THE WILKINS NORTH Cloisters are used neither for cock fighting nor as an illegal massage parlour, so why is the area under threat from the Vice Provost, Michael Worton?
Only three weeks into term time and Balls! have found themselves facing homelessness after VP Worton took the unpopular step of banning all clubs and societies from using the cloisters, with such short notice given that a replacement venue has proved difficult to find.
This is the first time Worton has been able to implement his plans to veto clubs and societies from continual booking of certain university rooms, including the Cloisters. After a meeting with the VP in May, regarding this issue, ex Clubs Societies and Student Development officer Natasha Davis said that the space decision for Balls! still seemed am biguous, but that “Worton was giving off bad vibes”. So why is the VP now so keen to exile students from what is essentially their university space?
The VP told Natasha Davies to think about “the image of the Cloisters and how what activity goes on in there reflects on UCL”. Another reason for the veto, was that “the space often became obstructive to those wanting to walk through [the Cloisters] when clubs and society activity is happening”
These spurious claims have been refuted as “unfair” by both Balls! and the Union. In a report written and presented to the VP, Natasha Davies stressed the importance of students “using the rooms which provide a specialist type of space”. This includes Balls! who need rooms with high ceilings. Balls! President, Natalia Paredes Ventura, told The Cheese Grater they are unable to use gyms, because of the cost to the society members and that the prospect of practicing outside during the winter months was far from appealing. Natalia also expressed her surprise at the VP’s claim that a member of the public was hit during Balls! practice. Neither Natalia nor the Union have ever been able to find the incident form or any details for this ‘victim’. Presumably the shock of the encounter killed them, or at least, wiped them from any university records.
With regards to UCL’s “image”, both the Union and Natalia pointed out Balls!’s involvement in UCL’s Charity Concert in the Quad. It seems that someone at College HQ must agree since Room Bookings have offered the society use of the North Cloisters again… but only after 8pm. It societies “would have a detrimental effect” on some of their events – have been realised and will result in a loss of members.
Meanwhile, The Cheese Grater wonders what activity in the Cloisters would reflect well on UCL. The VP conceded to Natasha Davies that the Cloisters are very important for college and corporate functions, despite the fact that Room Bookings confirmed College run events took precedence over Clubs and Societies in the North Cloisters “only when needs demand it”.
Balls! argue this is not the case and that the society booking was ‘booked over for corporate events… once every two months’. This is perhaps more in line with the increasing spirit of ‘diversity at UCL’ - exemplified in a willingness to take money from businesses and corporate events and not just from its students.