CUSFS

Cambridge University Science Fiction Society. Amalgamated a few years ago with the former Cambridge 'fantasy soc' Jomsborg.

• http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/cusfs/

OUSFG's Cantab (and less pronounceable) relation. We still beat them at one-legged kipper fencing tho', according to those in the know...

OUSFG and CUSFS are very co-operative: We have been one-time correspondants, occasional conspirators, and frequent combatants in the field of oxbridge.sf, a newsgroup set up by our own Tom Anderson as a bridge between the two societies. This, when last examined, was moribund, but is still technically alive. -- WJR

CUSFS history is somewhat complicated. They were founded, carried on for a while, then had some sort of internal crisis, which i seem to recall involved a takeover by hacks intent on getting people elected to positions in CUSU, or obsession with Star Trek, or something, leading to the breakaway of everyone actually interested in SF as Jomsborg The New; after the rump of CUSFS recovered, the two rejoined, retaining the name and traditions of Jomsborg, as they were more fun (mostly consisting of drinking, singing, long orange scarves, etc). Or at least, that's what Tom Anderson was told.

The above is not particularly accurate. Jomsborg was founded in 1975; it's true that it was a CUSFS offshoot and I understand it's true that the people responsible weren't very happy with the CUSFS of the day. Exactly what their particular interests were I don't know, but Jomsborg is fantasy society, not a reborn SF society, which might be considered a clue.

CUSFS existed in healthy form in parallel with Jomsborg for many years. Jomsborg did generally go in for a more interesting set of traditions, which are well characterized above.

CUSFS and Jomsborg officially amalgamated in the mid-to-late 1990s (I don't recall the exact date, though 1997 doesn't seem implausible); it was presented, not unfairly, as healing a divide. Both names have been preserved, ditto both sets of traditions and ditto both sets of officers - there is both a Chairbeing and a Reeve, and they aren't necessarily the same person.

I'm not sure that the original offshoot was the same as the CUSU election thing; my understanding was that they were unrelated and that CUSFS members were merely a few of many people playing silly buggers with CUSU elections at the time (out of some disaffection with CUSU). But don't trust this paragraph at all, my own information is Nth-hand and poorly remembered anyway, I was only two years old at the time.