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Going the distance: Cantab on fitting in, couples on a summer apart
A LETTER TO CAMBRIDGE’S FRESHERS:
making friends, pg. 10 and finding independence pg. 21
Varsity’s ’s matriculation style guide pg.26
No.925 Friday 4th October 2024 varsity.co.uk The Independent Student Newspaper since 1947
Cambridge continues to employ sexual aggressors
REVEALED: Only 2/3 of Cambridge students take out a student loan Esther Knowles Investigations Editor Only two thirds of Cambridge students took out a tuition loan in the 2022/23 academic year, and the highest individual student debt of a Cambridge graduate is £141,210, Varsity can reveal.
4,236 Cambridge students who didn’t take tuition loans in 2022/23
£141,210 The maximum debt Cambridge students are graduating with
£5,837
The average maintenance loan taken out by Cambridge students per year
▲ HOLLY HARDMAN
Felix Armstrong Associate Editor Cambridge University allowed multiple staff members to keep their jobs despite upholding allegations of sexual misconduct against them, Varsity can reveal. Six student complaints of sexual misconduct, made against Cambridge staff, have been upheld by the University in the past six academic years, according to an FOI investigation. But, only one of these cases has resulted in a member of staff being fired.
In each of the five other cases, the accused staff member was allowed to keep their job at the University. Three upheld complaints resulted in the relevant employee being issued a “formal warning,” while two cases were dealt with using an “informal warning”. Each of these complaints were made, and upheld by the University, between the 2018/19 and 2023/24 academic years. “Sexual misconduct,” according to a University code of conduct, can include attempted or actual sexual intercourse without consent, “sharing private ma-
terials of another person without consent,” “inappropriately showing sexual organs to another person,” “repeatedly following another person without good reason,” and “making unwanted remarks of a sexual nature”. Elleni Eshete, Cambridge SU’s welfare officer, told Varsity that sexual misconduct is a “serious offence” which can “negatively impact” individuals for the rest of their lives. Eshete called on the University to take action: “The Cambridge SU urges the University of Cambridge to handle
the matter with the severity it deserves.” Between 2019/20, when Cambridge’s Office of Student Complaints, Conduct, and Appeals (OSCAA) began recording the figure, and 2022/23, 41 students lodged complaints of general “staff misconduct”. 26 of these were subsequently investigated by the University, with six eventually being upheld. OSCAA’s report for 2022/23 described staff misconduct complaints as an “area of increase”.
8,704 undergraduate Cambridge students took out a tuition loan for that year, making up two thirds of its overall intake (approximately 12,940). The figure for those taking out a maintenance loan – 8,774 – is marginally higher. The data was provided by the Student Loans Comapny (SLC) following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by Varsity and includes figures relating to student loans taken out by Cambridge students in the academic year 2022/2023.
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Inside ● University animal testing pg.5 ● In conversation with Imogen Grant pg. 15 ● The science of the female orgasm pg. 17 ●