--- title: Oxford Apologizes for International Women's Day Controversy description: Oxford has apologized after a photo of a female cleaner scrubbing the words "Happy International Women's Day" off the University's steps went viral. canonical: https://time.com/5192948/oxford-international-womens-day-photo/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-09T16:25:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:51:15.748Z og:title: Oxford Apologizes for Viral International Women's Day Photo og:description: "We are deeply sorry for this and for offence caused" og:url: https://time.com/5192948/oxford-international-womens-day-photo/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc7469b362e0888f/6988b724a988ca20226bac32/gettyimages-507983744.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Oxford University Won't Bow To Pressure To Remove Statue Of 19th Century Colonialist Sir Cecil Rhodes og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Oxford Apologizes for Viral International Women's Day Photo twitter:description: "We are deeply sorry for this and for offence caused" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc7469b362e0888f/6988b724a988ca20226bac32/gettyimages-507983744.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Oxford University Is Sorry for That Photo of a Woman Scrubbing 'International Women's Day' Away  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 9, 2018 4:25 PM UTC  A statue of Cecil Rhodes is seen at Oriel College on February 2, 2016 in Oxford University, England. A statue of Cecil Rhodes is seen at Oriel College on February 2, 2016 in Oxford University, England.Carl Court—Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 9, 2018 4:25 PM UTC [Oxford](http://time.com/4990798/oxford-cambridge-social-apartheid-black-students/) has apologized after a photo of a [female cleaner](http://time.com/5189856/international-womens-day-2018/) scrubbing the words [“Happy International Women’s Day”](http://time.com/5187268/international-womens-day-history/) off the University’s steps went viral. The shot shows the female worker using a mop to clear away the chalk message as a group of male security guards stand idly by. It was captured and shared on Twitter on Thursday by Associate Professor Dr. Sophie Smith, who pointed out the irony of the image. “Oxford security makes a woman cleaner scrub out ‘Happy International Women’s Day’ on the Clarendon steps,” Smith wrote. “What an image for [#IWD](https://twitter.com/hashtag/IWD?src=hash).” Oxford apologized for the gaffe later that day in a tweet. “We are deeply sorry for this and for offence caused,” the university wrote. “International Women’s Day is hugely important to Oxford. This should not have happened.” However, the photo had already begun making the Internet rounds, prompting some to comment on its controversial nature. “Wow. Not a good look,” tweeted one user. “I don’t think management realised what an image that would make. They need to consult their marketing team.” > [](https://twitter.com/DrSophieSmith/status/971714934819184640) > [](https://twitter.com/UniofOxford/status/971734146803470336) > [](https://twitter.com/PhDpeeps/status/971736196127707137) See some of the reactions below. > [](https://twitter.com/rosscolquhoun/status/971762886321364994) > [](https://twitter.com/DrSophieSmith/status/971735213071065090) > [](https://twitter.com/Transsomething/status/971835517217263616) > [](https://twitter.com/kimlockhartga/status/972089419149840384) > [](https://twitter.com/sounds%5Fancient/status/971719504840609792) > [](https://twitter.com/dorbs84/status/971722868143919104) > [](https://twitter.com/sounds%5Fancient/status/971726773024100352) > [](https://twitter.com/HelenMy48/status/971791803904086016) > [](https://twitter.com/CelizMurray/status/971723751808266241) > [](https://twitter.com/7seashorse/status/971798167548256260) > [](https://twitter.com/OfficialGarrick/status/971809618883239936) Oxford Apologizes for International Women's Day Controversy ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5192948/oxford-international-womens-day-photo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5192948/oxford-international-womens-day-photo/"},"headline":"Oxford University Is Sorry for That Photo of a Woman Scrubbing 'International Women's Day' Away","datePublished":"2018-03-09T16:25:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:51:15.748Z","description":"\"We are deeply sorry for this and for offence caused\"","url":"https://time.com/5192948/oxford-international-womens-day-photo/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","International Women's Day"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc7469b362e0888f/6988b724a988ca20226bac32/gettyimages-507983744.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc7469b362e0888f/6988b724a988ca20226bac32/gettyimages-507983744.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Oxford University Won't Bow To Pressure To Remove Statue Of 19th Century Colonialist Sir Cecil Rhodes","caption":"Oxford University Won't Bow To Pressure To Remove Statue Of 19th Century Colonialist Sir Cecil Rhodes","creditText":"Carl Court—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5192948/oxford-international-womens-day-photo/","name":"Oxford University Is Sorry for That Photo of a Woman Scrubbing 'International Women's Day' Away"}}]}] ```