Post 48 – 03/02/24 – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Today we thought we would highlight one of our concerns; student wellbeing in the community.
In my eyes, the bad guys are not the students; the bad guys are RHUL’s senior management team. But for some the distinction is not that clear: for some the bad guys are the students, all of them, tarred by the behaviour of the small minority and ineffective policies.
We have heard how the drip drip drip of student ASB and apathy from RHUL led to one local resident taking out his frustration on a student with his own hands. And we know too that local residents have targeted problematic student HMOs in frustration; breaking roof tiles, cutting internet lines and glueing locks.
I don’t think Egham & Englefield Green will ever be as bad as it was in Newcastle in the mid 90s though – student bashing was rife. I still have a scar from when I was bottled by a ‘local’ for being in a club on the wrong night. And during Freshers’ week, my Halls forgot to tell the new intake that they should take the long route from the Metro on Friday and Saturday nights. The short route was via the very ‘local’ pub – the message soon got round though, via the 20 or so bloody Freshers who took the brunt of the local resentment. And when some Paras on leave took on a student nightclub – that was a night to remember for the wrong reasons.
We should be mindful of this type of animosity.
In this group, we have removed one student for goading after asking her to stop. We have asked others to refrain too who have obliged. And more positively, we have also met up with one student who wanted to find out more about WNTT.
So to Shaf and others who may think RHUL’s current approach to community relations is satisfactory and don’t understand what all the fuss is about: please feel free to remain part of the group if you are interested in this subject. From the outset, students have been welcome and this is still the case today.
https://weneedtotalkaboutroyalholloway.com/whatsapp-forum-posts/
But if you are finding it boring or you don’t agree with the sentiment then perhaps you might want to consider leaving the group – there’s no point being in the golf club if you in fact want to play cricket after all. But if you do stay, may we ask that you please refrain from stoking the fire. We don’t think it is helping.
And to possibly alleviate some concerns and rumours: WNTT has no plans to have a vigilante arm that can be called upon to break up house parties and the like. (Locals might regret that rumour being quashed but that is the truth.). WNTT’s main aim is to try to get RHUL & RBC to put in place effective measures so that the two communities can live together more harmoniously.
To conclude: though RHUL is aware that relations are at an all low between the two communities they appear happy to turn a blind eye. (They have been advised of our concerns about student wellbeing by some of our councillors and also by us.) I can only imagine that acknowledging the extent of the problem ultimately may deter some prospective students from coming. And of course this would not be good for business; bums on seats are very much needed at the moment it would appear.
Best wishes,
We Need To Take Direct Action Against Royal Holloway