Oxford Student Union has scheduled an extraordinary Conference of Common Rooms meeting for 11 November to determine its response to Nathan Cofnas’s invitation to speak at an Oxford Reform Society event.
The sole item on the agenda is a motion entitled No Hate Speech at Oxford.
The proposal was submitted by St Catherine’s MCR representative Xiangyue Wang.
If approved, it would require the CCR to issue a statement concerning the invitation.
The proposed wording would be presented during the emergency meeting for agreement between the motion’s proposers and the SU.
The motion also seeks an independent examination of the risk assessment and authorisation process applied to the Cofnas event.
It would additionally require equality impact assessments to accompany risk assessments for future events held in University or college venues.
University representatives have been invited to attend the debate, respond to questions and hear students’ concerns.
Xiangyue Wang and St Catherine’s MCR were approached for comment.
Further proposals would support Oriel MCR’s request for the college to establish clear mitigation measures for residents living near the venue.
Student representatives at colleges seeking a role in decisions about sensitive events accepted by their institutions would also receive backing, along with efforts to ensure common rooms are included in college-level event risk assessments.
Subject to approval, the motion would oblige the SU’s Sabbatical Officers to request attendance by University Proctors or another suitably qualified independent supervisor at the Nathan Cofnas lecture on 17 November 2026.
The supervisor would monitor for speech that breaches the Equality Act 2010.
The Sabbatical Officers would also communicate available student-welfare support and SU assistance for reporting racial discrimination.
An allocation of up to £1,000 would be made available to student-led activities centred on inclusion and the celebration of varied experiences.
An emergency CCR meeting can be requested under the SU’s bylaws only when five Common Room Representatives contact chair Roxi Rusu by email.
The Oxford Student reported that the request was sent on 28 October.
Merton JCR, St Catherine’s MCR, Oriel MCR, Green Templeton GCR and St Cross SCR supplied the five representatives.
The proposed SU intervention follows an open letter signed by more than 16,000 people.
Its signatories condemned Cofnas’s invitation as actively promoting racism on campus and described the academic as a white supremacist.
Rusu, the SU’s President of Communities and Common Rooms, said the CCR meeting would allow common room leaders and SU officers to develop a collective position on a complicated issue.
She also said the SU, as the student representative body at Oxford University, could support direct communication between students and representatives of the University and colleges.
Catherine Kola-Balogun, the SU President for Welfare, Equity & Inclusion, seconded the motion alongside Isak Gudmundsson Goldstein of St Cross, Abdul Olagunju-Adekunle of Merton JCR, Isabella Taylor of Magdalen JCR, Shubh Kumar of Green Templeton and Preston Means of Oriel MCR.
Olagunju-Adekunle’s participation remained subject to ratification at the meeting.