Student editors axed
The four editors of Simpkins, the Hertford college newsletter, faced university action earlier this term when the magazine was removed from circulation for publishing potentially offensive material, The Oxford Student has discovered. The college’s governing body took the decision to pull an edition of Simpkins after the inclusion of comments which, when taken out of context, could have been considered racist.
The article in question was a dictionary translating “Oxford Speak” to “Prole Speak”, and this paper understands that an administrative accident led to the paper not being passed before the governing body prior to publication. JCR President Samina Bhatia said, “as a result of the incident, the college decided to set up a disciplinary panel, which also had JCR representation, to assess the matter.
The offences were noted by the college and the editors have been warned about future conduct.” In addition the matter was looked into by the university Proctors, with the potential of rustication as a maximum punishment, but the decision was made not to take any disciplinary action against the students
9th Feb 2006