Southampton University Men’s Hockey Club have this afternoon released a statement to the Soton Tab regarding their position on this morning’s of ‘racism and anti-Semitism” in their club emails.
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To whom it may concern,
In relation to the post on the SUSU Facebook page, SUMHC would like to apologise to anyone who might have taken offence to what was said in the “SUMHC Banter” email.
As a club we find the allegation that we are in anyway racist or anti-Semitic as untrue. We have a highly diverse club, in terms of race, religion and sexual orientation, so any claims that we are discriminatory to anybody who identify as these, we believe are baseless and false.
It has never been the intention of the club to cause any offence to our members, or indeed anybody else who might read our emails. Obviously, we apologise to those people who have found it insulting or unacceptable.
In the light of what has happened, the committee will discuss action needed to ensure nothing like this happens again.
The thoughts and feelings of those beyond our club were not taken into consideration, for which we sincerely apologise.
Yours sincerely SUMHC
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The statement comes after an email was leaked to the SUSU page by a non-member at 6pm Friday evening, calling it “campus bigotry”. See our full report .
I think it’s evident that the hockey club appreciates that its behaviour has been unacceptable in this instance, and I’m glad to see that they have responded with a public apology acknowledging such. Despite the issue with the normalisation of racial abuse, I nonetheless think it would be a stretch to go so far as to say that either the club or its members are inherently racist. It appears to me that the email itself purely seeks to humiliate its own members for their (often drunk) antics, but it’s undeniable that the way in which it has done so on this occasion is reprehensible. I would not expect to see this taken any further, but do hope it will serve as a warning, to both the hockey club, other organisations within the university and anyone wishing to contribute to this ‘lad culture’, how foolish misjudgments of what constitutes ‘banter’ could potentially tarnish a reputation beyond repair. The breach between the adults at university and those living in the ‘real world’ is ever so slight, but let’s be glad this has occurred on the more protected side of that threshold.
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They’re apologising for those who found it offensive. They don’t seem quite to appreciate what they did wrong and they’re sorry they got caught. I would assume the club will be subject to disciplinary action.
As well as learning the lesson that it’s not acceptable to most to behave like this and that it’s stupid to write “banter” emails unless you know exactly who it’s going to.
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My interpretation was that their apology to anyone who may have taken offence is reflective of their genuine intention not to have caused it. I suppose the question of the hockey club truly recognising the intolerability of the email can only really be determined by whether or not they now work to suppress any and all unacceptable racial abuse within the club or, instead, merely ensure greater security in the distribution of their emails.
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Did you not read the email? It’s sole purpose was to abuse, offend and humiliate members of the club.
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“Notoriously male”
That’ll be the Men’s Hockey club, yes.
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Good to see an extremely mature response to the allegation: “We have a highly diverse club, in terms of race, religion and sexual orientation, so any claims that we are discriminatory to anybody who identify as these, we believe are baseless and false”. In other words, “I can be as racist as I want because I spoke to a black guy one time”.
Fairly sure that’s not how it works. You are just proving that you’re all ignorant mummy’s boys who are at this university not because of intellect, but simply because mummy and daddy paid you through private school. Idiots.
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Good to see an extremely mature response to the apology.
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good to see an extremely mature response to my comment, hypocrisy nazi
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And based on the ending of this post, you are proving that you are inherently lacking in intellect and are overwhelmingly judgemental yourself. I didn’t realise it was possible to conclude the educational upbringing and financial status of an entire sports club based on a single email.
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Southampton Hockey Club. Arrogant, Draconian members with a vile clique giving a bad name to an otherwise good sport. This news of nonchalant and offensive behaviour is no surprise to anyone aware of the clubs reputation surely?
Oh and by the way chaps, you know when you waltz into Clowns with your ‘I’ve just won the Masters’ Eton-esque attire? Your appearance is far from how your ignorant swagger suggests how you think you look. You do, indeed, look like a bunch of first class, silver spooned, masogynistic, out of date, boys club chumps.
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SUMHC = UKIP voters.
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Naa, the hockey club may be full of arrogant [insert expletive], but their stash does look pretty sharp to be fair.
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It was only last week that I saw a SUMHC members pants pulled down in Clowns wine bar! For the schoolboy error the player performed was not to go unpunished. Ominous latin chanting began as the rest of the drinking circle, packed with sons of landowners and former politicians, began to encircle the sacrificial player. For ”From the highest mountain, to the deepest sea” the identically robed party droned, as the sacrifice’s chin then exposed genitalia were dipped into a pail of snakeblood. “Deeeper; deeeeper” they cried….
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