Marched Out
THE MARCH FOR Equality set to mark the end of OUSU's Diversity Week ended in embarrassment this Saturday as almost no students turned out to watch or join in the reported "highlight" of the weeks events.
Organisers of the march, following a highly successful series of events covering issues of equality, diversity and discrimination, associated the poor turnout with failure in the publicity of the event.
Despite information over the location and time of the march, the small bright orange posters, produced by OUSU, failed to disclose the date of the event and consequently this was seen as a, if not the, major factor for explaining the poor turnout.
A police escort, which had been arranged by organisers of the March for Equality in anticipation of high turnout, was embarrassingly turned away as it soon appeared that attendence would be far lower than expectations had originally led them to believe.
Consequntly, the march, which was reported as aiming for an atmosphere simlar to that of a "festival" was led from the Univesity Museum, through Oxford town centre, towards the town hall, constituted by just a handful of students and OUSU members.
One second-year student stated: "I would have joined the march had I known, but I wasn't even aware that it was taking place." He added: "I do not think the small turnout reflected how students perceived Diversity Week; I would blame the low turnout on poor publicity rather than student apathy."
14th Feb 2002