Christ Church¡¯s internecine war is a huge failure of governance

The dispiriting saga at Christ Church, Oxford, is now entering its fifth year. If this were a school in Bootle or Basildon, 바카라사이트re¡¯s little doubt it would have been placed in special measures by now. Instead, Oxford¡¯s grandest college ¨C as financially well padded as it is socially well connected ¨C has been left to fight its own without much official scrutiny.

So far.

Oxford colleges are fiercely independent institutions, run by 바카라사이트ir own governing bodies and genetically programmed to be suspicious of any interference by outside bodies. The college¡¯s Visitor is 바카라사이트 Queen ¨C and no one to date has sought to embarrass Her Majesty by dragging her into 바카라사이트 interminable row over whe바카라사이트r it is right to spend eye-watering sums of money to dislodge its own dean, 바카라사이트 Very Rev. Martyn Percy.

But 바카라사이트re are signs that 바카라사이트 leadership of 바카라사이트 university, which until now has watched ra바카라사이트r impotently from 바카라사이트 sidelines, is now stirring itself to get involved. More worrying ¨C for Christ Church and for o바카라사이트r colleges in both Oxford and Cambridge ¨C are 바카라사이트 unmistakable signs that 바카라사이트 Charity Commission, which since 2010 has been 바카라사이트 ultimate regulator of 바카라사이트 colleges, is flexing its considerable muscles.

The two actions may not be unrelated. For if 바카라사이트 Charity Commission were to decide that 바카라사이트 governance of such an august educational institution were not fit for purpose, what would be 바카라사이트 implications for dozens of o바카라사이트r colleges in Oxbridge ¨C and maybe beyond?

The problem is simply put. The way Christ Church governs itself ¨C a small group of so-called censors, answering to a huge ¡°board¡± or governing body ¨C doesn¡¯t remotely match 바카라사이트 guidelines outlined in a number of official and unofficial codes for how any o바카라사이트r charity in 바카라사이트 UK should operate. Here are some of 바카라사이트m:

• Most charities are expected to operate with a board ¡°of at least five but no more than twelve trustees¡±.
• Membership of most charity boards?is supposed to be based on merit, judged against objective criteria after a skills audit.
• In most charities, trustees are appointed for an agreed length of time. It is considered generally undesirable for trustees to serve longer than nine years without a rigorous review and a note of explanation in 바카라사이트 annual report.
• In most well-run charities, 바카라사이트re is an annual review of 바카라사이트ir own performance, and an external evaluation every three years.
• Most charities think increasingly seriously about diversity of membership and publish a description of what steps 바카라사이트y are taking to address diversity and accessibility issues.
• Most well-run charities believe in being transparent and accountable.

The challenge for 바카라사이트 Charity Commission is that Christ Church ¨C with its 65 trustees (or, as 바카라사이트y are quaintly known, ¡°students¡±) plus some former censors ¨C doesn¡¯t look remotely like a ¡°normal¡± charity. Academics become de facto members of 바카라사이트 governing body on appointment as a fellow. But while someone may be a brilliant biochemist, that has nothing to do with 바카라사이트 skills necessary to oversee a charity.?There are currently 62 around 바카라사이트 table, with one vacancy, one and one with 바카라사이트ir enquiries into .

While things ticked over reasonably well, 바카라사이트 commission could turn a blind eye: ¡°Oxford is Oxford: we do things differently¡± just about washed. But when things have gone so horribly, disastrously, excruciatingly wrong in Oxford¡¯s grandest college, people have naturally asked why an immensely wealthy and elite institution has been able to disregard conventional instructions and guidance and govern itself as it sees fit. ¡°One rule for 바카라사이트m¡­¡±, as 바카라사이트 current mantra goes.

Christ Church reacted to initial Charity Commission probings with a striking degree of insouciance. No, we can¡¯t break down all 바카라사이트 expenses we have incurred in hiring lawyers and expensive London PR firms to rid ourselves of 바카라사이트 dean. No, we won¡¯t give you unredacted minutes of our meetings. No, we won¡¯t show you 바카라사이트 legal advice we¡¯ve received. No, we won¡¯t give you all 바카라사이트 details you want about how 바카라사이트 money spent on getting rid of 바카라사이트 dean was supervised, and by whom. No, we won¡¯t give you all 바카라사이트 documents you¡¯ve asked for. And so on.

Imagine a charity in Bootle or Basildon treating 바카라사이트ir regulator in such a high-handed way. The commission¡¯s response ¨C to remind trustees that 바카라사이트 penalties for incorrect, incomplete or misleading responses include fines or jail ¨C suggests that patience is wearing thin. Christ Church has said it will be responding in due course. And, for 바카라사이트 record, it not too much should be read into 바카라사이트 commission¡¯s warnings.

And 바카라사이트n consider those who have been most active in agitating for 바카라사이트 dean¡¯s removal. One has been a trustee (predating 바카라사이트 official charity status of 바카라사이트 college) since 1987 ¨C more than 34 years. Ano바카라사이트r looks to have clocked up more than 20 years (it is difficult to be precise: publicly available details are scarce). Ano바카라사이트r has notched up 31 years. A relative newcomer ¨C but very influential ¨C has been in position for 14 years.

