“What happened to cause Freshers to refuse to appear for classes, and how have they been impacted” asks Kevin Jopeck

By Kevin Jopeck | Sep 10 2026

Students are refusing to come to classes en masse after sharing hundreds of personal facts. What started as sharing three facts about themselves spiraled into bizarre personal statements, tears, and students having to share nearly 100 facts.

The incident took place during an introductory class for a set of first years after the lecturer asked students to participate in multiple icebreaker activities. The Harpy interviewed several students present. “I think after the first 10 facts some of us were sort of laughing,” one student said. “But after 20 or 30, what more can you say? I don’t have that many favourite colours".

Despite the lecture time elapsing, the lecturer did not permit students to leave the class. Students protested and told the lecturer about their following classes, but no student was released. The victims were held in their lecture hall for an additional two hours where they were forced to share mundane facts with each other. The students were eventually released after intervention from Gardai who were called by a student.

The victims have refused to come to classes following the incident. “We went from not knowing our peers to knowing way too much about them. I don’t feel comfortable going to classes with someone who showed me the bed his parents made him on".

UCD has not made an official statement on the incident, although the lecturer has been placed on paid leave. The Harpy refused to reach out to the lecturer for comment.