LUSU rebrand Cowboy & Indian themed night at Lonsdale

As reported in SCAN, LUSU recently cancelled a Lonsdale event with a Cowboys & Indians theme.

Maab Saifeldin, CCO for Ethnic Minorities, said it was: “Offensive because it’s throwing a party to almost glorify the people that massacred, raped, wiped civilisations out and stole their land.”

The scene of the crime

The ruling comes after Pendle JCR’s Wild Westrav Extrav theme last year caused controversy due to the presence of Native American costumes. Lonsdale JCR responded to the controversy by rebranding their party to a more generic Wild West theme.

Students were divided on whether the theme was just being an innocent fancy dress party and an excuse to get drunk (as though we need one), or offensive and worth cancelling.

Anna Lee, LUSU FTO for Welfare, said it was: “A theme that is totally inappropriate and should never be ran.”

Second year engineering student Jamie, however, said: “It’s absolute bullshit.”

Some students weren’t happy

A similar thing happened last Halloween when LUSU entertainingly got caught in a culturally appropriating trap of their own devising. They decided to put on a Dia de los Muertos night in Sugarhouse without due concern for the religious significance of the holiday and were called out on on it.

At the same time, they were running a huge cultural appropriation awareness campaign on campus.