Guest dinners in Christ Church were banned indefinitely by college authorities and disciplinary action was taken against two students, following rowdy behaviour at a dinner last term. Second years Gareth Jones and Patrick Timmis were fined a total of £150 each, as well as being threatened with the loss of their college accommodation, after accusations of their involvement were made by JCR President Jo Lee Morrison.
The behaviour reported during the guest dinner included urinating in the kitchen lobby, vomiting in the toilets, drunken speeches, swearing and simulating sex on the high table. The hall staff were upset by the general conduct observed during the dinner. One of the difficulties now facing the JCR is finding kitchen staff who would be willing to work at future guest dinners at Christ Church. Morrison outlined the JCR’s position, saying, “We are disappointed that it had to come to a stage where guest dinners were cancelled, but we understand the action of the college authorities.”
In an email sent out to the JCR mailing list, Morrison named Jones and Timmis as the “worst culprits” for the behaviour that evening. They were subsequently fined £100 each by the Junior Censor, Edwin Simpson.
The JCR Food Rep Charlie Barrow said, “It should have been blindingly obvious that there were going to be consequences for those people’s actions. It’s just tragic that everyone else has to live with them too.”
At the end of term bop the pair approached Morrison to find out why they had been named in her email. Although Jones and Timmis maintain that they were not aggressive in their treatment of Morrison, they were removed from the bop by the porters, following the JCR President’s complaints. Timmis said, “We confronted Jo because we felt fairly aggrieved, rather than complaining through the proper channels.”
They were then threatened with further disciplinary action, namely the loss of college accommodation for the following term. “We received an email from the junior censor saying it was very unlikely that we’d be allowed to live in college. We were really shocked,” said Timmis.
Regarding the allegation that they had urinated and vomited everywhere during the guest dinner, Jones said, “It was nothing to do with us.” Timmis went on to say that it was “completely and utterly untrue. All we did was to piggy back to high table.” Both students felt they had been unfairly treated, but emphasised that they do not want to aggravate the college authorities.
Last Tuesday Timmis and Jones were informed that they would be allowed to continue living in college this term. Following their behaviour towards Morrison at the bop, however, both students have been charged with an additional £50 fine. Timmis and Jones dispute the college’s decision to do this on the grounds that they were simply questioning someone’s actions.
An undergraduate observer at the bop, who wishes to remain unnamed, said that Jones and Timmis had “trapped Jo, who was working at the bar, behind tables”. He added, “They were very close to her and Patrick especially was shouting fairly vitriolic verbal abuse and being threatening in his stance and body language. Jo was very upset and crying after the two had been taken away.”
Morrison said that she did not want to comment about the details of the event, except to say, “I am satisfied that my complaint has been investigated thoroughly and resolved. I just want to forget it ever happened.”ARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2005
Christchurch guest dinners suspended
