I write this in the wake of having heard a few too many stories in the aftermath of Freshers' Week of people from the other university starting on students from ours. It is probably fair to say that our students have been doing the same to some of their's too however the point is, that it is not acceptable under any condition to shout abuse at one another in the street just because you belong to a different educational institution.
A point that I would like to consider is that we are all here to get a degree, we will probably be fighting for the same job at a point in our life, why are we starting it early? We are all intelligent and have got to university because of the hard work we have done in the past, for it to be insinuated that some of us care less about our courses or are poorer than those who attend one that is higher in the league table is just abominable. This is not the 1800s, class should no longer be an issue or a disadvantage to the opportunities we have in life and cruelly taunting people that it may really touches a nerve.
I'd also love to point out to the boys of the city that using the chat up line, 'oh we can't be friends because you go to the other uni so we can only shag instead' is not a compliment, nor going to get you in to bed. Nor is 'oh you look too clever to go there', you are insulting me, my intelligence and my university which I (shockingly) do not take kindly to. I know the majority of people use this half halfheartedly and would never insist on taking it seriously however lately, it has become apparent that some do. The shock when we met some guys in a queue from the another university the other night and they asked if we had made any friends from their uni since being here and I told them my boyfriend had gone there was met with shock and congratulations (to my boyfriend, not me, which I can only assume is a boy thing trying to pull someone from the other uni?!)
I understand that university rivalries are usually started to keep a healthy competition between sports teams and this is fine however it seems that it has spread dramatically to all parts of university life from meeting people on nights out to societies to local organisations holding events pitting one university against another. The chanting and rivalry during the Varsity season is fine as it is a way to celebrate the sports and passion for your university but for the rest of the year, we should be able to go without making insults at one another.
I know that many people do it just for the laughs and that is fine but it seems to be becoming more of an issue and it seems to have gotten a bit more seriously lately. 90% of people see it as a laugh and think nothing of it but anybody taking it seriously needs a good talking to.
However, just because somebody happens to be wearing a t shirt or hoodie with the other university's name on it is not an excuse to shout abuse at them, or insult them. That is a form of bullying and unacceptable by all means. It is wise to remember that sometimes people pick a university because they like the city and put both universities down, one as a firm and one as insurance, which means that had things gone a little differently, you could have ended up being friends.
Ideally, I'd like to see a bigger collaboration between he two universities and although they do happily advertise events the other puts on and collaborate on events together, I would like to see this be rolled out in to societies and all parts of the universities and their students' unions as we are all students trying to live in one city together alongside each other.
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