The President of Murray Edwards College, Dorothy Byrne, has been “stepped down”. Dorothy Byrne’s Wikipedia entry records that she served as President of Murray Edwards College from 17 September 2021 and “stepped down” on 31 August 2025. Murray Edwards later announced Dr Rachel Polonsky as Acting President (announcement posted 16 September 2025). That confirms a Read more…
Let’s take five while we await the outcome of a (Professor at a) prominent University’s Carter-Rucking the UK media (or in Private Eye parlance, Carter-Fucking) On an earlier thread, the poster called ‘TheResearcher’ made an intriguing suggestion: “I would be game if a few of us come together to write Read more…
Extraordinary events are unfolding at a Newspaper. A hugely damaging story about Consigliere University is about to be published. The Vice Chancellor of Consigliere University sanctions its silencing. The Editor of the Newspaper calls his CEO once the implications of taking on Consigliere University become clear. The CEO orders the Read more…
Accusations of plagiarism are damaging to famous universities. As Richard Posner in The Little Book of Plagiarism notes, an author’s name “establishes a brand identity . . . in the market for expressive goods.” In contemporary academia, originality is no longer tied solely to the scholar. Professors themselves are brand Read more…
University HR departments are facing the end of times. Longstanding practice has been to lie, dissemble and cover up. This reduces most victims to pulp. In a small minority of cases, the victim takes external action. Then an insurance policy protects senior managers against legal claims. Cases are settled with Read more…
The Dean of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, Prof Soumitra Dutta, has resigned after three years in the role. According to Bloomberg, an investigation upheld three harassment policy breaches reported by a female academic. Prof Dutta’s name has been removed from the Said Business School webpages, though Balliol College has not Read more…
The 21 Group runs an occasional series on the fictional doings of the Masters of the Colleges. Readers may remember the controversial election of Kerris Bowles-Ottery as Master at St Judas, as well as a spot of bother for Wendell Lacksworth over at Slaughterhouse College. Now comes news of the Read more…
The University of Limerick (UL) has been busy writing its own comic verse. The foxes were guarding the pen,Investigating their own sins again,Conflicts ran rife,As Transparency’s knife,Was blunted by paper and pen. At the centre of the doggerel is a €12.65 million property splurge on 20 houses in Rhebogue — Read more…
Over the past five years, the culture of Cambridge University has deteriorated substantially, as judged by the numbers of Data Subject Access Requests. These are often used by individuals in dispute with the University. They are a rough proxy for the number of staff grievances. The same pattern is seen Read more…
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), introduced in 2018, was designed to give individuals greater control over their personal data. One of its key provisions is the Right of Access, which allows you to ask an organisation what information it holds about you, and to understand why and how it is Read more…