Background

Robinson College MCR, the postgraduate common room, serves as the primary social space for graduate students and the home of all MCR-organised events — a central part of postgraduate college life.

In May 2025, Robinson College made the decision to close the MCR for the remainder of the academic term following an incident in which emergency services were called. They decided to take this course of action despite the MCR committee acting responsibly and in full accordance with their duty of care: alerting the Porters immediately, ensuring the welfare of those affected, and calling 999 out of an abundance of caution.

The MCR President has written formally to the Warden and relevant College Officers setting out the committee’s concerns in detail. As of the date of this petition, the College has declined to reconsider its decision.

Why We Believe This Decision Is Wrong

1.    The response is disproportionate to the breach

The College justified MCR closure by claiming there was a breach of licensing rules. However, the only licensing rule violated during the event was that an attendee brought their own bottle of wine into the MCR — an act of an individual attendee, not of the committee, and one that was in any case completely unrelated to the medical incident that transpired. This kind of incident can occur despite the committee’s best efforts. Preventing guests from bringing personal alcohol into an event is a significant logistical challenge — one that well-funded professional venues with dedicated security staff routinely struggle to achieve. We believe that closing the MCR in response to the unsanctioned act of a single individual is a disproportionate response to such a minor and incidental breach. 

2.    The committee acted responsibly, and should not be penalised for doing so

During the incident, the MCR committee responded promptly, transparently, and in the interests of the safety of the individual concerned. The decision to call an ambulance out of caution is precisely the kind of behaviour that any responsible institution should encourage. Even though the individual in question did not require medical attention and was taken home by the paramedics who arrived at the scene, we were commended by both the paramedics and the Porters for exhibiting an abundance of caution.

If students come to believe that acting responsibly and seeking help in an emergency leads to collective punishment, there is a serious risk that future students will hesitate to do so. This would put the welfare of students at far greater risk than any licensing irregularity.

We believe strongly that the conduct of the committee should be assessed on the basis of the actions they took, not solely on outcomes that could not have been fully anticipated or controlled.

3.    This constitutes an unjust collective punishment

The closure punishes the entire postgraduate community for the actions of a small number of individuals – including a person not affiliated with Robinson College whose access to the MCR was granted by the College itself, not by the committee. Collective punishment is broadly recognised as an unjust and counterproductive measure, and its use in this context is particularly troubling given that the vast majority of those affected had no involvement in or responsibility for the incidents in question.

4.   This decision causes serious harm to postgraduate community life

The MCR is the cornerstone of postgraduate community life at Robinson. Unlike undergraduates, who benefit from a wealth of college-organised social provision, graduate students rely primarily on their MCR for events, social connection, and a sense of belonging within their college. The closure of the MCR for the remainder of term has deprived postgraduate students of a central part of the college experience they were promised and for which they pay significant fees. The damage to community life and student wellbeing should not be underestimated.

Our Request

We call on Robinson College to:

•       Immediately reverse the decision to close the MCR and permit the resumption of MCR events for the remainder of this term;

•       Work constructively with the MCR committee to develop proportionate safety measures for future events, drawing on the proposals already put forward by the committee;

•       Ensure that any future disciplinary or corrective action is proportionate, targeted, and agreed upon in meaningful consultation with postgraduate student representatives.