Dear all,

We are shocked and appalled upon hearing of Trinity Hall’s new policy to divert funding towards the additional recruitment of students from elite private schools, a body of students that is already overrepresented within the university. It is our view that this policy will undo years of progress in the field of access and inclusion. This can be read about here in The Guardian or in most other papers. We stand in solidarity with the Trinity Hall JCR who oppose this policy. A petition exists demanding the repeal of the policy – if you so wish, you can sign it here.

Whilst this issue does not yet directly impact Pembroke, following consultation with my Class Act and Access colleagues across the university, we are helping to lead an effort to quarantine this damaging policy by stopping other colleges from implementing anything similar. Senior Tutors across all colleges are being asked to provide written statements confirming that they have no such policy plans. Accordingly, we are grateful to our Senior Tutor, Robert Mayhew, who has said the following:

“Yes, I can confirm that Pembroke has no immediate plans to implement any policy of the variety described. To be clear, I write this in a context where I have no idea if the Guardian article is an accurate representation of this specific policy at Trinity Hall. The College remains committed to its access and inclusion activities, this in a context where the university is rightly also trying to make sure all of our activities are aligned intelligently.”

Myself and the JPC continue to work closely with senior leadership on a variety of issues and we maintain numerous communication and consultation channels. Please message me (dkmb2) or Shaquil (sl2334) with any comments or queries.

Kind regards,

David Buck-Smith – Class Act Officer

Shaquil Leurs – Access Officer