Cora-Laine Moynihan
Rock City’s Crisis has issued an apology after bowing to criticism from Nottingham students over its controversial plan for a “serial killer-themed” Halloween Night. Impact’s Cora-Laine Moynihan reports.
The club night issued its apology on Instagram after receiving a wave of complaints about their annual ‘Allfrighter’ event from Nottingham students following a promotional post Crisis released on Friday 7th October. The since removed post included prison mugshots of infamous serial killers Jeffery Dahmer, Ted Bundey, Rose West, Richard Ramirez and John Wanye Gacy.
One of the strongest protests the nightclub received came from one of its own Crisis reps – Nottingham student Maddie Buchi – who left her job there over her own personal concerns.
In an open letter, Maddie Buchi shared her unease about what she maintained was the glorification of the named serial killers and the adverse effects the event could have on victims of sexual abuse and spiking incidents – as well as on other members of the Nottingham student community.
Since posting her letter, Buchi’s post has received over 900 likes – and attracted support from current and previous Crisis reps.
Prior to sharing her concerns publicly, she spoke to her manager at Crisis, expressing her worries about encouraging students to dress up as the notorious killers in the nightclub at the event.
“Ted Bundy and Jeffery Dahmer were both known for hunting their victims in night clubs,” Maddie Buchi wrote, “either spiking their drinks before or after leaving with them. So it is absurd to me why we would have students dress up as these people, inside a nightclub.”
While initially rejecting her complaints, Crisis admitted in a statement both shared with Impact and posted to their Instagram on Sunday 9th October that “After consideration, we realised this was an upsetting and triggering concept.”
You can view the Instagram post here (@wearecrisis).
Crisis stressed that neither Rock City – or its partners at the University of Nottingham Student’s Union – were involved in deciding the contentious theme.
In regards to Maddie Buchi’s open letter, Crisis said: “We will be contacting this individual separately to offer our apologies directly.”
The student night organisers said “This has been a regretful incident and we will consult with our audience more carefully in future with our theme choices.”
Cora-Laine Moynihan
Featured image courtesy of Jonathan Borba via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
In-article image courtesy of @maddiebuchi via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
For more content including uni news, reviews, entertainment, lifestyle, features and so much more, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like our Facebook page for more articles and information on how to get involved.
