President’s Drinks at the Oxford Union will start charging members for entry, it was decided at Standing Committee this week.
The proposal, put forward by Union President James Kingston, was passed by seven votes to six at the Committee meeting on Monday evening.
Kingston said that selling tickets on a first come first serve basis would reduce “hack patronage” at an event that has often been the preserve of friends of Union officers and committee members.
President’s Drinks take place every week after the debate on the Thursday and offer members an opportunity to meet guest speakers.
A former member of Standing Committee told Cherwell that previously there had been a clear policy that members on Secretary’s Committee could bring one guest. Those on Standing could bring two, officers could bring “about five” and the President as many they wanted.
The new move will see forty tickets going on sale to Union members at a cost of £5 each, and members will only be allowed to attend two of the events per term.
Although a suggestion was also put forward to charge for attendance of the dinner that precedes the drinks, Kingston said it was “a little ridiculous” that officers who were obliged to attend and entertain the speakers should be charged to do so.
Further modifications to President’s Drinks were also proposed, including turning the Drinks into a smaller event with higher quality alcohol.
However, the Union President maintained that both speakers and members enjoyed the weekly event. Kingston argued against calls to reduce the size of the guest list, reminding the committee that they existed “to serve the members”.
The decision to introduce the £5 charge has been met with mixed reactions from Union members.
One member who attended President’s Drinks regularly last year said he had used the Drinks as a forum “to hack” and stopped going once he had been successful in achieving a committee position.
He agreed that charging people would hopefully attract guests “who actually wanted to meet the speaker”. This, he thought, would be “a lot fairer”.
However, another argued that the “patronage” of the President would still apply since he or she selects who dines with speakers beforehand. Those at the dinner can attend the subsequent President’s Drinks.
He also predicted that the Union would struggle to sell forty tickets for the Drinks each week and that this will lead to Committee members inviting along their friends.
He commented, “It will very much retain a ‘Members’ Club’ atmosphere”.
The ticket charge is set to be introduced in third week. Standing Committee will re-open discussions on the proposals at its next meeting on Monday.
