Cambridge student wears ‘Maddy is in my freezer’ T-shirt to rowing social

A Cambridge University student was pictured during a white t-shirt social with the following written in pen on his back:

"Maddy is in my freezer"

"Tommy Robinson – what a babe"

"Fuck Greta #drown the polar bears"

The student was taking part in the Queens' College Boat Club social, called the 'Big Boatie Bar Crawl Event'. The student was pictured in The Regal, Cambridge's Wetherspoons.

It is assumed that the comments refer to Madeleine McCann, who went missing in Portugal in 2007, Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate activist, and Tommy Robinson, co-founder and former leader of the English Defence League.

The picture was taken of a student on a bar crawl for rowers which involved elements of a "white t-shirt social", a tradition across universities in which students are able to write anything they like on those wearing a t-shirt. The student has not been identified.

The event followed different bars across Cambridge before the boat clubs on the bar crawl all met in Spoons at 10pm. The bars involved include 1815 (The Cambridge Union's bar), Ta Bouche, Baroosh, The Maypole, Rev's & All Bar One. All of the aforementioned bars and pubs offered discounts to those on the bar crawl, which ended with entry to Lola Lo's nightclub. Accessing these deals and free entry to the nightclub was conditional on purchasing one of the white T-shirts, which cost £6.

Although the bar crawl was organised by Queens' Boat Club, each individual club was marshalled by a member from their own club. The organising boat club were one of 20 societies in attendance.

Homerton Boat Club and Lady Margaret Boat Club (the boat club of St John's College) are also mentioned on the t-shirt with "Yeah Maggie!!!!" and "HOM" slogans also seen on the t-shirt and neck of the student pictured.

The following College Boat Clubs were involved according to the Facebook event: Christ's, Clare, Darwin, Fitzwilliam, Girton, Homerton, Hughes Hall, Jesus, Magdelene, Murray Edwards, Pembroke, Peterhouse, Queens', St Catherine's, St John's, Selwyn, Sidney Sussex and Trinity.

Each of the boat clubs followed individual routes across Cambridge before all meeting in Spoons at 10pm. Over 185 people were marked as going on the Facebook event, with a further 300 interested. The event was sold out.

In response to the photographs, Charlotte Hallam, President of Queens' College Boat Club, told The Tab Cambridge: 'Any messages written on T-shirts worn by attendees of the Big Boatie Bar Crawl are the sole responsibility of individual attendees and have no connection whatsoever with the views or values held by Queens’ College Boat Club or by Queens’ College.'

Edward Parker Humphrey's, President of Cambridge University Students' Union, told The Tab Cambridge: 'This sort of behaviour is disgusting and should not be tolerated within Cambridge. Student clubs and societies should consider whether white t-shirt parties such as this are appropriate events to host, given their tendency to produce offensive and discriminatory material like this.'

White t-shirt socials have been in the news recently, being banned at Leicester University after "Hitler wanted my kind alive" was seen.

Students at Plymouth University last year were suspended after racist and anti-Semitic material was also seen at a Conservative Party Social.