The Cheese Grater is a student satirical and investigative magazine produced at University College London by a society of UCL Union, a students' union. The Cheese Grater publishes a articles covering student politics, news, investigations, satire and cartoons. Its stories are frequently critical of the UCL Union. It was first published in March 2004, and was named London's best student publication in the 2022 Student Publication Association awards.
History
The Cheese Grater was founded by René Lavanchy, a former member of Pi Magazine, the only significant UCL student publication at the time. The society was affiliated on 12 February 2004 and the first issue was published on 25 March 2004.
In October 2008, an article in issue 18 was censored by Communications and Services Officer Charlie Clinton, leading the magazine to instead publish a story condemning his interference.
In 2016, The Cheese Grater launched a sister publication, Grater Expectations; an irregularly published feminist zine focusing on absurdist humour and art.
Notable articles
In February 2005, The Cheese Grater published a special report accusing UCL Union sabbatical officer David Renton of laziness, incompetence and general neglect of his duties.
In March 2006 the magazine revealed – using the evidence of a leaked e-mail – that then student editor of Pi Magazine Simon Dedman had cheated in recent UCL Union elections, securing the election of Nick Barnard as Media and Communications Officer, and that neither person had been significantly disciplined for it.
In February 2011, The Cheese Grater published documents from UCL Academic Board meetings which revealed the potential impact of government higher education cuts at UCL. The findings suggested a £35 million budget shortfall for UCL even if it were to charge the full £9,000 undergraduate tuition fee. Following the publication of this article, the documents revealing this were removed from the UCL website. The article was later picked up by Times Higher Education, who published a piece using the magazine's findings on 24 February 2011.
In March 2012, The Cheese Grater investigated UCL's bid to build a second London campus in Stratford, uncovering local residents' objections to the potential demolition of their homes and inadequacies in Newham Council's consultation process. The story was later picked up by The Guardian and other national news sources.
In 2021 the magazine launched an investigation into sexual harassment, intimidation, and bullying committed by UCL Security in Halls of Residence throughout the 2020–2021 academic year. The five month long investigation saw two of its writers uncover vast alleged abuses committed by UCL Security staff resulting in the publication of victims recollections of the alleged abuses. The article resulted in UCL launching an investigation, of which its findings have still not been published.
In 2022 the magazine published an article strongly criticising UCL's decision to cut ties with Stonewall, the article was widely received with both praise and criticism after it reached over 60,000 people on social media. The article exposed procedural inconsistencies, and lobbying by an established inter-departmental network of gender critical feminists amongst UCL's academic staff.
UCL Graters
Members of the Cheese Grater Magazine Society founded the UCL Graters sketch comedy group in 2011. As the magazine was founded due to dissatisfaction with UCL's student media, so the UCL Graters were created due to dissatisfaction with UCL's student comedy scene. The group's cast changes yearly, tending to focus on darker and more absurd humour than UCL's Comedy Club and the MDs Comedy Revue. The group is run by the society's Show Coordinator, who directs the group in writing and performing their own material at shows in UCL and around London.
The Graters reached the semi-finals of the Leicester Square Theatre Sketch-Off in 2016, and were described as "exemplary" by the Wee Review for their 2017 Fringe show.
The Graters have performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival every year since their founding at various venues, including the Underbelly and Just the Tonic. The Fringe was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Graters returned to Edinburgh in 2021. The Graters continued their fringe visits in 2022 and 2023.