Oxford students have been victims of over-zealous punishments handed down by deans.
Repeatedly penalized for petty infractions, students at St Hugh’s have had enough.
They claim they have been the victims of “active deaning,” where junior deans go out of their way to catch anyone who steps slightly out of line.
Sounding like a group of super-hero porn stars, Hugh’s ‘decanal team’ have been merciless in laying down the law.
Oxford student paper, Cherwell reported one student being charged £100 for being too noisy, while another had racked up nearly a grand’s worth of fines in his time as an undergrad.
The Tab spoke to a student at St Hugh’s, who asked to remain anonymous, fearing severe repercussions from his college.
‘They fined us when we were freshers like nothing else,’ he remembers. ‘I think it went up to around £1500 between us by the end of freshers’ week. Disgraceful.’
Another student who had previously been at Oxford confirmed the lunacy of the system. He recalled one unlucky Oxonian being forced to move out of his college for the heinous crime of using an apple press without the dean’s permission.
Absolute mare: Out of control college deanings
Clare student and Oxford graduate Tess Somerville remembers not all colleges being so harsh.
“At Christ Church most of the college’s disciplinary officers were held in fond contempt.”
She added that “if college discipline is left to the fairly arbitrary decisions of individuals then they should definitely err on the side of leniency.”
Deaning controversies are by no means confined to the other place, however. In 2010, The Tab launched an investigation into college discipline, with some shocking and bizarre results.
Highlights included one student flooding the Sidney library by blocking his sink with vomit, and a repeat-offender from Churchill being mauled by a police dog after he had been caught on the college roof.
You can read The Tab‘s investigation into college deanings here in Part One and here in Part Two.
I am incensed. At Hugh's, our disciplinary process follows a strict and fair procedure, which ensures that individuals are given an opportunity to refute charges against them and explain their behavior. First, the "noisy student" in question could not refute the fact that he was playing American rock music beyond the 10 decibel level as measured by our porters. Furthermore, he was playing this music at 14:00, when many students are attempting to read. In terms of the apple press, the production of 800L of illicit cider is not something that this College would allow to go by unpunished, particularly when the student was selling the bottles openly on the street and using the Hugh's crest. Third, the 1500 quid penalty was assessed as a consequence of no less than 15 Freshers walking on the sacred lawn of our college. While they had not been told of this Hugh's tradition, we assume it common sense. Fines were adjudicated accordingly. As you can see, Hugh's Hall is a fair hall which introduces discipline paired with sensible restraint.
not Hugh's Hall (sic)
It terrifies me that at least twelve trusty tab readers managed to miss irony so spectacularly. The cider example, which actually does sound serious, might be the cause. Try mentioning dead babies next time?
The Dean at my college banned me from U21s training as a punishment for leaving too many inane comments on The Tab
fucking fucking fucking hate the fucking dean haaaaaaaaaaateeeeeeeeeeeeeeee himmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjTii5yTHps
http://www.cherwell.org/news/college/2012/02/09/h…
This story is 12 days old. Any chance of some decent news related to our university anytime soon? Must be an awful lot going on in Oxford/Nottingham/Newcastle etc etc…
Waheyheyheyhey balls on this boy like a bengali tiger!
HI GUYS! Ehm, it seems as if we haven't occupied anything this term! How about occupying the union when that French alleged rapist comes? For feminism! Right?! Who's with me! Woop woop! I bet we can get Geuss to come and talk. I'll bring a vegan sainsbury's cake!