The suicide of a student at Oxford University has sparked calls for a review of the ‘cancel culture’ prevalent at Britain’s elite institutions. Alexander Rogers (20), a third-year materials science student at Corpus Christi College, took his life in January this year after being ‘ostracized’ by his peers, according to a report. WireFollowing a two-day inquest at Oxford Coroner’s Court, coroner Nicholas Graham concluded that the boycott “made him intend to take his own life”. Final reports stated that Rogers was “upset” that his friends had shunned him following an undisclosed allegation.
A former partner alleged she felt “discomfort over a sexual encounter” with Rogers on January 11. Four days later, on January 15, a missing persons report was filed, as Rogers wrote to friends, expressing “remorse for his actions and the belief that they were unintentional but inexcusable”. His body was later fished out of the River Thames.
“Although what we are doing here is in the public interest, the family additionally has to bear the unique burden of grief, which is heavy. As we have heard Alexander was an extremely capable and popular young man and he has passed away Really sad,” Graham said.
Dr. Dominic Thompson, an independent consultant who investigated the case, said that Rogers’ exclusion from the college community was characteristic of “wider cancel culture”. He said the allegations made had a “stacked” effect on students against Rogers because of his “unwritten” moral code of “doing the right thing.”
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The university is taking action
Notably, the university was not aware of the cancel culture prior to the report and has since accepted its recommendations, which “are being addressed with some diligence”.
“Oxford University and Corpus Christi College offer our deepest condolences to Alexander’s family and to everyone in our community who is saddened by his tragic death,” a university statement said.
“The college launched an independent review to identify all the learnings from this case, with the aim of reducing the likelihood of such a tragic loss being repeated,” it said.
A report into preventing future deaths has also been sent to the Department for Education to consider the prevalence of “cancel culture” in higher education.
Roger’s family said their priority is to ensure that the culture of social exclusion is recognized to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.
