As universities begin the new academic year and freshers' weeks kick off in earnest, a small group of institutions are piloting a new scheme to tackle lad culture on campuses.
Nine university student unions, including Oxford, King's College London, and the London School of Economics, volunteered to take part in the National Union of Students' Lad Culture initiative, which was announced in July.
The LSE came under criticism last year after its men's rugby team distributed leaflets deemed misogynistic and homophobic.
Representatives from the King's College campaign It Stops Here told BuzzFeed News identified lad culture as a "pack mentality".
The scheme has gained the support of a number of societies and sports clubs across the university that have agreed to assist with its success.
King's is proposing courses for members of societies and people in senior positions within the university, aiming to tackle the causes and support the victims of lad culture.
The university is also running film nights, panel discussions, and Q&As to help spread awareness and encourage debate around the topic.
One King's student told BuzzFeed News she had received abusive messages on Facebook chat from a drunk classmate, highlighting to her the need for greater awareness of what constitutes harassment.
I know that lad culture had become an issue when a guy from my course harassed me online. He went on a night out with his sports team, then sent me messages calling me a bitch and worse. We weren't even friends on Facebook. We'd barely spoken in real life.
But not all King's students feel the move is necessary. A member of one of its sports teams said the idea of lad culture – which he defined as "a culture that focuses on excessive drinking, misogyny, but also togetherness" – was exaggerated:
I guess I've seen things on nights out which could be seen as "lad culture" – heavy drinking, guys pursuing girls. I think the idea is exaggerated though.
The student told BuzzFeed News that since last year student sports societies have not been allowed to perform initiation ceremonies for new members, so instead many have been framing the events as welcome drinks.
