New Catz bar guidelines anger religious minorities
St Catherine’s College have come under fire after a new policy demanded that students remove any headgear before being served at the JCR Bar, prompting accusations that minority rights are being ignored. Peter Eleveld, the college’s Domestic Manager and one of two bar managers, sent an email to the entire JCR on Saturday, informing students: “there is now a JCR Bar policy that NO HEADGEAR will be worn whilst you are been [sic] served at the Bar.
The move has provoked criticism from both students and religious groups, who have described the policy as “completely unacceptable”. According to the e-mail, the reason behind the policy was that: “As licensees we must be absolutely certain that we are able to identify those that we actually serve.” The Oxford Student understands that the e-mail was prompted by an incident in the college bar involving two Sikh students, who were wearing turbans at the time.
St Catz JCR President, Dave Craddock, acknowledged that an official investigation was being conducted into the circumstances surrounding the headgear rule. Mr Eleveld’s e-mail explained that for those whom, “it is not easy or possible” to remove headgear, permission could be arranged to exclude them from the rule - but only if they visited him in his office and brought their Girocard.
A spokesman for the London and Home Counties Sikh society, which covers the Oxford area, expressed their anger over the move. “I feel it is completely unacceptable for any student to be discriminated against in accordance to their faith and or beliefs. Everyone has the basic human right to express their beliefs freely, and to be discriminated against according to one’s religion is disgraceful.” Students at St Catz have echoed his concerns.
Roz Hooke, the JCR’s equal opportunities rep, sent an e-mail to students in response to the headgear policy, saying: “there may be concern over the content of [Mr Eleveld’s] email and this raises several equal opportunities issues. “I also want to offer my full support to anyone who may be affected by this new rule and the information in Peter Eleveld’s email,” she added.
Phil Bradley, a second year at the college, said of the policy: “It’s obviously going to be quite unpopular - having to get an excuse to wear headgear is just singling individuals out unnecessarily,” he told this paper. Mr Eleveld and the Master of St Catherine’s, Professor Ainsworth, declined to comment.
17th Nov 2005