Students from Oriel College, Oxford, have been blamed for riotous and drunken behaviour in hall whilst on an exchange trip to Clare College.

A letter from Clare accused the undergraduates, representing Oriel College JCR, of insulting fellows, urinating on staircases and in one instance physically assaulting a fellow. They demanded that Oriel make an apology to the College as a result of their actions. The exchange scheme that had been running between the two colleges has been ended.

In the words of an anonymous student, the letter claimed that the Oxonians were responsible for "excessive drunkenness before hall, excessive drunkenness during hall, shouts and insults directed at Clare fellows during grace and the meal, damage to Clare property including urination on staircases, and physically assaulting a fellow".

"It’s obvious that things got out of hand," one Clare student told Varsity. "I’m not sure who was responsible or who started it, but from what I’ve heard it was pretty bad. It’s unfortunate because it’ll have consequences for all of us."

Both colleges have refused to comment on what happened. Clare College authorities declined to speak on the matter, telling Varsity that "Clare has no comment to make. This matter is in the hands of Oriel College." Students at Oriel, meanwhile, have been asked by both the Dean and the JCR President not to talk to newspapers.

Oriel College JCR were, however, threatened with collective punishment, in the form of a large fine, and have written a letter to Clare "to apologize for any offence or trouble".

"We understand that being invited for dinner is a privilege not a right, and we are regretful that some members of our party took their behaviour a little far," they wrote in the letter, which was leaked to Cherwell, Oxford’s student newspaper.

They acknowledged that some Oriel members caused interruptions during grace, but attributed this to "a confusion in ticketing", which left many attendees outside of hall when the doors were shut, unaware that they could be heard from inside the hall.

With regards to wine, they admitted that Oriel students "brought too much".

"What we do take extremely seriously are the accusations of someone verbally abusing and obstructing a fellow," Mark Jesnick, Oriel JCR President, said. "This kind of behaviour is certainly not to be tolerated, and from a personal point of view I am extremely embarrassed to be having to deal with this."

"These actions are not in line with the attitude of the vast majority of people on the exchange, and we are exceptionally sorry that they should tarnish the reputation of our college and damage the links between ourselves and Clare."

The immediate repercussions have already been felt. Clare College have informed Oriel that the exchange programme, which saw members of each college visiting the other for an annual dinner and social meeting, has been ended. A fine could be imposed on the Oriel College JCR in order to pay for a gift of apology to be sent to Clare.

Though Oriel have taken much of the blame for what occurred, they have maintained that they were not entirely responsible. The organisers from Oriel College have disputed the claims made by Clare, suggesting, according to one JCR member, that Clare members "were in many cases at least as drunk, loud and obnoxious as they claimed Oriel members to have been."

Furthermore, the Oriel Dean and Vice President have asserted that "their perception of the level of misbehaviour is rather exaggerated by Clare." They have nonetheless admitted that they were partly responsible for the particularly rowdy behaviour during hall.