Robinson JCR is cracking down on “scam societies,” amid student complaints that some use student funds to pay for activities among friend groups.

Following the crackdown, the college’s inflatables and speed cubing societies are yet to prove their authenticity.

Robinson College’s Student Association (RCSA) has passed a motion to remove funding from these societies, which are “using RCSA funding without publicly announcing their events, or their existence at any stage beyond their creation in an open meeting”.

Alex Myall, RCSA President, said at the meeting that the motion aims to prevent “people [from] bullshitting and sending out emails [although] they don’t really want you and don’t provide any information on how to actually do anything in relation to that”. He said that the policy, which is already constitutionally, will be enforced so that “we won't continue funding scam societies”.

As one student in the meeting said: “If there’s a society that’s taking up money that could be used for something else more productively, it is in all of our interests to keep the list of societies productive and clean.”

College societies sent emails to students to prove their existence, including the Angling Society and the Cold Water Swimming Society.

RCSA president, Alex Myall, told Varsity: “The reason I felt this motion was necessary, is that several RCSA-funded societies had been running events without informing the college at large about it; this does not mean that I think Robinson has a problem with societies in general.”

“It was more that several new societies had failed to properly advertise themselves; this was hopefully more of a gentle reminder that RCSA funding is conditional on that advertisement, and that societies must be open in ‘principle and practice’ (in the constitution) to all members of the College”, he added.

“The Treasurer will be making sure that all societies meet this condition of the constitution before they are given funding in the next budget. And societies that do not meet these conditions will not be funded or reimbursed,” Myall said.

Robinson’s BBQ society came under fire on the college’s Facebook confession page, Love From the Bricks, as one user commented: “Robinson BBQ society should be disbanded. It is not a real society but just a bunch of annoying rugby boys using college money to pay for their food. Why is their Instagram private??”

Following this, the society sent an email inviting students to follow its Instagram, though the account remains private.