Drunken and violent behaviour has caused Clare College, Cambridge, to officially complain to Oriel College, and call for an end to their exchange program.
Oriel students on exchange at their sister college have been accused of various actions, which included, “excessive drunkenness before hall, excessive drunkenness during hall, shouts and insults directed at Clare fellows during grace and the meal, damage to Clare property including urination on staircases”.
There was also an accusation that a Fellow had been physically assaulted, but this has not been confirmed.
Last Sunday’s Oriel JCR meeting was dedicated almost entirely to discussion of the accusations, as members claimed that the level of misbehaviour was “exaggerated” by Clare, an opinion noted by the Oriel Dean, who was present at the meeting.
Those present on the exchange disputed every accusation except the rowdiness in hall. There were further claims that the damage was “just as, if not more, likely to have been caused by Clare students”, who had been “just as badly behaved during proceedings.”
This was contrary to perceived implications within the letter of complaint that Clare students took no part in the misbehaviour whatsoever. Some members of Oriel suggested that while an apology “was necessary”, Clare’s failure to take their share of the blame meant they wouldn’t want to resurrect the exchange program anyway.
However, it was agreed that a letter of apology should be sent to Clare College.
The first draft of this apologises for the students on exchange who “took their behaviour a little too far”, and were “perhaps a little immature.”
Explanations for this behaviour were that “the visit was highly oversubscribed… those who managed to go turned up in very high spirits… In respect to the issues with the wine, we unfortunately brought too much, being told by our vice president to provide wine for us and one Clare student for the meal.”
However, they maintained that “the behaviour of both us and our Cambridge compatriots during the dinner was boisterous”, and whilst taking the accusations “extremely seriously”, made no admittance of damage to property or assaulting a fellow.
The Oriel College Dean had threatened to “inflict a punishment on the whole of the JCR” if those responsible do not “come forward and take responsibility.”
A JCR vote unanimously opposed any such punishment at the meeting. The Dean has since backed down, conceding that “the College will not be punishing the JCR collectively”, adding “your points [in the JCR meeting] were well considered and taken on board.”
In relation to the accusations against Clare, JCR members had cited the fact that only 40 people went on the exchange, and that the exchange was not organised with JCR control.
However, the Dean continued to press for “a preemptive gift to the hall staff at Clare”, to be paid for and organized by students who were on the exchange.
There were fears of such collective punishments as a precedent has already been set in Oriel. Last year the JCR was fined for the overriding focus on club-nights in fresher’s week events, whilst the college bar has previously been closed following damage at a bop.
