Smelly John's
ROWERS RETURNING FROM the river in their sweaty kit and damp trainers have been warned this week: have a shower or don't come to Hall.
On Thursday St John's Joint Council agreed that the time had come to stamp out sporty types' antisocial habit of turning up for Formal Hall "dressed in singlets, running shorts, trainers, and a generally sweaty demeanour". Now, students who are deemed too smelly for Hall will not be allowed to eat.
Senior Dean Dr Tom Kemp explained that "the problem has not been bad in the past, though occasionally the individual smell allegedly has". However, the SCR Butler and other members of staff are reported to have been disappointed with students' attire and personal hygiene recently, and it was this that prompted the policy change.
Whether a college member is too pungent is "likely to be a matter of judgement by the senior serving staff present." But worried boaties can relax: there will be a right of appeal to the Dean or President, with the possibility of a free High Table meal on Sunday in the event of any injustice.
When the OxStu suggested that the policy might be seen as too intrusive, Kemp responded that society requires the balancing of competing interests: "Your right to smell versus my right to have an odour-free meal."
JCR President Daniel Wilson defended St John's, saying: "we are not a smelly college - but the college is firing a warning shot to those smelly people you get in all colleges that this sort of thing isn't acceptable".
The JCR is monitoring the situation but at present has no objections to the policy. No-one has yet been denied entry on the ground of odour.
8th Jun 2001