Bristol SU says initiations won’t be ‘tolerated’ following the first sports night of the year

Bristol SU have told group leaders of societies not to hold initiations this year in an email which was sent earlier today.

The article described how initiations are "not acceptable, and not tolerated."

It was written how "initiations can severely affect the experience for new members, meaning your group will lose memberships and, potentially, future student leaders."

The email in question

The email included a link to a GQ article which explained why humiliating initiations need to be stopped.

A list of measures also featured in the article, telling group leaders what steps to take in case a member of the society experiences harassment or assault on a night out.

When asking for clarification, a member of SU staff said: "If any behaviour that took place in initiations broke UoB acceptable behaviour policy, we would work with UoB to address this."

With a handful of university clubs being notorious for hosting initiations which make new members perform unhygienic, unsafe and sometimes unfathomable tasks, it may be time to re-evaluate if this is a necessary part of the university culture.

Note: This image has not been used to imply that this sport team hosts university initiations

Ginny Troughton, Sport and Student Development Officer at Bristol SU, said: "The ban on initiations is not a new restriction and it has been in the code of conduct for many years."

"Socials are so important for students and student groups but they have to be inclusive and anything that makes any member feel uncomfortable cannot be tolerated."