Extraordinary CCR MT Week 5 2026 Motion

No Hate Speech at Oxford Motion

Conference Notes:

The Oxford Reform Society has invited Nathan Cofnas for a talk on Tuesday Nov 17th 2026 at Oriel College to discuss how Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) negatively influences university hiring practices and the quality of university academia.
Nathan Cofnas is a self-described ‘race-realist’1 who in February 2024 published a post on Substack in which he claimed that race is linked to intelligence, that without DEI initiatives “the number of black professors [at Harvard] would approach 0%”,2 and that “under a colour-blind system” Black people “would disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sport and entertainment.”3
Parliament legislated on freedom of speech in Universities with the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023. This Act has imposed obligations on the University and constituent institutions to safeguard freedom of expression. This does not prevent the University and Colleges from expressly stating that they disagree with the views expressed.

Conference Believes:

Nathan Cofnas's views and their potential for harm in the treatment of ethnic minority students and staff means the prospect of his attendance has and likely will have a negative impact on the wellbeing of Black students and staff at the University of Oxford and higher education throughout the UK.
The Oxford Reform Society’s invitation of Nathan Cofnas in the wake of Jason Arday’s death shows a concerning lack of consideration for the situation, but also a lack of sensitivity in thinking of its effect on Oxford students and staff.
With an open letter signed by more than 18,000 people4 and a city-wide protest planned in response, the scheduled event poses a risk to the safety and welfare of the Oxford community, in general, and Oriel College students resident near where the event is to take place, in particular.
As stated in Section 3.8 of SU’s Code of Practice on Free Speech, “the SU has a duty to consider the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and other behaviour that is prohibited by the Equality Act 2010.”

Conference Resolves:

Policy

For Conference of Common Rooms to issue a statement. The text of this statement will be shared at the meeting and agreed upon by the motion proposers and the SU.
Support Oriel’s common rooms’ request for Oriel College to put in place clear mitigation processes for students who happen to live in the vicinity of the event taking place.
Support student representatives at a college to advocate for the right to be involved in the process of deciding a sensitive event acceptance at their hosting college. Support the inclusion of representatives from college common rooms in campus event risk assessment as well as organisation (e.g. formatting) and execution of the event to ensure student wellbeing is prioritised.
Support an independent review of the event risk assessment and approval process of this event.
Support the requirement of an equality impact assessment in all risk assessments of events taking place on University/College campus going forward.

Mandate

Mandate the sabbatical officers to ask for the presence of the University Proctors or any other qualified independent supervisor to attend the Nathan Cofnas speaker event on Nov 17th 2026 to monitor for speech that violates the Equality Act 2010.
Mandate the sabbatical officers to communicate relevant support for student welfare and SU support for reporting racial discrimination incidents in all communication regarding the Nathan Cofnas speaker event.
To mandate the SU to set aside up to £1000 for the purposes of supporting student run events that promote inclusion and celebrate diverse experiences, in Michaelmas Term 2026.