Now Oxford University vow to remove Sackler name from its building and staff posts after review into its ties with billionaire dynasty that fuelled the US opioid crisis
- Sacklers linked to Purdue Pharma, which makes painkiller linked to opioid crisis
- Read: V&A finally cuts ties with controversial Sacklers over opioid crisis
The University of Oxford has vowed to remove the Sackler name from its buildings and staff posts following a review into its ties with the dynasty that fuelled the US opioid crisis.
It comes after a number of institutions ended their relationships with the Sackler family in recent years over its association with the crisis.
The Sackler Library in Oxford, as well as a number of galleries and staff posts at the Ashmolean Museum in the city, will be renamed following the review.
Controversy has followed the Sacklers over their links to Purdue Pharma, which produces OxyContin – a painkiller at the heart of multiple lawsuits relating to the US opioid crisis.
The university said donations received from the Sackler family and their trusts will be ‘retained by the university for their intended educational purposes’.
The Sackler Library in Oxford (pictured), as well as a number of galleries and staff posts at the Ashmolean Museum in the city, will be renamed as the university cuts ties with the controversial family
Controversy has followed the Sacklers over their links to Purdue Pharma, which produces OxyContin – a painkiller at the heart of multiple lawsuits relating to the US opioid crisis
It added that no new donations have been received from the family or their trusts since January 2019.
READ MORE: London’s V&A removes Sackler name from museum walls as it cuts ties with billionaire dynasty that fueled US opioid crisis
The Sackler name will be removed from six university buildings, spaces and staff posts, but will be retained on the Clarendon Arch and on the Ashmolean Museum’s donor board for ‘the purposes of historical recording’ of donations.
The statement on the institution’s website said: ‘Oxford University has undertaken a review of its relationship with the Sackler family and their trusts, including the way their benefactions to the University are recognised.
‘Following this review, the university has decided that the university buildings, spaces and staff positions using the Sackler name will no longer do so.’
The review outcomes were approved by the university council on Monday.
For many years, the Sackler name was synonymous with huge charitable donations made by the family to galleries and museums around the world.
The university has come under pressure in recent years to remove the Sackler name from one of its libraries, two galleries and several staff positions.
In March 2022, the British Museum announced it was removing the Sackler name from ‘galleries, rooms and endowments they supported’.
The National Portrait Gallery, Tate and the Roundhouse are the institutions in the UK to have cut ties with the Sacklers in recent years.
OxyContin is a painkiller linked to multiple lawsuits relating to the US opioid crisis
No new donations have been received from the family or their trusts since January 2019
An international response has also seen venues such as The Louvre museum in Paris and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art distance themselves from the Sackler family.
As part of the university’s decision, the Sackler library has been renamed the Bodleian Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library.
A statement from the University of Oxford said: ‘The review outcomes have had the full support of the Sackler family.’
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