Source: Cardiff University

No laughing matter: Cardiff¡¯s court refused to ratify Griff Rhys Jones¡¯ selection

There is now no chance of Griff Rhys Jones becoming chancellor of Cardiff University because of ¡°indignation¡± among academics over the handling of the process, according to one of the objectors to his appointment.

Cardiff was forced last week to ¡°delay¡± the appointment after the university court refused to ratify his selection by the council ¨C despite the fact that the institution had already distributed press photos of Mr Rhys Jones wearing the chancellor¡¯s robes.

Cardiff issued an embargoed press release on 8 April announcing his ¡°election¡± as chancellor, two days before the court met to discuss the issue. Brian Ford, a tutor in the University of Cambridge¡¯s Institute of Continuing Education who is a fellow and member of court at Cardiff, said he spoke up because the proposal had been presented as a fait accompli. The council had not indicated that the current chancellor, the Nobel prizewinning scientist Sir Martin Evans, was eligible for reappointment, he said.

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The vice-chancellor¡¯s office seemed to have ¡°just decided Griff Rhys Jones was a good bloke¡±, Professor Ford said. There was therefore an ¡°enormous sense of hostility¡± in the court to the proposal, which was sent back to council for ¡°reconsideration¡±. Professor Ford said he understood that Sir Martin had also expressed his concerns.

Speaking generally, Professor Ford said that university courts ¨C which usually represent academics ¨C were increasingly fighting back against decisions they thought ill-considered. University councils, he said, used to be made up of ¡°wise, grey-haired women¡± and ¡°bald-headed men with a paunch¡± who were trusted by academics. But they were now run by ¡°barrow boys¡±, and so courts ¨C made up of ¡°older and wiser¡± people ¨C felt it ¡°incumbent¡± on them to scrutinise council decisions.

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Had the process been handled ¡°honestly¡±, the court may well have agreed to Mr Rhys Jones¡¯ appointment, Professor Ford added, but there was now ¡°such a sense of indignation¡± that it would block the move. Whoever was responsible for presenting the issue to court in such a ¡°predetermined¡± way was ¡°unfit to remain in office¡±, he said.

While he questioned replacing a ¡°very eminent scientist with a comic¡±, he stressed that the court had objected primarily to the university¡¯s approach, so the decision was not meant as a ¡°slight¡± on Mr Rhys Jones.

He added that he liked Mr Rhys Jones on the ITV show It¡¯ll Be Alright on the Night, a compilation of TV bloopers, and suggested that the programme was an apt metaphor for the Cardiff debacle.

A Cardiff spokesman said the university could not comment until council had reconsidered the matter.

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david.matthews@tsleducation.com