Students and politicians alike are calling for an Oxford University librarian to be reinstated after she was fired for the filming of a Harlem Shake video in one of the school's libraries.
Though the librarian, Calypso Nash, did not actually take part in the making of the video, she allegedly lost her job because the filming took place on her watch, the Independent reports.
Harlem Shake videos became an Internet sensation earlier this year. They typically involve one masked person dancing to the DJ Bauuer song for 15 seconds before a crowd joins in.
According to Cherwell, the school's independent student publication, various colleges within Oxford University filmed their own versions of the viral dance hit throughout the month of February. However, the students who filmed their Harlem Shake video in the library reportedly did not get permission beforehand.
As the BBC notes, the students were fined £30 to £60 (about $45 to $90), and Nash was fired.
The Huffington Post UK spoke with one student who called Nash's firing "hugely unjust."
"She knew nothing about the dance and we don't see how she could have prevented it happening, neither is it her position to do so," Esther Gosling said.
Cherwell has since reported that the librarian has not only the support of the student body, but of George Galloway, a member of parliament.
Galloway reportedly petitioned the House of Commons for the librarian's reinstatement, arguing that Nash bears no responsibility for the Harlem Shake video.
The motion reportedly alleges that “the College authorities seem to have suffered a severe sense of humour loss.”
Perhaps surprisingly, Nash isn't the only person to have lost her job over the filming of a Harlem Shake video. Fifteen miners in Australia were fired earlier this month after they performed the viral dance hit underground.
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