Chav D will not be held for the first time in years after the Derwent JCRC admitted it “could offend.”
A statement from the JCRC said: “As a leading college community on campus, whose primary aim is to ensure our students feel appreciated and welcome, Chav D is no longer an event that Derwent can support.”
The committee insisted they were not under pressure from top college bosses to stop the party going ahead.
“This decision was made independently as a committee,” they said. “We have never received any pressure or censorship from the College team and our relationship continues to be close, strong and friendly.”
The infamous night will instead be replaced by a 'Cops and Robbers' themed event, held on April 23 in D Bar.
"Tradition," the JCRC said, "is no longer enough to justify the event to the student-body, media or your Committee."
The decision comes after shocking photos from the first event run by the new committee, Bollywood D, were exposed in York Vision. That event was slammed by many students, including incoming YUSU academic officer Tamaki Laycock, for being offensive and to South Asian culture. One student dressed as a cow, a sacred Hindu symbol.
At the time, JCRC chair Alex Urquhart defended Bollywood D. He said it was meant to make students "more aware of Bollywood and Indian popular culture in general."
But he was forced to admit only one person was on the door of D Bar to stop people with innapropriate costumes, "which in hindsight shouldn’t have been the case."
Last year furious students demanded YUSU should act and “shut down” Chav D for using “rubbish stereotypes to make fun of working class people.”
Chav-themed events have a long history at York. In 2014, the chair of Socialist Society slammed a 'Chavs vs Toffs' night run by Halifax and James as a "particularly unpleasant example of poking fun at the working class."
In Derwent, there was a mixed reaction to today's announcement. One third year student — who wished to remain anonymous — said she was sad the event had been scrapped, but "at least you won't wake up in the morning with an orange pillow."
