Oxford University students are petitioning for a librarian to be reinstated after she was sacked because a Harlem Shake took place in her library.
Calypso Nash, a librarian at St Hilda's College, was given the boot after a group of students filmed themselves doing the latest dance craze in the library last month.
A screen grab of the Harlem Shake video, which has now been removed from YouTube
Nash was working in the library but was not involved in organising the dance, which took place at 11.30pm, angry students told the Cherwell paper.
Esther Gosling, president of the college's junior common room (JCR) told The Huffington Post UK: "It's hugely unjust. She knew nothing about the dance and we don't see how she could have prevented it happening, neither is it her position to do so."
Following a student motion, the JCR is now calling for Nash to be given back her job, arguing the students involved "did not cause a disturbance" as it took place late on a Sunday evening. The video, which was publicly available on YouTube but has since been removed, has only had 500 views.
Gosling has asked for a written reason from head librarian Maria Croghan as to why Nash, who has previously worked at Deutsche Bank as an equity analyst, was fired. The president received a reply on Tuesday afternoon but was told confidential matters could not be discussed.
"The vote to support Nash was unanimous," Gosling added. "There were around 60 or 70 students present, even though only 35 are required to turn up and vote."
The librarian has been sacked after a Harlem Shake dance took place where she was working
The JCR will now be taking the matter to the library committee next term, although Gosling admitted she was "not sure" how much more the JCR could do.
Katie Meadon, JCR's secretary, said, “We are not trying to deliberately undermine any decisions made by college authorities, but we (and the rest of the JCR) believe that the dismissal of the librarian in question was unfair. We hope that the college will take the JCR's opinions into account regarding this matter.”
St Hilda's student Ellen Gibson told Cherwell: "The situation seems ridiculous. The librarian had nothing to do with the protest; she just happened to be there at the time."
The JCR motion is also calling for the fines imposed on the film's participants to be revoked.
A spokesperson for Oxford University said: "This is a matter for St Hilda’s College, they say they do not wish to make a comment at this time."
Croghan was unavailable for comment.
Frank Gargent, bursar at St Hilda's College, said he had no further comment to make.