Fitzwilliam College has apologised to students after housekeeping staff emailed photos of the inside of their rooms to the entire college.

The College sent out an email last Wednesday (17/04) containing images of students' messy bedrooms and kitchens taken without their consent. The email described these photos as “an illustration of what housekeeping DO NOT want to see on their weekly visits.”

The email shortly disappeared from student’s inboxes following complaints from the affected students and the JCR. Varsity understands the email was deleted from the College’s servers.

One of the students affected called the email a “massive invasion of privacy” and said it was “deeply embarrassing” as “everyone knew it was my kitchen, so I was near enough named and shamed to the entire college.”

Fitz JCR co-president Aaron Lardi told Varsity the actions of the college were “unacceptable” and claimed the JCR would take steps to “ensure that this does not happen again.”

Varsity has also heard multiple accounts of Fitz housekeeping waking students up at 7am and “screaming at us to put plates away”. The JCR told Varsity that this practice had been raised with the college and would not happen again as “students didn’t like it”.

One student also told Varsity that they had previously complained about their room being infested with slugs, only to be told to “just open a window.”

When contacted for comment, a spokesperson from Fitzwilliam College told Varsity ”On Wednesday, an email was sent by a member of staff to all students setting out cleaning expectations for those living in College accommodation. The inclusion of the image of a student room was unacceptable and the College has issued an apology to the student and recalled the email. Steps have been taken with immediate effect to ensure that this does not happen again.”

“Historically, when spaces were so untidy that cleaning could not be carried out, housekeepers used to knock on students’ doors, to offer them the opportunity to move items, so that they did not miss out on the weekly clean. This was always after 8am, usually later, and was meant to be of benefit to the students. In response to recent feedback from the JCR, this practice has stopped,” they continued.