Like the metropolis that surrounds it, LSE has seen its fair share of crime and mischief.
The open campus is often the target of petty theft, with four such cases around Houghton Street being reported in January of this year alone by the Metropolitan Police. In 2010, The Beaver reported how three consecutive thefts of student’s personal belongings happened in the same day.
Religious extremism has also reared its ugly head at the LSE. In 1995, the extremist Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir clashed with the SU as it sought to gatecrash meetings and set up stalls on campus, claiming that the university was “the nut we want to crack”.
In earlier decades, clashes with authorities in major protest marches often led to LSE students falling foul of the law. The arrest and beating of a student for obstructing police during a 1956 protest over British intervention in Suez led The Beaver to ask “WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LAW?” in its coverage of the student’s court trial.
Other breaches of security have been more insidious. An intrusion into The Beaver offices in November 1999 turned violent after the unknown intruder was caught snooping around by an LSESU member. Upon being tackled down by passers by in an attempt to escape, he got into a “fracas” with them and managed to slip away.
In 2003, luck ran out for the SU after a shock break-in at the Union’s offices. The planned burglary was reported to have led to £2,850 worth of equipment being stolen. Officers investigating the case speculated that it must have been the result of an inside job. One student interviewed at the time, then LSESU treasurer Jo Kibble lamented that the incident “is an unfortunate symptom of the society in which we live.”
In 2012, an Athletics Union ski trip ended in controversy after an anti-semitic drinking game, which included asking students to “salute the Führer” and a drunken brawl.
