Many students around the country will be gearing up for one of the biggest social events in the university calendar. Carnage is a pub crawl event which allows new students to get to know their new location, enjoy drinks promotions in participating commercial properties and dress up in themed costumes before the intense workload makes most buckle down and start working in earnest.
However, the controversial event has attracted high levels of criticism from many in society, with the result that many university towns have banned the organisers from running promotional activities at all. And for towns that do still allow students to enjoy the evening of drinking, there are still those who question the morality of the event.
This week, Sheffield MP Paul Blomfield has added his voice to student leaders in the city who are calling for this year’s event to be scrapped. Student Union representatives of both Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam Universities have claimed that the “pimps and hoes” theme chosen by Carnage organisers is sexist and have urged their students to boycott the event entirely.
Mr Blomfield said; “I strongly urge Carnage to listen to what student representatives from both of our universities are saying and scrap this offensive theme. It trivialises prostitution and violence towards women and is deeply sexist.
“This event will cause offence across Sheffield and they should think again.
“If Carnage refuses to change the theme then I’d call on local Sheffield businesses to wash their hands of this bar crawl.”
Of course, this is not the first time that the event, run by events company Carnage UK, has caused an outcry in the popular university destination. In 2009, a 19 year old Sheffield Hallam student was charged with public indecency after urinating on the city’s War Memorial on the night of the event.
While he had attended the event, he admitted to drinking heavily beforehand. As a result of his behaviour, he was ordered to complete 250 hours of community service.
In fact Carnage, which will be held held in 44 university towns nationwide over two months this year, has become somewhat notorious over the past few years. Despite the fact that Carnage UK hire extra bouncers to man participating bars on the night, some revellers manage to slip through the net and cause problems for residents of the hosting towns and cities.
Cardiff’s Carnage event was held on Monday of this week, yet Cardiff is the only university city in Wales which still welcomes the event. Both Bangor and Aberystwth Universities forbade the Varsity Leisure Group, parent company of Carnage UK, from hosting events due to concerns for the safety of participating students.
Speaking about Cardiff’s Carnage event, manager of Alcohol Concern Cymru Andrew Misell said; “Companies who organise events like this must take their responsibilities seriously. Too often young people take part, drink far too much and end up in a vulnerable state on the street with society left to pick up the pieces.
“We know that alcohol is part of many people’s social lives but we need to learn how to enjoy it sensibly and safely, and events like Carnage don’t help.
“For a young person it may seem like one fun filled night out, but there can be grave and far reaching consequences because of their excessive drinking.”
The National Union of Students, which works with student unions around the country to ensure students are receiving the best possible advice and support during their time at university, has also spoken out against the event in the past. They believe that Carnage encourages binge drinking and organisers are not thinking of the safety of students when running events such as this.
NUS Vice-President for Welfare, Pete Mercer, said; “NUS has long been critical of organised bar crawls that promote excessive drinking and put the participants’ health at risk.
“We have established a successful partnership with Drinkaware to promote safer drinking practices amongst young people and will continue to do so.
“It takes a staggering lack of imagination on behalf of the organisers to assume that students are only interested in getting drunk; with a little thought they could put on activities that didn’t promote such a lazy stereotype of young people.”
Varsity Leisure Group has hit back at criticisms by saying they are “acutely aware” of their responsibilities as an organiser, and the safety of participants is their first priority.
Do you think that events such as Carnage should be encouraged for first year students, or do you agree with Mr Blomfield and the NUS in that the event encourages dangerous levels of binge drinking? Can you think of an alternative event to be run in university towns that would allow students to enjoy their evenings safely?
