Christ Church, Oxford must separate church from college

Now that a settlement has been made between the dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and the college, there is an extreme necessity that the constitution of Christ Church should be changed.

The settlement, announced earlier this month, ended a four-year wrangle over the position of the dean, Martyn Percy, that has reportedly cost the college millions of pounds.

The present position, whereby the dean is head of both the cathedral and the college, is clearly unsustainable. The college should now heed its own affairs, likewise the church. The dean should work as a cathedral dean, and the college should have its own head of house.

Such a separation needs the cooperation of the church, the college and might even require an act of Parliament or an order of the Privy Council; but whatever it takes must be done.

The point is that the principal, warden, provost, master or whatever you wish to call the person elected head of house is first among equals and is elected as chair of the fellowship, the governing body. An Oxford college is what it says, a collegiate body, and heads of house have historically been elected on the basis of scholarly achievement.

It is true that a number of colleges have, over the past 40 years or so, had ulterior motives for electing heads from different walks of life. These heads are supposed to have possessed contacts with the world outside Oxford: to philanthropic organisations, wealthy donors or influential people in public life who know about such sources of funding. They include diplomats, newspaper editors, senior civil servants, celebrity judges, even famous sportsmen. Some have succeeded, some have failed; and those who have failed all misunderstood their role.

The mistake so often is that new heads interpret their role as that of a CEO. They fail to grasp that policy changes and new initiatives must all be agreed by the governing body. It may be that administrative dictatorship works for a while because most fellows wish to concentrate on their academic work, but eventually there is always revolution. Indifference and carelessness give way to objection and opposition. Once confidence is lost, the head’s authority is lost and their position becomes untenable.

It is unfortunate that mistakes and missteps have been made along the way by both sides in the fractious Christ Church saga. Too many people have been damaged, not least the dean himself, who has been close to breakdown, and too much money has been spent in legal fees. The dispute could have been settled a year or two ago with less intransigence by both parties. After all, Brasenose College managed to accommodate the dignified departure of the physicist Roger Cashmore in 2010, amid controversy over his expenses claims – and that was in a college where a previous principal, Lord Windlesham, said that chairing a governing body meeting was like “trying to herd cats”.

At Christ Church, the situation deteriorated. The university’s chancellor, Lord Patten, and its vice-chancellor, Louise Richardson, both stepped into the fracas, offering to attend a governing body meeting to air their views on possible harm the dispute was doing to the university’s reputation. The former Guardian editor and principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Alan Rusbridger, then published his opinion in Times Higher Education. None of these interventions helped.

The Oxford colleges, when the chips are down, are fiercely independent and do not relish interference from other quarters. Richardson, who is due to become president of the Carnegie Corporation in the US at the end of the year, never had the right feel for collegiate life because she was not educated in a college.

Outside intervention by the central university administration should cease; it makes matters worse. College academics in Oxford increasingly see a bureaucratic takeover by the university’s central administration that expands its number of staff exponentially – all, it is felt, to the cost of real academic study and research. The largely independent college systems of Cambridge and Oxford have made the two universities unique and account for their leading status in world university rankings.

Yet, for Christ Church, it remains imperative to separate church from college. For the moment, compromises have been made and should be applauded. The college is on a new footing with the Charity Commission, and it should prove unnecessary for the commission to proceed further with its investigation. If the governance change is implemented swiftly, all will then be well.

Brian Martin is a retired member of Pembroke College, Oxford, where he was a lecturer in modern English literature. He is author of Holt College: An Oxford Novel.