Following years of wrangling, it appears that Oriel College, one of the colleges that comprise the University of Oxford, will bow to pressure and remove its statue of Cecil Rhodes, The Telegraph reports.
Rhodes, who died in 1902, ultimately gained notoriety for imperialist and racist statements he made at a time when such sentiments were mainstream. He lived in South Africa where he served at one point as Prime Minister of what was then known as the Cape Parliament, and also founded the De Beers diamond company.
In his will, he donated a huge sum of money to Oriel College, hence the reluctance to discredit his memory by removing the statue; however, after five years of campaigning conducted by both students and certain academic staff, it appears that the college is about to give in.
"The Governing Body of Oriel College has today voted to launch an independent Commission of Inquiry into the key issues surrounding the Rhodes statue," a statement said, adding that the decision to remove the statue was "reached after a thoughtful period of debate and reflection, and with the full awareness of the impact these decisions are likely to have in Britain and around the world."
Earlier this week, a majority of both undergraduates and postgraduates studying at Oriel voted in favour of the statue being removed.