Photographer accused of sexism after asking male Cambridge students to ‘help the ladies’

It is a rite of passage enjoyed by Britain’s brightest minds for generations, but a matriculation at the University of Cambridge has now become the unlikely casualty of “wokery”.

Wolfson College is embroiled in a sexism row after students complained they were “made to feel unsafe” when a photographer for the onboarding ceremony asked “gentlemen to help the ladies”.

Dozens of new arrivals at the mostly postgraduate college were lined up posing in their signature Cambridge gowns on October 10, when the remark is said to have been uttered.

Students at the college, which counts several country leaders among its alumni, have now written a complaint letter seeking a formal apology over the “targeted atmosphere of inequality” which punctured a “safe space for all genders” on campus.

The row began on the evening of the photo, when several of those present raised concern on the Wolfson College Student Association’s 450-member Facebook group about the “gendered language”, leaked to The Telegraph.

They said the photographer, who was an older man, offered to help students dismount from a raised platform and told them: “For any women that are having any problems, there are a couple of gentlemen that are here to help you.”

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‘Inappropriate, patronising and unnecessarily gendered comment’

On Saturday, the saga attracted ridicule. Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Group of 50 Tory MPs, said: “I’ve no doubt that this photographer’s courtesy represents the civility well known to working-class patriots but clearly unknown to out of touch ivory tower, immature, privileged snowflakes.”

Kate Taṇhā, the women and non-binary officer at the Cambridge Union, the 200-year-old debating society, was one of those who welcomed writing a complaint letter, telling another student “you should totally do that”. She offered to help draft and sign it.

The letter, seen by this newspaper, claims the external photographer’s remarks “are not in keeping with the university’s ethos as a safe space for people of all genders” and created a “targeted atmosphere of inequality”.

The letter said: “Given that the photographer is likely to be in proximity to students again, we ask that this information is passed on to the company to ensure that students are not placed in this position again, where they are made to feel unsafe or subject to discrimination.

“Following the official photograph, one of the photography team announced that students could dismount from the platform where they had stood to pose, and that one of the (male) photography team would ‘help the ladies’ as they were doing so.

“It should not require any explanation as to why this was an inappropriate, patronising and unnecessarily gendered comment to make in this situation.”

'Language of safety and harm has been hijacked by woke activists'

Wolfson College confirmed it had not yet received the letter and declined to comment. The photography company also declined to comment.

Toby Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, said: “How does offering to help someone climb down from a platform make them feel ‘unsafe’? This is a perfect illustration of how the language of safety and harm has been hijacked by woke activists to enforce their agenda.

“If you don’t comply with every jot and tittle of their rigid ideological agenda, you’re supposedly endangering their lives. It’s utter nonsense."

It comes after The Telegraph revealed last week how freshers at Wolfson College had been told to complete mandatory anti-racism classes which covered microaggressions, privilege and “whiteness”.

In the lessons, dismissed as “mandatory indoctrination” by Dr James Orr, a Cambridge don, students were told “this is not a debating session”.

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