Lucy Cavendish students have put forward a proposal to change the design of their CamCards, citing difficulties in accessing University facilities.

Currently, Lucy CamCards do not feature the College’s scarf colours, unlike those of other colleges.

Several Lucy students told Varsity that the primary reason for the omission of stripes was a safety concern. As an open college, Lucy does not require CamCards to access residential buildings, which may reduce its overall security. The absence of stripes on Lucy CamCards could make Lucy students more difficult for interlopers to identify.

However, students at the College have expressed dissatisfaction with the design of their CamCards. One student explained that it creates logistical disadvantages and can lead to people suspecting their card is fake: “Sometimes when we go to King’s College for supervisions or ride the bus, we are scrutinised more because we don’t have the colours.”

Another student said that the irregular design has an exclusionary effect, explaining that they “feel less like a Cambridge student”.

Mat Ciesielski, Lucy Cavendish’s current JCR President, recently conducted a poll in which he claimed 95.9% of respondents said they would support adding stripes to Lucy CamCards. Ciesielski told Varsity: “College scarf colours provide a sense of identity among students”.

He added: “many students have come forward to say they’ve been denied discounts on public transport and in cafés, or even turned away from colleges because people did not believe their card was valid”.

Ciesielski said that, of the 29 undergraduate colleges in Cambridge, 24 of them are confirmed to have stripes on their CamCards, which he said highlights the anomalous nature of Lucy ’s card design.

Ciesielski also claimed to have contacted 70 college porters across various colleges to ask whether they believed the potential security risk was significant. He claimed that the 11 porters who responded did not raise any concerns about the proposed change.

One Lucy student commented: “I think changing the cards to include college colours is a neutral-to-positive change. It would reflect Lucy’s part of a wider college community whilst also having a unique colour scheme!

“I can’t say I have ever felt scrutinised entering King’s or any other college, but if this is an issue for others I see no reason not to act on it. The only issue I would raise is if the cost of new CamCards: would College foot the bill? Or would we have to fork out for a new one?”

The issue has now been brought to the attention of the College’s Governing Body, and will be reviewed later this month. If the proposal passes, the CamCards could be redesigned by next year.

Lucy Cavendish College was contacted for comment.