‘Last Ball’ goers have written an open letter of complaint to the Jesus-Somerville Ball Committee. The letter was posted online by ‘Somerville-Jesus Ball 2013: An Open Letter to the Committee’, a Facebook page which aims “to give balanced feedback” on the event.
The ball, hosted by both Somerville and Jesus on Saturday 4th May was billed as “one last night of decadence, debauchery, and indulgence’’. It saw criticism from guests for various shortcomings, including the presence of only one stall to cater for all attending the Ball.
The letter acknowledges the “hard work” the Committee put into organising the event, and their dedication “spend[ing] the evening attending to guests rather than enjoying the results of their efforts”. Nevertheless, it concludes that “the prevailing consensus has been one of markedly condemning and widespread criticism”. The letter also slates the Ball Committee for having “unceremoniously censored… the many attempts to convey to the Committee the extreme dissatisfaction we felt in the execution of the ball.”
The letter continues, “Our initial disappointments with the ball’s offerings have been considerably hardened by the real sense of unfairness felt at the Committee’s subsequent pointed refusal to make any form of public response to our concerns. It is outrageous that the Chairman, whose overall responsibility this is, has apparently had the time to send out angry letters to a few gatecrashers but has still refused to make any public acknowledgement of the near-1000 guests paying £110/50 — except to erase the prominent evidence of our demands for one by shutting down the ball’s Facebook page.”
The letter then calls for Ball Committee Chairman Sam Levin and Somerville’s Domestic Bursar — who is understood to have overseen the student management of the ball — to respond to the criticisms made by guests. Complaints listed include “the unfathomable logic behind a single food stall to cater for nearly 1000 guests”, and the letter further claims that “at least two guests have reported being forced into direct physical contact with the grills…both coming out with irrevocable damage to their expensive dresses and even minor burns to their leg”.
The night is also slated in the letter for lack of vegetarian food, and speaks of “suspicions of deliberate misrepresentation” of the entertainment prior to the ball. The letter finally calls for the Committee to disclose “details of its expenditure”, arguing that “the demand to examine these [figures] are perfectly valid given we have not received any justification, before or after the ball, for the unprecedented ticket price of £110/50 (compared to the £85/95 of 2010)”.
One second year student, who wished to remain anonymous, told Cherwell, “I had a really good time at The Last Ball. There was as much alcohol as I wanted to drink and I really enjoyed the music that was there. Still, I think it’s fair enough for students to complain about aspects of the night which didn’t live up to their expectations, especially when they paid so much for a ticket. While I recognise and commend the efforts of the Ball Committee, they have a responsibility to answer for the supposed shortcomings of the night.”
The author of the open letter told Cherwell, “Whilst the page was set up to provide a new platform for guests to freely express their complaints about the ball in order to build up evidence of the breadth and strength of the views expressed in the letter, it does not represent our final communication to any of the parties involved. The Bursar is only included as an addressee as we believe he will be able to most effectively bring the situation to the college’s attention, and the page was set up with the intention to be formally forwarded onto him when enough support could be evidenced.”
In addition to publishing the open letter, the Facebook page encourages guests to show their support for the letter by liking the page or writing comments on it. Should guests wish to submit comments anonymously they are encouraged to do so by messaging the page.
Ball Committee Chairman, Sam Levin, and Vice-Chairman, Alwyn Clarke, were both unavailable for comment on Thursday night. Levin previously declined to give a comment to Cherwell.
