Mad-dgalen College 

Magdalen College, the wealthiest constitutional college of the University of Oxford, has come under fire for scrapping a traditional St George’s Day celebration, which falls every year on 23 April and honours the patron Saint of England. The dinner has been replaced by a ‘special’ banquet for Eid – the second consecutive year the college has made such a move, despite the fierce row it sparked in 2023. The request for this change was made by Muslim students in order to celebrate the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting during which they abstain from food and drink between dawn and sunset.

The Eid dinner may also take on extra significance this year in light of the Israel-Palestine war, which has led Oxford bosses to warn that “there is no place for anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian discrimination, or hate directed towards any faith, race, nationality or ethnic group”.

Here is what Reverend Professor Robert Gilbert, the university’s Vice President, said in an email which he sent out to all the students at the college: ‘We will sit together in the body of the Hall, and the meat will follow Muslim customs: the meat dish will be Halal and no alcohol will be served.’ He also encouraged a ‘cultural dress code’.

St George became a legendary figure in English history due to his courage and bravery. The country adopted him as its patron saint, with April 23 being chosen as the date of celebration to mark his death. A feast day of St George has been celebrated in England for hundreds of years on this date, which was possibly the date of his martyrdom. Following the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, St George’s Day became one of the most important feast days in the English calendar.

The college has not responded to requests for comments, but said their internal calendar shows that a ‘normal’ lunch and dinner is still planned for the 23 April, however, there is no information about St George’s Day. The English flag was flown last year, but it has not been made clear if they will do the same this year.

As the row unfolded last year, gallingly, the college claimed that it had never held a St George’s Day traditional dinner, yet a St George’s Day formal dinner has been held at Magdalen every year between 2016 and 2019, and insiders said the custom stretches back decades, with photos, emails and invitations cited as evidence. In 2018, even the former college Vice President invited lecturers to “celebrate St George’s Day” with “a formal hall and high table at 7.30pm and a special English menu” accompanied by “Grace and English Music by the Clerks followed by an oration”.

This decision has caused controversy as dons and staff at the college disapprove of it, with some accusing the President of making a ‘barking mad’ decision. One academic told The Daily Telegraph: “The cancelling of St George’s Day is yet another example of the deep antipathy that the leaders of so many of Britain’s academic institutions seem to feel towards the country that built and maintains them.”

Magdalen College was founded in 1458 by William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester, and Lord Chancellor. It is described as the oldest, largest and most beautiful college in Oxford, with a reputation of excellent teaching and research. It is a Christian college, and their services are conducted to the rites of the Church of England. Why they have changed their tradition for one that is neither Christian nor English is a question which really deserves a more honest answer. 

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