A large amount of damage was done to Somerville College last week when on Thursday night, a group of individuals vandalised the JCR. Damaged items included the JCR’s new table tennis table whilst litter and alcohol covered large parts of the room.
JCR President, Louis Mercier, cleaned the JCR himself after scouts threatened a fine when the damage was discovered the following morning. Evidence of the vandalism included snapchats sent to other members of the JCR of drunken men stood on the table tennis table. The table, which was only a few days old, luckily survived and can still be used by students.
This follows other incidents of vandalism at the college when, most recently, a kitchen was damaged with broken glass and rubbish was left everywhere. Students were also forced cleaned this up after nobody came forward and the scouts at the college refused to do so.
Speaking to the Oxford Student, a student at Somerville who did not wish to be
named said: “I am really disappointed that other members of the JCR feel that they can vandalise our community spaces and expect others to clean up their with no consequences for themselves. It undermines the friendly and welcoming atmosphere promoted by most students at Somerville.”
This is not the only incident of such destruction. Earlier this term, Magdalen College saw similar levels of destruction at a Jungle themed Bop with reports of damage to property and altercations with college staff. Reports did also suggest however that the individuals responsible might not in fact have even been students at the college.
Lincoln College has also recently experienced a sudden rise in careless drunken behavior, with one event causing a number of students to require hospital treatment and leaving a significant mess for the bar staff to clean up.
