Killjoys are trying to ban Varsity chants but people are kicking off

The fun police are at it again


Christy McMorrow, our SU president, has proposed a policy to ban sexist and classist Varsity chants, but unsurprisingly a lot of people are unhappy about this.

Chants including “stand up if you know your dad” and “the wheels on your house go round and round” have been mentioned by McMorrow as just some of the offensive chants he is trying to jettison.

The proposal says: “all of our students should feel comfortable engaging with sport at University, regardless of class, gender or any other part of their identity” and the banning of chants aims to deal with this.

McMorrow has said: “It’s vital that our SU and University are inclusive to all our members, whatever their background and whatever their interests. We wouldn’t treat classism or sexism as acceptable in our nightclub, our societies or our elections. The same should be true for sport. I hope this policy will not only help make varsity more inclusive, but improve our sports teams as a result.”

But this proposal is not going down well with a large number of people. Sportsmen and women in particular are kicking off in outrage at the plans.

The SU Sports Committee, Flic Wilbraham, current sports officer, and Emily Roche, sports office for the coming year, have set up a petition asking people to vote against McMorrow’s proposal.

The petition arguments that: “By its very nature, sport is competitive and if there was no light hearted rivalry it would not be what it is today. Chanting from both universities is taken lightly, is non-personal and indirect by nature.”

Several members of university sports teams have spoken out against McMorrow as well, for example, Chris Taylor, the Boxing Captain has said: “The proposal is another case of the fun police censoring what we can and can’t say because they get offended on someone else’s behalf.”

Rowing captain, James Palmer, has deemed the proposal “a load of rubbish.” He has said: “Sporting events are, by their very nature, loud, passionate and fun, and prone to getting people excited.”

“I am convinced that no members of either University are greatly offended by any chants, and that our Varsity is exceptionally friendly between the Universities. Chanting is, for the want of a better word, “banter”, that is far greater enjoyed by all than it upsets people.”

“Perhaps, if we are to move on the SU Committee’s suggestion, we should also compete in a manner to aim for a draw, so nobody feels disheartened, and not clap too loudly when one of our teams score?”

It’s an odd situation where sexism and classism are being defended, but those opposing McMorrow argue that this is just part of the rivalry and atmosphere that surrounds sport.

What we’d really like to know though, is how the SU plan to police an entire stadium full of chanting fans.