University College Cork Students’ Union (UCCSU) has cancelled a competition giving students the opportunity to win tickets to see controversial rap group Versatile in concert in the 3 Arena.
Following the decision, the union will develop guidelines on sponsorship and promotion that’s in line with its “core values” of respect, dignity and fairness.
In a statement on Twitter, UCCSU said: “After discussions amongst the Students’ Union team, we’ve decided that we will be ending our Versatile competition immediately.”
“UCC Students’ Union received no monetary gain to run this competition and the sole purpose of this competition was, as previously stated, to provide two students with the opportunity to attend a sold out gig in 3 Arena”, the statement said. “From listening to our students, it is clear that the controversial and provocative lyrics and attitudes portrayed by the two performers who make up the rap group Versatile have caused upset amongst many.”
The group has previously described themselves on Twitter as “inner-city degenerates”. Several users pointed out that Alex Sheehan, also known as Eskimo Supreme, attended St Conleth’s College, a fee-paying secondary school in Ballsbridge.
“Regardless of any individual stance of Versatile, and while the Students’ Union condemns racism and misogyny, it is not the role of a representative body like the Union to take a stance on the artists, this is beyond our remit”, the statement said.
“UCCSU stands by its core values of respect, dignity and fairness for all and we sincerely apologise to those who believe we have contradicted these values with our actions. Having listened to the concerns of our students, we will be developing a Union Promotions and Sponsorship Guideline in line with our core values that will hopefully better inform future decisions.”
The union had previously defended the competition, stating in a statement to the University Express that “there is a fundamental demand amongst our students to provide them with the opportunity to see popular national and international acts”.
“We felt it was something students would overwhelmingly respond positively to and based on the positive activity of the vast majority of our followers on Instagram, I would guess we were correct in our estimations of the demand”, they said.
“Music often challenges, pushes the boundaries and breaks societal taboos. This means it can often veer, from time to time, towards confrontation, misogyny or even incitements towards violence. UCC is a campus of free and independent thinkers and, if there is a debate to be had about the International and Irish rap industry’s choice of lyrics, we welcome it from our students.”
