, of course, flattered and grateful to find myself on your list of teas. 67 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:12,320 If there is such a word, but I feel I must say no to being one of them. 68 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:21,590 I prefer not to be remembered for long for my sexual diversity, which is, I am sure what my kind proposes have in mind. 69 00:08:21,590 --> 00:08:27,110 And I pray that perhaps in probably my portrait might one day hang in Christchurch. 70 00:08:27,110 --> 00:08:33,800 Well, anyway, to remember just another writer, diverse or conventional. 71 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:42,410 But again, my true thanks for the suggestion and every good wish from Wales and from Jan Morris. 72 00:08:42,410 --> 00:08:47,240 I wrote back. Thank you for your kind. No, I quite understand your position. 73 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:55,970 And of course, I won't press you, but I did just want to take this opportunity to say that while your sexual diversity was one 74 00:08:55,970 --> 00:09:02,570 reason for your being selected as one of our short list of 25 potential suitors for portraits, 75 00:09:02,570 --> 00:09:07,130 mostly female, that was very far from being the only one. 76 00:09:07,130 --> 00:09:17,540 If I may so presume, I'd like just to say that I am one of very many people I know who admire you and are grateful to you for two special reasons. 77 00:09:17,540 --> 00:09:24,080 One reason is your personal courage. And another is simply I love of your writing. 78 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:31,790 Whenever anyone offers a list of good writing about Oxford. Very parochial, I know, but people are often asked. 79 00:09:31,790 --> 00:09:39,430 Your book is at the top of the list. And then the conversation develops with people comparing notes on which of your many works. 80 00:09:39,430 --> 00:09:47,570 They have read and which they love most. I can promise that your work is loved and admired here by legions of people. 81 00:09:47,570 --> 00:09:54,110 Well, I'm not interested in or possibly even aware of your long ago change of gender. 82 00:09:54,110 --> 00:09:59,600 I'm sorry. We can't look forward to adding a portrait of you to the list of those we are commissioning. 83 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:04,130 I'd be much more sorry if you thought that the suggestion came simply from an 84 00:10:04,130 --> 00:10:11,180 interest in your sexual diversity rather than your immense distinction as a writer. 85 00:10:11,180 --> 00:10:15,350 And then I came back a quick response. Oh, my goodness. 86 00:10:15,350 --> 00:10:21,590 Dr. P. Thank you so very much. What an encouraging letter to reach me with my taste of butter. 87 00:10:21,590 --> 00:10:29,630 How kind of you. And incidentally, how persuasive can I change my mind and accept that invitation? 88 00:10:29,630 --> 00:10:36,860 After all, it had anyway occurred to me in the far reaches of the night that my inclusion might be an 89 00:10:36,860 --> 00:10:43,760 encouragement to young people in my own sexual situation and that I was too hasty in my response. 90 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:50,120 And now your letter, besides boosting my already inflated ego, has confirmed the thought. 91 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:58,040 Do forgive me. First rule of life. Count up to 10. Well, first rule in our house is put the books back again. 92 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:08,190 Thank you. And forgive me, Jan. So a beautiful fort, a photographic portrait of Jan Morris is part of our collection. 93 00:11:08,190 --> 00:11:14,040 And I am glad to say that Christchurch, which is considering further diversifying its image, 94 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:21,370 has a photograph of Jan Morris hanging in a prominent position in its senior common room. 95 00:11:21,370 --> 00:11:26,440 This raises some questions about tokenism and iconography, 96 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:34,330 and it also led me to think carefully about the individuals at the centre of our project, their own sensibilities, 97 00:11:34,330 --> 00:11:36,490 and the importance of remembering them, 98 00:11:36,490 --> 00:11:48,020 not just as people whose portraits might help to improve to boost modern credentials of the University of Oxford, but as proud individuals. 99 00:11:48,020 --> 00:11:52,910 Surely one of the fundamental injustices of the historic suppression of women, 100 00:11:52,910 --> 00:12:00,960 in addition to the denial of opportunity, is the denial of that individual greatness. 101 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:06,230 Diversifying portrait of project concluded with an exhibition of all the new portraits of the 102 00:12:06,230 --> 00:12:13,440 Bodleian and the collection is now displayed in the examination schools since it was completed. 103 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:20,220 Others have followed. Thick and fast colleges that have embraced diverse portraiture include Hartford, 104 00:12:20,220 --> 00:12:28,170 where the dining hall portraits were replaced for a time with photographs of women, Keibel, Lincolns, of PITAs and others. 105 00:12:28,170 --> 00:12:35,950 And then there are the projected two new sculptured heads outside the Sheldonian Theatre on Broad Street. 106 00:12:35,950 --> 00:12:42,150 If all souls are seen in the outside world as a special bastion of academic exclusion, 107 00:12:42,150 --> 00:12:47,260 it's group portraits of college servants must have helped to dent that image. 108 00:12:47,260 --> 00:12:56,200 It is probably true by now that all Oxford colleges are moving towards greater intensity in their public iconography. 109 00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:08,710 Alexandra Wilson, a black graduate of 2016, now portrayed in University College's young unit of Galerie, underlined the great shift with these words. 110 00:13:08,710 --> 00:13:15,010 I couldn't be prouder to have my picture hanging on the wall of the oldest college at Oxford University. 111 00:13:15,010 --> 00:13:19,330 Today, we celebrated 40 years of women at Oxford. 112 00:13:19,330 --> 00:13:25,330 Next year, we'll have our first female master at Univ and the first black master at Oxford. 113 00:13:25,330 --> 00:13:33,520 We're making history. I conclude then with some questions. 114 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:39,000 Women predominated and the choices we made for the diversifying portraiture project. 115 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:44,830 And that was an important step towards a more true representation of the University of Oxford. 116 00:13:44,830 --> 00:13:52,960 We also included people of colour and ethnic minorities, gays, people who have conquered physical disc disabilities, 117 00:13:52,960 --> 00:14:01,600 and some, like the film director Ken Loach, who have given a public voice to underrepresented minorities in their work. 118 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:07,990 Each one of these groups and counters prejudice and roadblocks in different forms. 119 00:14:07,990 --> 00:14:15,570 And it is hugely valuable for the university to embrace them publicly and acknowledge their achievements. 120 00:14:15,570 --> 00:14:25,870 But where we feel we've made true progress while all of these diverse individuals can still be brought together under a category of exclusion. 121 00:14:25,870 --> 00:14:37,090 To what extent does a project designed to rectify the wrongs of exclusion and underrepresentation risk making individuals? 122 00:14:37,090 --> 00:14:44,350 Into token representatives while leaving behind the vast majority of others. 123 00:14:44,350 --> 00:14:49,600 Any listed people and groups necessarily excludes others. 124 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:55,849 There are still so far to go. And how will we know when we've got the.