He accepted it would be a bad look if a lot of students dressed in offensive costumes at next year’s keg party. Dressing up in blackface or as a Nazi will not be out of bounds at next year’s Hyde St keg party after University of Otago students voted against costumes being regulated. However, he felt that most people who voted against the regulations were concerned about freedoms being curtailed rather than actually wanting to dress in offensive costumes. "Obviously, some students had very strong views about [the issue] and submitted questions during the referendum process," Mr Griffiths said. In a binding referendum, students overwhelmingly voted against the Otago University Students’ Association (OUSA) regulating what costumes could be worn to the party, by a majority of 61.67% versus 33.29% who voted for the regulations, after a set of guidelines introduced this year prompted a backlash.

Source: Otago Daily Times August 07, 2016 18:00 UTC