College rivalry beats off fifth week blues
A dispute between Mansfield and Corpus Christi colleges led to a late-night confrontation between students of the colleges on Sunday night. An emergency motion, tabled by Corpus student Ash Shakeri at the college’s JCR meeting on Sunday, proposed that: “The College Warlord in waiting (Nik Bamford, a second- year Corpus engineer) lead an angry mob of around 50 members, called ‘Bishop Foxe’s Barbarians’ on a gallant charge to Mansfield.
To justify the demands Shakeri, a second year lawyer, explained, “on Friday of 4th Mansfield ‘Tennis Hoes and Golf Pros’ invaded our beloved and pristine college Beer Cellar as part of their 18-hole beer cellar golf game. “Aside from being an eyesore, blowing their whistles extremely loudly and generally being an unwelcome nuisance, one of the Tennis Hoes vomited their mincemeat dinner up all over the Beer Cellar.
The student in question, Ruth Underwood, then ran through the rear fire exit of the Beer Cellar up into the College Library setting off the fire-alarm in the process. The motion was proposed as revenge upon Mansfield for their behaviour. Underwood has offered her apologies, telling The Oxford Student, “I’m extremely sorry that Corpus bar staff had to clean up after me. I know from experience how gross it is to have to clean up other people’s sick.
After the motion was overwhelmingly accepted around 40 Corpus students, including Shakeri and JCR President Dave Holtam, marched to Mansfield with the intention of presenting a peace treaty. The treaty demanded “a grovelling and unreserved apology from Mansfield” and “an annual reparation payment of a bottle of port”.
Corpus JCR President Dave Holtam said, “some Corpus students went to get a few pitchforks after the JCR meeting and then we headed down to Mansfield, to make them accept they’re weak and worse than us.”On arrival at the college, Corpus students began a chant of “What do we want? Port! Why do we want it? Honour!” Mansfield JCR President Ed Mayne responded by burning the treaty, provoking some Corpus students to scale the Mansfield gate.
Holtam said, “the Junior Dean was a bit of an idiot. When I climbed over the gate he got really pissed off.” One Corpus student, who declined to be named, said that the Junior Dean told his companions, “if you wanted a riot you should hop on the Eurostar and head to Paris.” According to Mansfield President Ed Mayne, “our [Junior Dean] took it perhaps a bit too seriously and University security services were called.
Mansfield was quick to enact retribution on Monday night, covering Corpus with posters showing eight Mansfield students pointing toy guns at a sign stolen from Corpus.
Text beneath the photo said that Mansfield students demanded “a formal written apology for the unruly, yet somewhat ineffectual, demonstration… a recognition of our superiority… [and] a 3 metre tall (life-size) golden statue of Julian Mansfield, to replace the somewhat under-imposing golden pelican that currently adorns the Corpus Christi quadrangle.
The rivalry between Corpus Christi and Mansfield allegedly stems from the theft of a Corpus pelican by Mansfield students 300 years ago, despite the latter college having only existed for 119 years. The sundial in the centre of Corpus’ main quad is in the shape of a pelican. The feud between the rival colleges looks set to continue. Holtam said, “[Mansfield] is not really a college, it’s a polytechnic.
Mansfield JCR Vice-President Andrew Mitchell responded by labelling all Corpus students as “a bunch of willies”.
10th Nov 2005