Members of the Jesus College JCR are protesting the college’s decision to temporarily shut the JCR as punishment after a student caused a small fire. Numerous students have emailed the college’s Director of Accommodation, Catering, and Conferences (DACC) to express discontent over the decision. Students also posted a sign on the DACC office door stating “the office will remain closed until a proper DACC can be found”.
Last week, students lit and extinguished candles for a Diwali event and then left the candles in the JCR. An unidentified student described as “a random fresher” then lit one of the candles, causing a small fire that triggered the fire alarm. Days later, the DACC announced that the JCR would be closed until Saturday morning.
Members of the JCR including the JCR president met with Jesus Principal Sir Nigel Shadbolt today to discuss the shutdown and improving channels of communication between JCR members and the college.
Enforcers locked the JCR’s main entrance but failed to lock its back door, a student told Cherwell.
The DACC wrote to JCR members: “We cannot impress on you firmly enough the catastrophic consequences of fire taking hold of the building. The College goes to great lengths to ensure that you live and study in a safe environment; however, we rely on students to also play their part and use facilities responsibly. The behaviour which led to the incident has fallen well below that which we should be able to expect.”
In response Jesus students circulated a template email, and asked JCR members to contact the DACC.
The template letter included a list of activities that closure of the JCR would prevent, including: “microwave… halal meals”, “watch the football in a non-pub environment”, “use the vending machine”, “use a gender neutral toilet”, and “read student journalism”.
The full template reads: “I believe that the entire JCR being closed due to the behaviour of a few students is extreme and neglects the many uses which that room has. I personally use the JCR to [insert a list of activities]. I fail to see how these uses for the JCR are related to rule-breaking candle-lighting behaviour. I know that we as students have a degree of collective responsibility, but do not think that this closure is an appropriate course of action to remind us of this responsibility.”
The organiser continued: “If [the DACC] gets 100 emails I trust she will see where we as students stand on this issue.”
According to a Jesus student-run Instagram, a sign has been posted on the DACC’s office door: “The office will remain closed until a proper DACC can be found. Please contact the student body for any further information x [sic].”
A Jesus student told Cherwell: “When you punish 400 uninvolved students for the one-time actions of a single random fresher in their first month of university, I wouldn’t underestimate the willingness of Oxford students to allocate every ounce of their intellect, connections, and spite to prosecuting such a weird, draconian crackdown – they’ll drop everything and do more than they’ve ever done for their degree.”
Two students involved with the Diwali event were each fined £100, while the “random fresher” who started the fire has yet to be identified.
A Jesus spokesperson told Cherwell: “Jesus College takes the health and safety of all College members seriously, and this course of action was not taken lightly by the College Officers. However, a fire of any size could lead to serious personal harm and significant damage to College buildings. The temporary closure of the JCR was activated to ensure all junior members understand the importance of the College’s responsibility, and their personal responsibility, towards the continued safety of all College members while on site.”
