A food fight broke out at Somerville’s Michaelmas dinner, causing a member of staff to be taken to hospital and damaging valuable college property.
The food fight broke out at the end of the dinner after Senior Common Room members left the 150-person capacity hall.
Among the college property damaged by the food fight and ensuing chaos was one of the Hall’s portraits, and an ornate silver jug from the High Table.
A member of staff injured her wrist after slipping on food and was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital for X-rays. She was discovered not to have broken any bones.
“Appalling and irresponsible”
In an email circulated to the undergraduate mailing list James McDonnell, a Biochemistry tutor and last term’s Dean at Somerville, condemned the “appalling conduct” and “irresponsible behaviour” of attendees at the dinner.
Although admitting that “most people did not take part in the food fight”, McDonnell stated that “disappointingly, this was not an act of just a few individuals”.
He added that he intends to levy a fine against the collective JCR budget to recoup the college’s costs from damage and repairs.
McDonnell said the process of disciplinary action was “still ongoing and is unlikely to be resolved until Hilary term”.
“No one stopped them”
However, some Somerville students have voiced objections to the college’s apparent plans to fine the whole JCR.
One first-year student said, “collective punishments never work – if you punish everybody, no one’s punished.”
She also questioned the reaction of the hall’s staff during the incident, “what seems odd is that no one stopped them.
“Staff were obviously around, they could have possibly done something. Then the damage would have been limited.”
“A sensitive issue”
The college’s Domestic Bursar, Carol Reynolds, refused to comment on the value of the items damaged or on any action her office might be taking regarding on the matter.
Stavros Orfanos, Somerville’s JCR President, said he felt unable to comment on what had become “a really sensitive issue around the college” but offered an apology on behalf of the JCR:
“There’s not much to say, except that the JCR are sorry”.
