Elite Oxford college makes embarrassing U-turn after students complain about vegan-only menu
Wadham College SU voted for a vegan-only menu in a bid to save the world, only to be shouted down by meat-eating students
Top university chiefs have scrapped plans to serve only VEGAN food at one of their exclusive colleges after the decision sparked outrage among students.
Wadham College in Oxford announced a ban on all meat and dairy products being brought into the student residence last month after a motion was passed by the SU.
Jamie Kenna, a finalist at Wadham, had proposed the motion for vegetarian-only meals to be served four days a week at the college in a bid to raise awareness of climate change.
Kenna told the Tab, “Climate change is a term that so many people have heard, yet so many do nothing to prevent. I proposed this motion to make a statement of Wadham’s commitment to the cause and the kind of drastic change that needs to be made if we want to nullify the effects that global warming will cause if we continue to do so little about it.”
After amendments, the college took the far more drastic action of supporting an all-vegan dinner menu for every day of the week, rather than just a vegetarian one. However, university chiefs have now axed the plan, after students at the top college who hadn’t voted on the issue complained.
A disgruntled student, who asked not to be named, said: “I’m all for free choice in life.
“I eat meat, but I’d never force a vegan to eat a bacon sandwich. And I shouldn’t be forced to eat vegan food if I don’t want to. Plus, uni wouldn’t be the same without a late night kebab.”
Other students protested against the motion on health grounds. Steph Faulkner, a second year biologist at Wadham, told the Tab: “Some peoples’ dietary requirements, such as allergies and intolerances, mean that further limitations may make it difficult for them to maintain a healthy balanced diet, putting their health and work at risk.”
In a statement explaining the college’s decision to overturn the vegan-only ruling, Warden Ken Macdonald said: “While every effort is made to accommodate specific dietary needs, the college has no plans to serve exclusively vegan food.”
At the time of the motion being passed, Rowan Davis, original proposer of Veggie Mondays heralded it as “a move towards the end goal of abolishing the state, class and Capital, and moving towards a glorious queer anarchist commune”, while Annie Teriba, a fresher BNOC at Wadham paraphrased Marx, stating: “Let the ruling classes tremble in fear at our vegan revolution.
“I’m so glad that our SU did the right thing. Only now can we free ourselves from the chains of global capitalism which force meat on us”.
It seems those chains are going to weigh on Wadham for just a little longer.