St John’s has banned students from bringing alcohol into formal hall. In a controversial move, those wishing to drink with their meals will now be required to buy more expensive tickets, and will then be restricted to two glasses of a wine chosen by the College.

New ‘non-drinking’ tickets will cost £4.36 for College members and £5.36 for guests, while Johnians and guests wishing to drink will have to pay £6.97 and £7.97 respectively.

The College Council said it “wishes to enhance the experience of dining in Hall and to emphasise its importance as a collegiate event involving both Junior Members and Fellows”. Guest tickets will be more expensive since they do not pay the kitchen fixed charge.

The Council has provided two free tickets to each student “in order to encourage Junior Members to dine in Hall and to experience the new procedure”, and there are plans to review the new rules early in the Lent term.

A Facebook group has been established in protest, and there are rumours that College-wide boycotts of Hall will take place.
Third-year student James Nellany captured the mood in St John’s when he said he was outraged: “In a two-hour meal, the College are telling me that I’m not responsible enough to manage my alcohol consumption.

“Health is a private matter... the College don’t feel they have a right to regulate how many chips we eat in the buttery or how much exercise we do.”

He believed the new system also posed practical problems, asking “Do I buy a £7 ticket on the off-chance that I might want a drink at dinner next week?”

Many students believe the new rules, as well as reducing the number of people in Hall, will create more dangerous drinking patterns within the College as students drink more before meals on empty stomachs, or smuggle alcohol into Hall illicitly.

The most damaging effect of the new rules may to Hall swap in John’s which has for so long proved the cornerstone of many students’ social lives.

Second-year student Adam Rimmer, president of the TODGERS drinking society, was particularly concerned about the effect the new rules would have on freshers. “I can’t even say how much Hall swaps shaped our first year at Cambridge, and they’ve just ruined it at a stroke. They’ve robbed the new freshers of that experience”.

It is believed the Council’s decision reflects St John’s poor performance in the Tompkins Table this year. Last year the College introduced room ballots based on academic performance; this latest action may similarly hope to raise academic standards. “These measures are massively unimaginative and short-sighted,” Rimmer said.

Chris Robinson