FFO reported the 301-year tradition of men as the chair of the poetry department at Oxford University ("Oxford Professor of Poetry") being broken with the appointment of Ruth Padel. Now, Ms. Padel has had to step down when it was revealed that she participated in a smear campaign against her rival for the position by sending emails to two newspapers alerting them to two sexual harrassment charges against her rival. The situation has two edges since she claims she did this for the sake of students. However, she also mentioned his advanced age and the fact that he lived in the Caribbean rather than Britain, according to this NY Times report.

Ruth Padel is the great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin.