The battle for the Oxford Union presidency has become so nasty that one of the contestants has left the university taking a year’s sabbatical as she can’t cope with the harassment.
Charlotte Fischer takes a year’s sabbatical as she cannot cope with the ugly scenario surrounding herLONDON: The battle for the Oxford Union presidency has become so nasty that one of the contestants has left the university taking a year’s sabbatical as she can’t cope with the harassment.
Charlotte Fischer, who took the elected president Krishna Omkar to the University’s tribunal alleging foul play, said she is being sexually harassed by union officials, close to Omkar. Fischer, 21, claimed she was getting nasty, bullying text messages including one which said “fancy a f…?”
“I have continued to receive text and Facebook messages from several members of the union asking if I “fancy a f…?” said an upset Fischer.
“When I called the member whose phone the messages were sent from there was no reply, but then I got more texts from the same phone asking if “that was an offer of phone sex, gorgeous?” she continued. She has not named the officials.
“It was insensitive at best and outrageously obnoxious at worst,” said Fischer, who is studying modern history and politics at Balliol College.
Fischer has packed her bags and left her college rooms arranging to continue her degree in a year. She has also pulled out of the race for the presidency.
“The union is very pompous for a student society and incredibly complex rules,” added Fischer, who wrote a 3,000-word resignation letter.
Omkar in a statement said Fischer had brought “mistrust and hate” upon herself, but insisted he didn’t know anything about the hate mail and texts.
Having been banned by the tribunal from contesting again, Omkar demanded the right to put himself forward in another election. The appeal is being heard.
The current president, Emily Partington said diplomatically about Fischer’s plight “Charlotte wrote her letter of resignation from a personal point of view”, almost implying that she brought the treatment on herself.
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