Editing Linacre College, Oxford (section)

=== Proposed renaming ===

On 31 October 2021, the college signed a [[memorandum of understanding]] with SOVICO Group, represented by their chairwoman [[Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao]] to receive a donation of £155 million. The MoU sets out the intention to create a new graduate centre and endow graduate access scholarships. After receipt of the first £50 million, the College would approach the [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Privy Council]] to ask for permission to change the name from Linacre College to Thao College.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Transformative Donation to College {{!}} Linacre College|url=https://www.linacre.ox.ac.uk/about/news/transformative-donation-college|access-date=2021-11-01|website=www.linacre.ox.ac.uk}}</ref><ref name="Guardian">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/nov/03/oxford-college-to-change-its-name-after-155m-donation| title=Oxford college to change its name after £155m donation |work=The Guardian| date=3 November 2021 |access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-59125806 | title=Oxford college to receive £155m donation from Vietnamese company | date=November 2021 |publisher=BBC News|access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref> The donation and proposed name change has been a source of controversy for some university staff and students due to SOVICO's interests in fossil fuel industries.<ref name="Guardian"/>

In June 2022, UK [[Secretary of State for Education]] [[Michelle Donelan]] announced that there would be a formal investigation into the memorandum of understanding between the College and SOVICO group, due to concerns raised in the [[House of Commons]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-06-14 |title=Oxford college: Education minister investigating £155m donation |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-61794934 |access-date=2022-06-15}}</ref>