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The Corporatised University

Referencing Ozymandias, a statue in ruins reads, 'My name is Aussie Vice Chancellor, CEO of CEOS: Look upon my corporatised university ye customers, and despair!'

David Pope

12 September 2025

In September Genevieve Bell, vice-chancellor of the Australian National University, resigned after two years of scrutiny over forced redundancies at the university and complaints about how they were handled. David Pope alludes to Shelley’s famous poem Ozymandias (Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II) about human pride and the fleeting nature of power.