Peterhouse College have attempted to suppress student protests over the cancellation of this year’s May ball.

The protests were sparked by frustration at both the fellows’ and the JCR’s handling of the situation and were spurred on by national media attention. Protests took the form of a large banner suspended from the chapel, extracts from national newspapers covering the cancellation scattered throughout the college and campaign stickers placed in pigeonholes.

One student said she thought “the protests were good as they showed that the students weren’t going to take things lying down. It was definitely embarrassing for the college because it was done at the weekend when there are lots of visitors around.”

On Saturday night, students who are not affiliated with the JCR hung a sign from the college’s chapel which read “Save our May ball”. This was removed immediately. The JCR President Ben Fisher later forwarded to the college an email addressed to him from the College Bursar, which said: “I got wind of yet another scheme, this time to plaster your beautiful Bar with copies of Varsity. Your constituents should be very, very clear that any action, however entertaining, which causes damage or expense, including banners, stickers, whatever it may be, will lead to the full cost of repair, cleaning etc being charged to your [the JCR’s] already pressured funds.”

In the forwarded email, Fisher commented to students, “I do not believe the Bursar is joking on this point. I would therefore ask you to carefully consider any such action before carrying it out.”

One Peterhouse undergraduate commented, “They’re still refusing to talk to the undergraduates, and yet seem to think its okay to charge us money for daring to be offended.”

Stickers which read “Save the Ball” were also distributed in students’ pigeon holes during the early hours of Saturday morning. Unconfirmed reports suggest that members of the college authorities went through pigeon holes in order to remove them. Students have complained that this equates to interfering with their personal mail and that it is “unacceptable”.

Students put up posters in their rooms in Old Court where they knew fellows would be walking past on their way to the Governing Body meeting on Monday to discuss the ball. The colege has refused to comment on claims that bedders removed the posters from students’ rooms without consent. Although two students claimed to have left their bins outside their rooms, the bedders reportedly came later in the day and removed the posters.

The protestor responsible for the posters told Varsity, “If the fellows were willing to talk to us we wouldn’t need to do this. It’s a way of making ourselves heard.” The University’s Proctorial notice on discipline reads: “No member of the university shall intentionally or recklessly impede freedom of speech within the precincts of the university.” Unfortunately the Proctors were not available to confirm whether the alleged activities of Peterhouse authorities are in breach of this law.

One student told Varsity that a friend of his had been called to see his Director of Studies, Dr Raffenden, who is also the Senior Tutor, about the possible legal implications concerning a Facebook message he had posted on the wall of the campaign group “Save Peterhouse May Ball 2008”. The student posted on the site: “It seems to me the college is behaving in an increasingly high-handed way without ever taking real responsibility for the poor performance recently. When will individual Directors of Studies up their game instead of passing the buck?” He was reportedly told by Dr Raffenden that what he had said was considered “defamation” and could be considered a legal issue. Despite repeated attempts by Varsity to contact Dr Raffenden about these allegations,he has not commented.

One student who wished to remain anonymous because of concerns about the college’s disciplinary approach said, “If your two points of contact in college, your Director of Studies and Tutor, are against you, who are you supposed to air your concerns to? Maybe you are not supposed to air your concerns?”

Following these protests and the national media interest, the JCR Committee of Peterhouse has now changed its policy and are campaigning to have the ball reinstated. Fisher told the student body: “It has become obvious that I have spectacularly misjudged my handling of this situation, and I apologise and accept full responsibility for this.” He continued, “the Committee will reverse its position of not acting and will do its utmost to get the May ball reinstated. I hope that you will give us the chance to show you that the Sexcentenary Club [Peterhouse JCR Committee] still has teeth, and can still bite.”

One Peterhouse undergraduate said that before this change of direction “the JCR committee were in real trouble. Lots of people were talking about holding a vote of no confidence. Their recent actions have definitely restored confidence in the committee’s ability to represent our opinions.”

However, sources close to the JCR Committee said that Fisher remains “completely aligned with college authorities. He is very
concerned about staying chummy with the Bursar. He should be representing the undergraduate voice to the fellows, not vice
versa.” Another remarked upon “a worrying lack of leadership in the JCR” and claimed: “most ideas seem to be coming from undergraduates at large rather than the JCR committee.” Another said, “he’s in a tricky position, trying to please both students and fellows.” Fisher refused to comment further on this issue.

The position of the Sexcentenary Club, Peterhouse’s JCR Committee, is further weakened by the fact that they failed to ratify their constitution when it was last due for renewal. As a result, they now constitutionally lack any official power. The college authorities have made no comment on the matter to the undergraduates. One student commented on the “deep resentment
among all undergraduates about the casually dismissive way in which the fellowship deals with the relationship between junior and senior members of college.”

Although Fisher was forbidden by college statutes to speak personally to the Governing Body, on November 5 he sent the fellows a letter in which he detailed six different reasons for the reinstatement of the ball.

The letter undermined the academic grounds for cancelling the ball, pointing out that “last year none of the Committee members failed their exams, and the majority of them gained a 2.i”. Fisher reported on the meeting to students: “The Governing Body considered the subject at length and concluded that it sees no reason to alter its decision.”

The JCR last night held an open meeting to discuss the campaign.
Camilla Temple