Matt won a JCR election, but his College overruled the result on the grounds – unknown to the students involved – that intermitting students, even those living in College, cannot be members of their College’s political body.

This decision, according to Matt, was a case of “not allowing intermitting students to participate in the political life of the University or College”, with senior members “intervening in the otherwise healthy functioning of the JCR”.

Although he intermitted early in Michaelmas Term, Matt, who is an HSPS student at Fitzwilliam College, continues to live in Cambridge. When, midway through term, JCR elections opened up, he was persuaded to put himself forward for the role of Male Welfare Officer.

Matt was “really excited” for the JCR position, noting that he has “a lot of experiences which would have been very informative”, having gone through many College and University support systems and processes himself. He was unsure, however, of the implications of his intermission, but both himself and the then-JCR President checked the constitution of the Junior Member’s Association (JMA), the overall union representing the views of those in the College, of which the JCR is a constituent association, and could find no regulation forbidding his candidacy.

The former JCR President, whose role was also up for election, then reached out to the staff and fellows of the JMA to confirm whether those in Matt’s situation are able to take up JCR positions. They had, according to Matt, “a very weirdly negative response to the whole thing”, but did not make any firm decision, or update the students.

“They didn’t explicitly say to me that I couldn’t stand,” Matt said, so in the end he chose to run for the JCR position anyway, trusting the decision on whether to elect an intermitting student to the voting members of the JCR.

However, after voting closed – with Matt’s winning vote count then visible to all students of the College – the JCR President was prevented from announcing him as Male Welfare Officer, despite his majority in the election.

“I won the vote, but they overruled it”, said Matt.

Although he noted that the other candidate, who has now taken up the JCR position, is “great”, Matt was disappointed to be denied a position to which he had been elected.

Asked about the incident, Paul Chirico, Fitzwilliam’s Senior Tutor, told Varsity: “Intermitting students are not formally members of the JMA (Junior Members’ Association) during the period of their intermission, and so are not eligible to vote in elections or hold committee positions.”

Matt, however, confirmed that he was not, at any stage, informed of this information, suggesting that the College made “no effort” to make this clear. Furthermore, he noted that he was in fact permitted to vote in the same JCR election that he stood in, and his vote went towards the final result for those elections: “My voting ability wasn’t challenged in any way.”

“It’s weird to deny someone a vote or a position due to health reasons”, he added.

The Fitzwilliam College Junior Members’ Association constitution, approved in 2013, states that “all junior members of Fitzwilliam College in residence shall be deemed, on payment of the appropriate subscription, to be members of the Association”, rendering them entitled to use its facilities and to vote in elections. Matt was, and is, in residence at Fitzwilliam College during the course of his intermission – therefore the only apparent constitutional reason for a student intermitting under these circumstances to be excluded from the JMA is this undefined “payment of the appropriate subscription”.

“Intermitting students shouldn’t be silenced,” Matt said, suggesting that this incident, and the JMA’s reasoning behind it, amount to “disenfranchising a particular group of people”. He noted that his situation – intermitting while living in college – is unusual and, speaking about the JMA’s reaction, said: “It’s obviously not something they’ve thought about or considered much, hence the surprise and extreme reaction.”

Senior Tutor Paul Chirico, said: “Fitzwilliam College values all students equally, and works hard to provide support before, during and after a period of intermission.”

Matt added that overruling of the election result was not student-led, and, in his view, the negative reaction largely came from a small group of fellows on the College’s JMA. “I want to emphasise that the student community at Fitz is a very friendly and supportive one and that the problem lies with the JMA, and the JMA alone”, he said.

Ellie Brain, the current Fitzwilliam JCR President, reached out to CUSU for support and advice, remarking that both CUSU President Evie Aspinall and CUSU Disabled Students’ Officer Emrys Travis were “very helpful” in attempting to challenge the College’s ruling, but did not succeed in altering the decision. She said that both CUSU sabbatical officers and College JCR members “did everything they could”.

CUSU Disabled Students’ Officer Emrys Travis told Varsity: “The university has begun to realise the extent of unfair and completely disproportionate isolation intermitting students often face in the name of “eliminating unfair advantage” and has begun to work to change that, and it’s important that extracurricular practices reflect academic ones. The idea that an intermitting student cannot take on a committee role, if there is no essential feature of that role which would require current study, is a misapprehension of the purpose of intermission”.

They added, “For many, though not all, intermitting students, continued contact with the college and university community is essential for their welfare and for maintaining their peer and support systems.”

Matt also emphasised that, despite this incident, Fitzwilliam College, and specifically the JCR Access Team, have been making wide reaching efforts to increase access to the University for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

He remains uncertain of why the College seemed so opposed to his decision to stand for election, but remarked: “I do feel that at least part of it was a wish to not publicise or encourage intermitting.”