By Miriam Thurlow, Cranmer Student
As soon as Cranmer heard that the Durham SU were offering alpacas as a prize for the college who had the highest turnout in the elections, there was great excitement – especially when the ‘Get Cranmer Alpacas’ campaign began.
After many emails were sent, Facebook posts were written, and many puns were made, alpacagate was born.
As we tracked the elections on DUO, and victory became a real possibility, excitement grew and there was talk of little else in the Cranmer Common Room that week. So, you can only imagine the huge disbelief when we heard Cranmer had been disqualified and that the prize was awarded to Trevs college instead. However, unbeknown to us, Caragh had written an e-mail on our behalf arguing why Cranmer should be given the alpacas – resulting in Cranmer being awarded the ‘Divine Intervention Award’.
Returning to college after the Easter break, the task of arranging the alpaca visit began. When would the alpacas come? Where could they go in college? How would they get through the building? Does the college insurance cover this?!
Then, on Wednesday the 15th of May, the alpacas came to visit. From walking the alpacas down the Bailey and through the bar, to stroking the alpacas and taking selfies with them, the whole occasion was a joyous one.
The Cranmer community loved every moment (from our youngest members to our oldest) and we really enjoyed being able to share it with the whole of John’s. It was also so great to get to meet so many Johnians, and to be able to share our joint enjoyment of the alpacas.
We can’t wait for more events with you all in the future!
