This is just a quick update on what has happened since the vandalism incident which occurred at the end of last term.

Firstly, thanks to all of you who have given me information about what may have happened last December.

Following the discussions which have been taking place over the winter vacation, the Dean of College (Dr Martin Dixon) has recently stated that over the first 4 weeks of term, "until those responsible are identified", he intends to do the following:

1. The following events will be suspended
15 January 2010 - ENTS BOP and BAR
22 January 2010 - ENTS BOP and BAR
29 January 2010 - ENTS BOP and BAR
30 January 2010 - MCR Ceilidh
05 February 2010 - ENTS BOP and BAR

2. He has decided that he '"will not be giving permission for any new student events in College. This applies to all requests for permission for non-academic related activities. It does not affect regular bookings for sport use and similar." (This includes events planned for any time after the first 4 weeks of this term)

3. Any other events which had already received Decanal permission will be permitted to proceed, ie:

All Qs films
14 January - 21st Birthday party - Old Hall
16 January - Dinner for QS students & parents
17 January - Kangaroo Club breakfast
17 January - 21st Birthday party
29 January - 3rd year dinner
30 January - Milner Society Annual Dinner
06 February - Medsoc Annual Dinner

Formals will be taking place as normal

While this is a withdrawal from his original plan to suspend all college entertainment, the refusal to grant permission for any further events is still preventing the organisation of, among other things, 1st Year Dinner, Halfway Hall and the 3 further bops planned this term. In the meantime, we are investigating possible alternatives for some of these events, but the situation is clearly far from ideal.

The JCR Committee is still involved in negotiations with various members of college over the current sanctions. It is worth noting that a number of fellows on the Governing Body do sympathise with our point of view on the matter. Nevertheless, identifying those responsible would be the quickest and most surefire way of being able to resolve this issue.

To this end, we have gained assurances from Dr Dixon that anyone found responsible would not be 'sent down'. He also stated that the likely course of action, should someone come forward to him, would likely involve their exclusion from the bar for a period along with some effort being made to recoup some of the cost of the damages incurred. The identity of anyone coming forward to him would be kept in the strictest confidence.
If anyone would like to discuss the issue privately, without the information being relayed to Dr Dixon or other members of college, please do feel free to email me (jcr-president@queens.cam.ac.uk).

To discuss our response to the current developments further, we will be holding an Open Meeting next Tuesday (19th January). Further details about this will be circulated shortly, but it is our intention to have either Dr Dixon, Dr Kelly (Senior Tutor) or both present to explain their position and answer questions on this issue.

Please feel free to comment below.

Emil