Brian Firth to Sir John Bell on Chelsea Manning

Dear Sir John, 

I write in strong support of the letter that my colleague Michael Tselentis K.C. sent you this morning about the invitation to Chelsea Manning to speak at a forum at Rhodes House in November. Several others, including myself, have written to express our concerns, and request that this invitation, to such an infamous figure, be retracted immediately.  If the Warden is misguided, it is certainly one of the prime responsibilities of the Trustees to protect the reputation of the Rhodes Trust and Rhodes Scholarships. Enough damage has been done already by the acquiescence to the Rhodes Must Fall narrative, which is devoid of an actual factual basis. 

I also pointed out in my earlier letter that a recent survey of Rhodes Scholars from the USA found that among the respondents, 56 self- identified as "Progressive" versus only 1 who identified as Conservative. If Cecil Rhodes had intended that only Scholars with a particular political bent be afforded the opportunity to study at Oxford as beneficiaries of his endowment, he would have specified this in his Will.... unless his wishes no longer have any bearing on the selection process. I asked what directives were being given to US selection committees to avoid this documented bias.  

To date, a number of us have received a wholly unsatisfactory form letter full of platitudes from the Warden, that fails to address our concerns.

I believe that the onus falls on the Trustees themselves to render an appropriate response to these concerns.

Yours sincerely,

Brian G, Firth MB, Ch.B, D.Phil. FRCP, MBA

South Africa-at-Large and Exeter, 1972.