Senior members of Magdalene College’s MCR committee are attempting to oust their president, Antonio Rolo Duarte, following a number of misconduct allegations.

In an email seen by Varsity and sent to all members of Magdalene MCR, the vice-president, treasurer and secretary say that they are seeking to trigger the vote because of a “dispute among the committee members from which there is no clear way out”.

The email said that committee members have received “several complaints regarding his behaviour toward individuals of the MCR” and note that “the President should be an exemplar of the inclusivity and welcoming atmosphere expected in the MCR”.

He was also independently accused of punching MCR vice-president James Ball by two sources. At the time of original publication, Ball himself declined to confirm the allegation, as a College investigation was ongoing, but has now since confirmed to Varsity that an assault did take place.

Ball was seen with a black eye in the days after the incident. Duarte told Varsity he “strongly denies” assaulting Ball.

Duarte was elected to the role of MCR president in May 2022 after returning to the College as a PhD candidate.

He previously ran to be MCR vice-president in 2018 as a master’s student in an earlier campaign that was no less controversial.

In a video seen by Varsity, taken at hustings in 2018, Duarte said that other candidates had not addressed the “big problem in college”, which he describes as “where is the pussy?”.

Though Duarte prefaced the claim by saying “it’s not me saying it”, he also said: “I have a few ideas about how to solve that problem”.

Duarte, who appears in the video dressed as a pirate, goes on to describe his “solution” to the so-called problem. He said: “The one thing I’m about … is diversity and inclusion. So I won’t just get female concubines [a word for a low status mistress], I’ll get male concubines as well”.

That remark was not well received by those present. In the video, one person can be heard saying “come on man”, and Duarte was told by attendees that he was on his final warning. Duarte went on to lose that election.

Multiple sources, including current MCR vice-president James Ball, have alleged that the video of Duarte’s appearance at hustings did not feature his full speech. They said that earlier in the speech Duarte complained about the presence of pride flags, suggesting that they be replaced with pirate flags instead.

Duarte has styled himself as “El Supremo Generalissimo Presidente” and the controversial streak he demonstrated in 2018 has continued this year. Recently, this has involved a large campaign to purchase a pet peacock for the College. Duarte has circulated an agenda for a “peacock assembly” which will discuss the potential issues involved in the purchase of a peacock.

The MCR executive committee told Varsity that Duarte has been absent in his duties as president, with a former president having to step in to help run the MCR’s freshers week activities in his absence.

The people proposing the vote of no confidence also said that there has been a lack of communication between Duarte and the rest of the committee, a “lack of commitment” to MCR activities and a “lack of collaboration” with the rest of the MCR for the planning of future activities. Senior members of the MCR said: “he has not shown any kind of responsibility for his behaviour, nor shown any interest in our concerns”.

In order for a no confidence vote to occur, 20% of the MCR body have to petition the postgraduate tutor to call for one.

If this were to occur, the president would be suspended and an MCR-wide vote would be held. But the bar is high. For Duarte to be removed at least 50% of the electorate would need to turn out, and 50% of voters would need to vote in favour of deposing the president.

Duarte responded to calls for a no confidence vote in an email sent to members of the Magdalene MCR. In the email, he says that he has “taken the job of representing you all extremely seriously” and that he wants to “treat the MCR like a family” in his quest for a “chilled, funky, disgustingly groovy MCR”. Duarte confirmed that he would “wholeheartedly engage with the processes in place” should a no confidence vote occur and that in the meantime he will continue to represent the MCR.

In a statement to Varsity, Duarte said: “The pirate monologue was stand-up comedy and the peacock campaign was some delightful student fun. I am the president of a student club, not president of the United States.

“The feeding of histrionic, misleading stories to a student newspaper run by undergraduates is bizarre. The allegations of misconduct published by Varsity are all completely false.”

“I wish everybody a good day. I must focus on my studies now.”

This remains a breaking news story and further updates will be made as new information comes to light.