Raucous Oxford Finalists Injure University Officials

The university has launched an investigation after two officials were left with bruised ribs and a black eye when end of term revelry got out of hand.

The students were taking part in the tradition of “trashing”, spraying each other’s academic gowns with champagne, eggs and shaving foam after completing their finals.

University proctors, who are tasked with enforcing discipline, had already called the celebrations “a disgrace” after students left behind rotten food, vomit and broken glass.

But the latest incident went a stage further, bruising two of their assistants so badly that one could not use his swollen hand and the other was sent home from work. It is believed that a former student was celebrating with a finalist at lunchtime last Tuesday when he inflicted a black eye and bruised ribs on one staff member and abrasions and bruises on another.

The pair ignored orders to calm down before the staff were injured on Merton Street, near Corpus Christi, alma mater of Labour leader Ed Miliband. In an email sent to the heads of all colleges, proctors Huw Dorkins and Amy Zavatsky wrote: “Two members of our staff were injured by an out-of-control man thought to be a student who was ‘celebrating’ with one of the finalists.

“The man in question ignored instructions to stop what he was doing and ran away from the scene. The proctors are currently investigating this case, which may become a matter for the police.

“We would appreciate firstly your co-operation in assisting with our enquiries on this case and secondly your help in discouraging the increasingly unpleasant, unruly and aggressive behaviour of students, typically groups of young men, after exams.”

Former Oxford students, friends from elsewhere and even parents and siblings were increasingly taking part in boisterous trashings, they added. It is understood that the university will not ask police to press charges. University authorities have attempted to clamp down on the practice in recent years, after residents injured themselves slipping on detritus.

In an email to students, Dr Dorkins and Dr Zavatsky wrote: “There is no tradition of the abuse of food in ‘trashing’. The very idea is a recent invention and one which is particularly offensive in a city where there are many homeless and hungry people.

“In previous years some members of the public have been injured by slipping on flour wet from champagne and eggs. Complaints have been made by shop-keepers whose businesses were affected by mess left on their windows and doorways. “You should also be aware that there have been cases in which potential employers have noted evidence of ‘trashing’ displayed on websites.


“Rotting food, vomit, broken glass and other items causing litter are simply not what any of us wants to see. They are a disgrace and potentially dangerous.” Many of the city’s pubs now refuse to serve students who have been trashed and the university collected £6,000 in fines for unruly behaviour in one year alone.

Original source here.