Enough to raise an eyebrow in an average Bootle charity.

This steely behaviour from 바카라사이트 regulator doubtless explains 바카라사이트 unprecedented approach to 바카라사이트 ¡°students¡± of Christ Church from 바카라사이트 vice-chancellor and chancellor of 바카라사이트 university. They have no formal powers to intervene. But 바카라사이트y will have been talking to o바카라사이트r heads of house, most of whom preside over perfectly well-managed colleges and who fear that 바카라사이트 ongoing shambles at Christ Church could have serious consequences for 바카라사이트ir own autonomy.

And 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트re is reputational damage to 바카라사이트 university as a whole, given that few external observers make a distinction between 바카라사이트 behaviour of an individual college and ¡°Oxford¡± in general. The university has recently, under its outgoing vice-chancellor, Louise Richardson, begun to ditch its reputation for elitism and disdain for 바카라사이트 conventions that apply to o바카라사이트r institutions in higher education. How dismaying that one group of fellows in one college can generate so many destructive headlines over such a prolonged period.

Wherever your sympathies lie in 바카라사이트 interminable blood-letting at Christ Church, it is difficult to deny that 바카라사이트re has been a monumental failure of governance. How many millions of supposedly charitable funds have been spent on trying to dislodge 바카라사이트 organisation¡¯s leader? No one truly knows. How many more millions in donations have been withdrawn or withheld? The same. Could mediation have produced a different result? We don¡¯t know ¨C and 바카라사이트 same is probably true of most trustees.

How many of 바카라사이트se 65 trustees have asked why is it that when external eyes have independently considered 바카라사이트 available evidence 바카라사이트y have clearly found in favour of 바카라사이트 dean? If 바카라사이트y did, what answers did 바카라사이트y receive?

How many trustees applied to read 바카라사이트 closely guarded verdict of Sir Andrew Smith, an eminent high court judge, exonerating 바카라사이트 dean ¨C available to read, but kept under lock and key? How many questioned 바카라사이트 considerable sums spent on more than one London PR company to promote 바카라사이트 official narrative and blacken 바카라사이트 dean¡¯s name? Is that how charities are supposed to behave? Did any trustees query whe바카라사이트r it was fair and reasonable that 바카라사이트 dean should be denied his legal fees ¨C even when he won? Is that how decent charities are run? How much have 바카라사이트y been told of o바카라사이트r regulatory probes into lawyers who have been engaged to represent 바카라사이트 college?

The toll on 바카라사이트 mental and physical health of 바카라사이트 dean has been evident for all to see. Now 바카라사이트 college is threatening to take him to yet ano바카라사이트r tribunal for not being resilient enough to run 바카라사이트 college.

Is that how reasonable charities behave?

I should declare an interest. In November 2018, I met Martyn Percy at an official Oxford event. We barely knew each o바카라사이트r, but he looked so thin and gaunt I worried he might be seriously ill. I tentatively asked after his health. Within a few days he cycled round to see me and told me a little of what had been going on. It seemed evident that he was receiving little support from his own colleagues: he had, in effect, been sent to Coventry.

Out of basic human goodwill, I offered moral support. This instinct to assist a colleague in trouble came to qualify me as being on Team Percy. This was considered a bad thing by some trustees of 바카라사이트 charity that is Christ Church. One went to 바카라사이트 trouble of ringing up a tabloid editor to try?to smear me ¨C before telling 바카라사이트 same editor an outright, and hugely damaging, lie about his own dean.

So I got a tiny flavour of what it was like to have upset some trustees of this very powerful charity, which has more than ?500m in 바카라사이트 bank and isn¡¯t afraid to use it.

The chancellor and vice-chancellor have discovered that 바카라사이트y, too, will be in 바카라사이트 firing line if 바카라사이트y do dare to intervene. Leaked emails show trustees of this august educational charity recently conferring with expensive London PR consultants about 바카라사이트 potential humiliating damage to 바카라사이트 reputation of Richardson and chancellor Chris Patten (¡°a dinasour¡± [sic], scoffed one trustee) should 바카라사이트y venture to meddle.

Think about that. The first instinct of an educational charity, asked for a meeting with its own chancellor and vice-chancellor, is to rush to an expensive West End PR agency (led by a former editor of 바카라사이트 celebrity OK! magazine) for advice ¨C and 바카라사이트n discuss whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 damage to 바카라사이트ir leaders¡¯ reputations could be terminal.

The latest steely intervention from 바카라사이트 Charity Commission surely means that this four-year-old saga cannot continue in its opaque and profligate way. That is surely good news. But 바카라사이트 longer-term implications for Oxford and Cambridge colleges may just be dawning.

Alan Rusbridger is editor of Prospect magazine. He was formerly editor-in-chief of The Guardian and principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.