University launches ‘Discourse Dan’ to promote social debate

Response from students has been mixed following the launch of ‘Discourse Dan’ by the University of Warwick, in a bid to promote conversation around hot-topic social issues.

Billed as “Disco Dave’s socially conscious cousin”, Discourse Dan is set to make his first appearance on campus as early as Term 3’s first Pop, where he will hope to engage students in friendly and open debate on the merits of an alcohol-free night out.

Discourse Dan is the opening salvo of what the University has called “What’s up, Warwick?”, an initiative hoping to address rising student unhappiness with the cost-of-living and British higher education more broadly.

Future planned initiatives seen by The Boar include a “Grievance Garden”, where the distress and anxieties of student life will be channelled into the maintenance of a community vegetable patch, and a Pop-up Hedge Maze, which will encourage students to escape their insecurities by outrunning and losing them amidst a dark morass of foliage.

Some students have reacted positively to the introduction of Discourse Dan. One told The Boar that: “It’s unusual but certainly I like the theme of it. I’m looking forward to the new perspectives Dan can give me.”

Another said: “Oh god yeah, I love him. He brings such a campy sort of vibe to Pop, you know? Oh, wait, sorry, Disco Dan did you say? No, I don’t know who that is, sorry.”

Others were less sanguine. One student savaged Discourse Dan as a “cheap gimmick” that “cynically plays on widespread and genuine love for his far-superior cousin” to advance the University’s interests.

Another simply said: “Me and my friends would’ve killed Discourse Dan with hammers I can tell you that much.”