The Oxford SU President-elect has resigned her position following days of controversy about statements made on social media.
In a statement uploaded on her personal Facebook account just before 5pm today, the President-elect said:
“In light of the recent events surrounding my election to the Presidency of the Oxford SU, I believe it is best for me to step down from the role. It has been an honour to be your President-elect.”
Since her victory in the SU presidential election last Thursday, the President-elect has attracted widespread criticism for recent and historic statements on social media that have been condemned as racist, antisemitic and transphobic. In a Facebook statement released on Sunday, the SU’s Campaign for Racial Awareness and Equality (CRAE) announced that it was “confident in its firm recommendation that the President-Elect should stand down from her position”, adding that her comments had “hurt the East-Asian, Jewish, and trans communities”. The SU’s LGBTQ+ Campaign, which said that it was “alarmed” by the comments, also called for the President-elect’s resignation on Sunday.
In a statement issued earlier today and sent to presidents of college JCRs, the President-elect offered a “heartfelt apology” but insisted that she would not be stepping down, stating that “I will personally reach out to each community over the next few days and make the utmost efforts to unlearn and relearn nuances of every diverse community so that when it is my time to assume the role of President, I will be the person this community deserves.”
However, there was widespread pushback to this statement from various JCRs, with some JCR Presidents calling for a motion of no confidence in the President-elect to be brought forward at the SU’s next Ordinary Council meeting.
The President-elect has declined to comment.
This is a breaking news story and was last updated at 17:36 on 16/2/21.