Warwick Conservative Association suspended for 90 days after university students ‘danced to Nazi song Erika’ at annual gala dinner

By Eirian Jane Prosser and Miriam Kuepper

20:27 01 Jul 2024, updated 21:29 01 Jul 2024

The University of Warwick’s Conservative Society has been suspended for 90 days after a shocking video emerged showing students allegedly dancing to a Nazi song at its annual gala dinner.

According to sources, at the Warwick University Conservative Association (UWCA) presidents’ dinner last month, one of its members asked the DJ to play the song Erika, composed in 1938 by Herms Niel, a commander of the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party.

The song has been re-adopted by white supremacists including Thomas Sewell, founder of the National Socialist Network, who has ties to the Christchurch mosque shooter.

Footage from the dinner shows students dancing and laughing to the song until one of them asks the cameraman to stop filming.

The University of Warwick confirmed this evening that the political society has been suspended by the Students’ Union while an investigation into the video continues.

The university added that “there is no place for anti-Semitism on our campus, and the behavior depicted in the video is reprehensible.”

The investigation will be led by outside investigators, and the university has also requested a meeting with the Jewish Society to assist with the review.

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Throughout the clip mmembers of the association allegedly began shouting “Kill the Hughes” – apparently replacing the word Jews with the name of their former chairman Hugh Herring – and also saying “Heil the Chairman” – according to Times.

The conservative group later released an apology saying it “completely condemns the conduct depicted in this video and apologizes for any offense it has caused.”

It added: “The song ‘Erika’ was played for a short period of time. As soon as we were made aware that it was being played and what it meant, a member of management spoke to the DJ and it was immediately turned off.

‘We subsequently discovered that this song was requested directly by one of the band members to the DJ. We would like to stress that this song was not included in the pre-planned music selection given to the DJ.’

The UWCA said the member who requested the song be played would be banned from future events, and the same would apply to anyone else who “knowingly engaged with the song.”

“We can also confirm that the individual heard singing the lyrics is not a member of the University of Warwick Conservative Association and that they, like others, have been banned from attending future events,” the statement said to MailOnline.

“We would like to point out that the vast majority of people who saw this video had no idea of ​​the origins or connotations of this song.”

The UWCA said it “spoke in detail with those present at the event, but no one has knowledge or recollection of any comments/chants” made in reference to the alleged “Kill the Hughs” chant.

Following the publication of information about the events at the chairman’s dinner, the group, whose honorary chairman is former Conservative cabinet minister and Warwick graduate Dame Andrea Leadsom, deleted its website and closed its profile on the X platform.

A spokesperson for Warwick, a top 24 Russell Group university, told MailOnline in a statement: “We have been made aware of this video and the allegations surrounding it, which are extremely disturbing. This type of behaviour is reprehensible and we are disappointed to see that our students have been involved in this.

‘The University is reviewing the material shared with us through our reporting service and has notified the Students’ Union. We have requested a meeting with the Jewish Society (Jsoc) to assist with our review.’

Meanwhile, the university’s Jewish Students’ Union and campus JSoc said: “The clear and unambiguous support for Nazism at the Warwick Conservative Association ‘President’s Dinner’ is utterly abhorrent.”

It added that they expect a “swift and decisive” response from the university to the incident.

This comes at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise on British campuses in the context of Israel’s war with Hamas.

Just last month, Jewish professors and students exposed the shocking scale of anti-Semitism at Oxford University, with more than 70 incidents in eight months.

The documentation submitted to the Vice-Chancellor includes numerous allegations of bullying, including insulting one student because of his “Jewish nose.”

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Meanwhile, participants in a vigil for Hamas hostages were called “child murderers,” and one of the academic supervisors reportedly told his student: “Israel is a terrorist state.”

Complaints were ignored, with some residents advised to simply “leave Oxford” if they felt uncomfortable.

The letter, which was included in the dossier, said: “We felt isolated, unsafe, persecuted, stressed, disappointed, angry and hopeless. Many of us were met with all kinds of anti-Semitic insults.”

One Jewish professor, who spoke to the Mail anonymously, said: “What was a hate movement against Israel has become a hate movement against Jews. Many students and lecturers feel very wronged – they have dropped out or suspended their studies.”

The letter, which has not been signed because its authors fear for their safety, is the result of “a series of meetings and conversations we had with several dozen people of Jewish and Israeli origin in Oxford.”

The letter described a “hostile atmosphere” for anyone who believes in Israel’s right to exist, and said the university was “overflowing” with messages about plans to “globalize the intifada and eliminate Israel.”

“The University of Oxford government would be unlikely to turn a blind eye to lecturers making such statements about other minorities,” it added.

The remaining 72 instances of anti-Semitism included statements by a professor who said the October 7 massacre was “justified,” while another claimed it was planned by Israel.