Editing Trinity Hall, Cambridge (section)

==Historical allegations of misconduct==

=== 2015–2020 allegations of sexual misconduct ===
In 2019 and 2020, the College experienced unwelcome publicity after the reporting of allegations of sexual misconduct scandals involving Dr William O’Reilly, the former Acting Senior Tutor, and Dr Peter Hutchinson, a former fellow.

In 2015, 10 students submitted formal complaints of verbal sexual harassment by Dr Peter Hutchinson, a college fellow. Hutchinson was asked, and agreed, to withdraw permanently from further teaching and from attending social events at which students might be present.<ref>{{cite web |date=24 October 2019 |title=Statement of clarification |url=https://www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk/news/statement-of-clarification/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219222656/https://www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk/news/statement-of-clarification/ |archive-date=19 December 2019 |publisher=Trinity Hall}}</ref> However, due to an alleged error by the College in 2017, Hutchinson was invited to a college event, which was also open to students. His attendance was in breach of the prior agreement and resulted in an outcry among students and alumni.

Thereafter, in 2019, a formal agreement as to what events Hutchinson could attend was approved by the Governing Body. He remained an [[Emeritus|Emeritus Fellow]] of the College. This resulted in further protest from students and alumni as well as more widespread coverage.<ref>{{cite news |date=24 October 2019 |title=Cambridge harassment row fuels calls to reform college system |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/20/cambridge-harassment-row-fuels-call-to-reform-colleges-system |work=The Guardian}}</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]'' called it "a gross betrayal to (sic) the students" and "a dangerous environment for women students to study".<ref>{{cite news |date=24 October 2019 |title=Cambridge isn't the only university to fail at handling sexual misconduct complaints |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/oct/22/cambridge-isnt-the-only-university-to-fail-at-handling-sexual-misconduct-complaints |work=The Guardian}}</ref> It was reported in November 2019 that Hutchinson had resigned.<ref>{{cite news |date=6 November 2019 |title=Cambridge University academic resigns after Trinity Hall row |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-50314762 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

In February 2020, a ''[[Tortoise Media]]'' investigation alleged that William O’Reilly, the Acting Senior Tutor, had seriously mishandled a disciplinary process of a student he had a "close relationship" with, who was the subject of multiple allegations of sexual assault.<ref name="Tortoise">{{cite web |date=18 February 2020 |title=A college with secrets |url=https://members.tortoisemedia.com/2020/02/18/campus-justice-trinity-hall/content.html |publisher=Tortoise}}</ref> ''Tortoise'' reported that O’Reilly himself had given witness testimony on behalf of the student at the disciplinary hearings into the assaults. Moreover, during this disciplinary process O'Reilly was himself the subject of a further allegation of sexual assault, which he denied. ''Tortoise'' reported that the College's Master, [[Jeremy Morris]], had been made aware of the allegations against O'Reilly, but had allowed him to continue teaching for a further five months and oversee the student disciplinary process until the complaints were investigated by police. ''Tortoise'' alleged that as of the date of publication, no formal investigation had been made into this complaint, and no safeguarding measures had been put in place.

In February 2020, Morris and O’Reilly agreed to "step back" from their roles in college pending investigation.<ref>{{cite web |last=Chae |first=Howard |date=22 February 2020 |title=Trinity Hall Master and accused Fellow to stand down pending investigation |url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/18787 |access-date=10 July 2020 |website=[[Varsity (Cambridge)|Varsity]]}}</ref> In March 2020, the Governing Body authorised an immediate independent external inquiry into the College’s handling of all allegations raised and matters referred to in the ''Tortoise'' article, to be led by Gemma White QC.<ref>{{cite web |date=12 March 2020 |title=Statement from Trinity Hall |url=https://www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk/news/statement-from-trinity-hall-12-03-2020/ |publisher=Trinity Hall}}</ref> The inquiry recommended Trinity Hall consider disciplinary action against Morris in relation to his handling of one allegation. Morris resigned as Master in August 2021.<ref>{{cite news |date=31 August 2021 |title=Cambridge University college master resigns over handling of sex complaints |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-58396360 |access-date=31 August 2021 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

In September 2022 the College published White's report alongside a response document that indicated the actions it had taken to make improvements to the structures and culture of the institution.<ref>{{cite web |title=College Statement on Gemma White QC's Report for Publication |url=https://www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk/news/college-statement-on-gemma-white-qcs-report-for-publication/}}</ref>

=== 2018–2023 allegations of plagiarism ===
In June 2023, allegations of plagiarism by O'Reilly publicly emerged, having been first reported to the university in 2021. Documents shown to the ''[[Financial Times]]'' showed how nearly half of O'Reilly's published article '[[Fredrick Jackson Turner]]’s Frontier Thesis, [[Orientalism]], and the Austrian Militärgrenze' in a 2018 volume of the ''[[Journal of Austrian-American History]]'' had been plagiarised from the work of a third-year undergraduate. O'Reilly had been responsible for marking the student's work and had commented that it "coined an original narrative." After a two-year investigation by the University, the plagiarism was found by a tribunal to be “the product of negligent acts but was not deliberate”. O'Reilly remained in post but [[Penn State University Press]], the journal's publisher, retracted the paper concerned saying that it presented "material without credit." O'Reilly did not contest or dispute the retraction.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cook |first1=Chris |last2=Staton |first2=Bethan |date=16 June 2023 |title=Cambridge professor remains in post despite plagiarism |url=https://www.ft.com/content/ae7f16ae-95ab-4aae-a676-0748e3e61b6d |access-date=19 June 2023 |work=Financial Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=McGuirk |first1=Colm |date=18 June 2023 |title=Irish Cambridge Professor Who Plagiarised Student's Work Keeps Job |url=https://extra.ie/2023/06/18/news/irish-cambridge-professor-copied-student-work |access-date=19 June 2023}}</ref>