Universities ‘ignoring’ lad culture

The president of the National Union of Students (NUS), Toni Pearce, has accused universities throughout the UK of ‘ignoring’ the lad culture present on campuses.

A recent survey by the NUS has found that out of the 2000 students who were surveyed a quarter had experienced unwelcome sexual advances.

Two-thirds had heard rape or sexual assault jokes on campuses.

The survey also revealed that a third of the female and male students questioned had been subjected to explicit sexual comments which made them uncomfortable.

In response, the NUS is launching a social media campaign to highlight “lad culture” on university campuses and has asked students to tweet their experiences.

Toni Pearce remarked: “These stats show that harassment is rife on campus, but we still keep hearing from universities that there is no fear, no intimidation, no problem.”

Nicola Dandridge, Universities UK chief executive, said the efforts of the NUS had helped raise awareness of the kind of behaviour that degrades women and other groups on campus.

Numerous Warwick students reiterated the views of Toni Pearce and confirmed the presence of a ‘laddish’ culture on campus.

Olivia Lynch, a third-year History undergraduate said: “I would definitely say it exists at Warwick, especially with the sports clubs and drinking culture. Just go to Pop! and you can spot the ‘lads.’”

Kate Watson, a third-year English literature student, remarked: “I think that lad culture has become a normalised and expected part of the university experience and Warwick has unfortunately not been able to escape this.

“Anyone who has experienced the Copper Rooms at 2am can probably vouch for this. Although it is not one of the most prolifically ‘laddish’ universities it is definitely still a problem.

Sophie Tran, third-year English literature undergraduate, held a similar view. She stated that: “Most of my female friends and I have experienced some sort of these ‘unwelcome sexual advances.'”

Though, she added that she had “experienced less of this type of harassment on campus, as opposed to living in Leamington”.

However, Junaid Hanif, a second-year Engineering student, commented: “I don’t see it as exclusively happening at the University of Warwick. I have noticed that it happens up and down the country at various different universities.”

If you feel like you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this article then contact Nightline or the University of Warwick’s counseling team.