SSB protest rumours and a letter that’s probably come too late

Amidst rumours of a riot, the campaign group against the “Tribal” SSB theme have made moves to disrupt the SSB on Monday and have called for staff and faculty support.

Racist SSB

Rumours of a protest that would disrupt Monday’s Safer Sex Ball have been spreading across campus.

One member of staff, who opposes the ball’s ‘tribal’ theme, told The Tab: “I think there’s going to be a riot. People are really angry”.

The Campaign Against the Racist SSB theme group would not confirm whether they planned to protest, but security on campus is expected to be tight.

The Exeter Students for Social Justice, who are running the Campaign have sent a letter to the University of Exeter’s Faculty and Staff asking for public support against the Safer Sex Ball.

The letter, sent out only 3 days before the event, calls for a change of theme for the entire Ball and a public apology from the University to those who have been offended.

The letter explains Exeter Students for Social Justice’s concerns: “We are worried that this event encourages students to dress up as racist and sexualized parodies of our cultures that undermine our legitimacy as students who actively participate on this campus.”

The group explicitly set out the aim of the letter as:

“As the Student Guild approved this theme, we are asking you, as members of Faculty and Staff, to stand with us and speak out against the disregard for the cultures and safety of non-white people on this campus. We request your support to petition the RAG and the Guild to change the SSB theme and publicly apologize to the students who have been offended.” 

The letter also states that “a torrent of racist and sexist hatred against our members and supporters” has occurred throughout the month long on-line campaign.

However, with many students spending over £100 on their costumes and ticket, if any disruption or change to the theme and the festivities of the Ball do go ahead, the Campaign group is unlikely to secure any further sympathy from the rest of the student body who largely seem either confused as to why the theme is seen as racist, or against the idea that it is an offensive theme.

It is not clear how strong the concerns are even within the Campaign. A facebook event for a public discussion held by the Campaign to discuss the SSB theme only managed to rouse 20 attendees, with 104 out of the 132 invited not bothering to accept or decline the event. Many members of the Campaign that The Tab spoke to referred to themselves as either “anonymous” or “silent” supporters of the issue.

A leaked email, seen by The Tab, shows the pressure being put on academics, university staff and students to express support for the Campaign. In the email, Ian Cook (the Geography Equality & Diversity Coordinator) writes to the Equality & Diversity Coordinators at Exeter University and urges them to sign the petition: “Faculty and staff are being asked to sign this letter by emailing their name and support to: [email protected] ASAP.”

At the time of writing, 17 staff and faculty members had signed the letter, most of which are from Sociology, Anthropology, Philosophy and Geography departments.

Earlier this year, the Sociology Society held a tribal themed social, but chose not to advertise it with posters after a problem with defining “tribal”. Many felt images of aboriginal tribes were not academically accurate as it excluded ideas of corporations as tribes and therefore implied certain stereotypes.

You can read the full letter here.