No (Loud) Sex Please, We’re British

The students of Newnham College, a historic all-women’s college at the University of Cambridge, have been asked to turn down the volume on their extracurricular activities after about 30 people issued noise complaints, reports the Daily Mail.

“I’d just like to politely remind everyone that Newnham corridors funnel sound and walls are very thin in some buildings,” Lizzy Cole, the 19-year-old president of the college’s junior common room wrote in an e-mail message. “Therefore, please remember to be discreet in your activities, especially during late/early hours of the day.”

Some undergraduates at the college were mortified upon receiving the message. Said one: “When I read the e-mail I cringed. I thought it must refer to me!”

Ms. Cole later said that people had misinterpreted her admonition, and that the complaints were mostly about general noise. She added, “Newnham does have a feminist reputation and also it’s known as the slutty college of Cambridge, which I think is a bit unfair.” 

Established in 1871, Newnham, is one of the two three remaining women’s colleges at Cambridge. Its alumnae include such women as Joan Bakewell, Germaine Greer, Iris Murdoch, and Sylvia Plath.