A student medical society banned by a university after allegedly mocking anti-rape campaigners and hosting men-only dinners has fought back, accusing student leaders of “completely disproportionate sanctions”.

Liverpool Medical Student Society (LMSS), which has existed for more than 170 years, was “deratified” by the University of Liverpool and its students’ guild last week.

In an email written to the society, the university union said it would not allow their “good names to be jeopardised by the activities of a society which has failed to keep pace with the views and expectations of the modern world”. They said they took the decision because the LMSS continued to “promote gender segregated events to its members” despite being told not to, and refused to hand over its finances to the guild for oversight.

In a joint statement, the guild and university said they would no longer recognise the society, which has 1,500 members and organises 100 guest lectures each year.

That means the LMSS would not be able to book or use any university facilities or services, no reference would be made to it in university publications or communications and it will be unable to promote itself or its events via university channels.

The LMSS president, treasurer and secretary have fought back in a five-page statement in which they accuse university officials of threatening them with “fitness to practice” procedures that could jeopardise their future careers as doctors. On Saturday night a petition signed by 1,200 people — many of them past and present members of LMSS, as well as some university staff — was sent to the university vice-chancellor, Prof Janet Beer.

A number of doctors who studied at the university announced they would resign from the alumni society in solidarity with the LMSS, including the senior orthopaedic surgeon Peter Hughes.



The petition called for the sacking of Harry Anderson, the guild president, and for him to be “replaced with someone who can show clear leadership and vision in this crisis”. It demanded the ban be overturned, because “the LMSS serves a vital function in the social, academic and philanthropic areas of medical student life”.

The university and guild began investigating the LMSS’s activities in November 2014, after the leak of a draft script submitted for the society’s annual sketch show, known as the Annual Smoking Concert, or Smoker.

The play, called “James Bondage in Hymens aren’t forever”, featured the title character wielding a dildo instead of a gun and another called “Dr No Means No”. It was vetoed by the society’s committee and never performed. Laura Bates, the founder of Everyday Sexism, condemned the script for its “horribly misogynistic rape jokes”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The LMSS said the professional and networking side of its existence was essential for the future careers of medical students. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

At the time the LMSS was also criticised for its theme song, which was sung at the annual general meeting and included lines such as: “We like those girls who say they will/We like those girls who don’t/We like those girls who say they will but then they say they won’t/Of all the girls we like the best we may be wrong or right/We like those girls who say they won’t but look as though they might.” The song has not been sung since the Smoker controversy, according to one society member.

As a consequence of the controversy surrounding the Smoker script, the University of Liverpool and its guild of students launched what the LMSS called “a top-to-bottom investigation into the LMSS, detailing everything from the pronouns in our constitution to the 170-plus year annual traditions of our society”. One element of the investigation involved the annual charity dinner, which was traditionally only attended by men. In recent decades women in the society have organised their own “ladies’ dinner”.

The panel investigating LMSS suggested the dinners contravened equality legislation — a charge refuted by Andrew Fitzsimons, the LMSS president, who said the Equality Act 2010 exempts a gender segregated event from the legislation if a charity is promoted or supported. In any case, he wrote in the five-page document, new events replaced the dinners and “explicitly openly invited all our members, both male and female”.

But the university and guild was not convinced. Anderson, the guild president, said other union-affiliated groups, including the Islamic society, complied with equality legislation. “There are exemptions, for sports teams, for example, and religious worship, where you can segregate. But every other society has complied — when the Islamic society wasn’t sure if the event they were holding counted as worship they just came and checked with us,” he said.

Calling on the university and guild to reverse its decision, Fitzsimons wrote: “The LMSS’s traditions and rich history – over 170 years’ worth (older than the university itself) – so committedly maintained by generations of students, is now facing its most turbulent obstacle in its existence. The priceless friendships and community forged in the fires of our traditions and events are irredeemably prejudiced by the completely disproportionate sanctions now placed on the LMSS.”

A University of Liverpool and guild spokesperson said: “The investigation revealed that the society had failed to keep pace with the views and expectations of the medical profession.

“The society was invited to draw up an action plan in cooperation with the guild of students to address some recommendations. They did not fully engage with this process and therefore, regrettably, the guild trustees have decided to deratify LMSS as a guild society.”