The National Union of Students has announced a crackdown on sports team initiation ceremonies. The move has come after footage of a ceremony at the University of Gloucestershire was leaked to the BBC.
The footage showed students with plastic bags over their heads, drinking and vomiting, egged on by a student dressed in Nazi-style uniform. The students are seen vomiting onto the ground before being paraded through the streets. Such shocking footage, viewable on the BBC website, has triggered a knee jerk reaction from the NUS in which it calls for all ceremonies to be banned.
NUS president, Wes Streeting released a statement on behalf of the NUS stating: "We are totally opposed to student initiations. They put students at serious risk and exclude students who don't want to take part in that binge-drinking culture.”
It is fair to say that most initiation ceremonies may take on the form depicted in the video and that they usually result in humiliation and a hangover; it is believe that one in five involve some form physical abuse and there have been three deaths as a result of such ceremonies in recent years.
Whilst we have no official word on how these ceremonies take form within Lancaster University, though we believe they involve a vast amount of alcohol, it is clear to say there is a fine line between having a bit of fun and bullying the vulnerable. It is not clear how long initiation ceremonies have left, or if the NUS crackdown is going to have any effect. But the card is marked and it may be wise for any sports team considering performing any form of initiation ceremony to seek a different way to greet the newcomers to the club.
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