Selwyn College officials have expressed concern about a motion by students to allow cultural wear to be worn at formals, Varsity understands.

At a JCR meeting on the 26th October, a member of the committee proposed that the college should further clarify whether cultural wear is allowed to be worn at formals, with the current guidelines being unclear.

According to the college’s website, it is deemed to be “important that standards of behaviour and dress at such an event must remain suitable to the occasion, with the “Butler or supervisor in charge of the event […] empowered to rule on the suitability of attire before sanctioning entry”.

The dress code makes no mention of cultural dress, with men required to wear a “jacket and tie,” with an “equivalent level of formality” for women. As at other colleges, gowns must be worn at all times.

The following week’s meeting minutes recorded that the college had expressed “reservations” about the change, following a Stewards Committee meeting that had taken place on the 4th.

According to the minutes, fellows and staff expressed concern that some individuals would use the change as a “loophole” to wear inappropriate clothing.

There was further concern that Hall Staff would be made responsible for determining what should be classed as “appropriate cultural wear”.

While it is unclear exactly where the concerns come from, the Steward’s Committee, which governs the college’s catering, consists of 8 members of staff, alongside representatives from the JCR and MCR.

It is understood that the process of making the change has been restarted, and the JCR is optimistic that the motion will go through.

Students at the college have been broadly supportive of the proposed change, with one describing the controversy as “another case of archaic Cambridge traditions being put over real life. It should be basically a non-issue and yet they seem to want to fight tooth and nail over some fabric.”

Another student said: “I think it’s ridiculous that some in the college don’t want to allow cultural wear at formals – people should be allowed to to wear something they feel comfortable in for formals, and we should want to celebrate our diversity in college rather than hide it.”

Earlier this year, a Selwyn formal dinner was interrupted for another reason: climate activists protested the lack of plant-based menus at the College. Jason Scott Warren, a professor at the University, said at the time that “we need to get out of the meat-and-two-veg rut and begin to discover more sustainable options”.

Dress code for formal halls already differs broadly from college to college. Downing makes allowances for cultural wear, stating that “a collarless shirt may be worn without a tie as part of cultural dress”. Meanwhile, Caius is famous for its loose dress code, only stipulating that students must wear gowns over their clothes.

In 2015, St Catharine’s changed its 650-year dress code at formal dinners to allow women to wear suits.

A spokesperson for the College confirmed that no decision has yet been made yet on whether to allow cultural wear at formals.