Durham University Freshers Group - The Times

[HannahStern]

According to The Times, Durham University has been rocked by claims that new students planned a competition for “posh lads” to have sex with the poorest girl on campus.

Incoming freshers discussed the plans on social media and another group chat talked about rape. The group called themselves Durham Boys Making All The Noise.

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/durham-university-freshers-aimed-to-have-sex-with-poorest-student-ggsch723j

Absolutely disgusting-scum

I live in NE Durham has a really gross culture. Not just this type of thing but very entitled students in a poor is really problematic and I don't feel the uni do much regarding the culture because it is basically full of rich privileged white people.

Should have been a full stop after I live in NE. Meaning I'm quite aware of the uni and how students behave.

Rubbish, my son is at Durham and said it's nonsense.

Ok @GalaxyCookieCrumble - which bit is rubbish?

Because it seems very odd that someone would take the time to create a Facebook group for Freshers, have all of these comments on it, and it get picked up by a newspaper for shits and giggles?

I went to Durham and can well believe these stories.

I once was studying in my college library, for example, and 2 male students were watching porn on a laptop with the sound turned off quite openly. Sums it up really. Horrible place.

@GalaxyCookieCrumble

Rubbish, my son is at Durham and said it's nonsense.

Oh well, if one student hasn’t seen this it must be false news....have you told the Times?

Appalling behaviour...

Obviously gross misogyny but what does this say about class discrimination in our universities?

How do you further expanding social access when comments like this become public.

Great the university has given a strong condemnation of this but the underlying culture needs to be addressed.

If this is true, it’s shocking. DS is meant to be applying to Durham, but I’m concerned now if there is this kind of element. I couldn’t read the full article, but does it say how many boys were involved on this chat?

thetab.com/uk/durham/2020/09/08/durham-boys-joke-about-sleeping-with-the-poorest-girl-competition-in-group-chat-48842
There are reported to be a number of group chats with one including 60 members @quest1on.
I think this frat boy mentality is prevalent in certain young male social circles. Misogyny is a way of emphasising their relative power and sense of privilege. Work for Durham here to be sure. I heard a woman's hour interview last week with a female student at St Andrews who had exposed a number of issues there too.

Something to talk with our daughters and sons about, no matter where they're studying.

I’m sure it is only a handful of entitled, over privileged bratty male students who think girls owe them sex. I’m glad to read that Durham is taking it seriously.

. Even thoughsmall number, it’s still too many.

I went to Durham as one of the poorer students from the North East and I can well believe that level of contempt for those from different backgrounds. While there are some lovely lovely people at the university - and some I am still friends with 20+ years on - there are also some incredibly, eye-wateringly privileged ones there who view anyone not as part of their social group as fodder for their incredibly "hilarious" shenanigans. I took a LOT of shit for being outspoken, female, a northerner and from one of the roughest council estates in the country.

It's a small minority - unfortunately it's a small, loud, obnoxious minority and I don't think the university will ever get a handle on it.

I think it's worth noting that if these men are freshers then they won't even have set foot on campus yet. Induction week is 28 September.

The university has said they will investigate and take appropriate action.

Doesn’t surprise me given the experience that some female students had at Warwick. This is what is happening at every single university.

Domina

Came from the NE myself and I can attest that there are cultural differences are University A geordie accent does mark you out at many universities (e.g Durham ironically). I even spent time supressing my accent to 'fit in" which I regret.

Class discrimination is a thing at universities and one that can be quite subtle at times....

Oh well, if one student hasn’t seen this it must be false news....have you told the Times?

Could get XR to pop round again, perhaps? That would at least slow down transmission a bit among the more technically challenged.

Don't forget the BBC. And The Tab, which first picked it up.

Even theGuardian will probably catch up eventually. Not that they don't like a good class warfare story, of course, but they do tend to lag a bit behind sometimes.

DD and her friends had picked up on this by yesterday lunchtime (not many her group in sixth form chose Durham, although we all know a few from other local schools and colleges who chose it). It doesn't seem to have come as a great surprise to many, sadly, although sad losers would be a polite expression of their description of that kind of boy.

However, for those whose DC are still waiting for accommodation to be allocated, look on the bright side - if there is proved to be any substance in the story,some rooms may be being freed up soon.

This would not have surprised me in the slightest at Durham 20 years ago.

My daughter firmed Durham but changed her mind in May and is now going elsewhere, part of what put her off was the people on the group chats, she is from a working class background and a comprehensive school and just felt out of place. She is still on the group chat for her college and some other group chats for Durham and has seen a lot of comments like these. I know that one of the boys in question was due to attend the college she chose and people are contacting the principal to ask that he has his place withdrawn if he hasn’t already. However at the University she is now due to attend she said there are boys on group chats with terrible attitudes towards girls, just not class based. I don’t think misogynistic attitudes are unusual unfortunately.

I think for working class kids it is honest to give a true reflection of higher tariff universities.

I know thousands will say that University is about people from a range of social backgrounds forming bonds and having a mutually positive experience but it often is a different situation.

The majority of students will be middle class with a significant proportion attending grammar or private schools.

This means working class students are in a minority and from experience there often is a culture shock when starting university.

Jeremy champions the student support and enrichment agenda at the highest levels of the University, and his goal is to ensure that the wider student experience at Durham is unsurpassed in Europe and on a par with the very best institutions worldwide.

Someone clearly likes a challenge. Jeremy being Jeremy Cook OBE, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Colleges and Student Experience)

Appalled but sadly not surprised.

If these boys are incoming Freshers then by definition the problem is with their schools or homes rather than with Durham.

I wouldn’t have been surprised by this in the Durham of 20 years ago either. As a northerner from a not posh background I mostly kept my head down and found my tribe, which were not the “hilarious” ex public schoolboys.

Professionally I am aware a little of how Durham is countering their behaviour. They are doing good things, partly of course because they know their problems, having been exposed, but are but being let down by idiot freshers.

This is shocking. I applied to Durham back in the day (25 years ago) naively assuming I would be of Durham calibre. I wouldn't have achieved the entry requirements and ended up at Manchester where my working class background (tough council estate) didn't factor in at all. All students mixed happily.
This is shocking and Durham needs to clamp down on this !!

@goodbyestranger

If these boys are incoming Freshers then by definition the problem is with their schools or homes rather than with Durham.

Exactly