DCU society suspended from social activity following ‘misconduct’ on campus

A DCU society has been suspended from social activity following "misconduct" on campus.

The Accounting and Finance Society (A&F) have been banned from taking place in any social activity for the remainder of the semester due to incidents that occurred at their extraordinary general meeting (EGM). The group have apologised for any offence caused during the meeting. Writing on Facebook, the group said:

"Due to the misconduct at our EGM on Thursday 4th of October, A&F has been suspended from social activity for semester one of this year, which includes the A&F European Mystery Tour (...) "A&F will ensure that this does not happen again and would like to take this opportunity to apologise to any member who was offended by last weeks EGM."

According to Facebook, the event involved inappropriate games involving first year students who went head-to-head to become the society's first year representative. These games allegedly involved "stripping" and "shifting." DCU's student union has since issued a statement denouncing the event. They wrote that they were "shocked and disappointed" by the incident and that the event had overshadowed "... the valuable work being undertaken by the University community to provide a safe and equal environment for all to study in." They said:

"DCU Students’ Union works very hard to promote and foster a culture of inclusivity and belonging amongst the student body and the conduct of students at this meeting completely impedes this culture.  "(The union) will continue to educate and engage students in equality, diversity and inclusion now more than ever having only recently trained over 15 percent of first years in consent amongst a range of other ongoing activities and initiatives."

The union encouraged any student affected by the event to contact the students’ union, the student support and development centre, or the equality office. A&F society's EGM took place on Thursday, October 4.