Six members of the Somerville-Jesus Ball Committee have written an open letter apologising for “key flaws” in the organisation of the event, and “arrogance” in its publicity campaign.

The letter acknowledges problems in the ball, especially, “the organisation of food, the length of queues for the maze, and the tone of our publicity campaign.” It goes on to say, “We would like to apologise for these mistakes, in particular with regards to the organisation of food; the provisions we made were very clearly insufficient, and this is not acceptable for an event commanding a ticket price of £110/£150.”

The letter has been signed by six of the ball’s nine committee members, including Operations Manager Eddie Shore, Head of Gastronomy Clara Collyns, and Head of Design Toby Mann. Three senior committee members, Chairman Sam Levin, Vice-Chairman and Treasurer Alwyn Clarke, and PR Manager Pete Endicott, did not sign the letter.

The letter is almost two thousand words long and gives a detailed analysis of the night’s flaws. It concludes by stating, “Whilst we would like to provide a breakdown for costs, and indeed this is something that the six of us are working on providing at some point hopefully in the not too distant future, the Ball Treasurer is the only member of the committee in possession of the accounts of the ball.”

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Eddie Shore reading out the apology in Jesus JCR

The ball, which was held in Somerville on Saturday 4^th May, was advertised as “one last night of decadence, debauchery, and indulgence’’. Yet it was criticised after allegations that it was mis-sold.

The original Facebook group was deleted after students condemned the event online. A separate Facebook group was created on Thursday which condemned 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 page currently has around 150 likes.

The latest letter from ball committee members acknowledges these complaints, apologising, “for the unacceptably large gap in time between the raising of these concerns, and the provision of this response.” It expresses hope their response is “fair, and we hope that once you have finished reading it, you will feel that we have been honest, open, and receptive to what you have all had to say.”

It goes on to identify “four main reasons” for the ball’s shortcomings: “misplaced trust in our catering company, poor set up due to unforeseeable problems, a lack of careful consideration of the demand for vegetarian food, and a lack of events management experience.” The letter continues, “These are not excuses, but explanations.”

The apology also states, “There was an arrogance about our publicity campaign, which has unfortunately continued well after the ball, and is something that, whilst unintentional, has caused a great deal of irritation, and for this, we would also like to apologise.”

Students’ responses to the letter have been mixed. One student who attended the ball told Cherwell, “An event costing this kind of money really shouldn’t be taken lightly and it is obvious from the response of the ball-goers that people are really upset. Therefore, I think it’s the committee’s duty to do their best to talk to people and try to rectify the situation as best as possible.”

The committee members who did not sign the letter were unavailable for comment on Monday night.

Protestors marred the visit of Rwandan President  Paul Kagame to Said Business School on Saturday, hurling dozens of eggs and other debris at the front of the business school in order to inveigh against what they claimed was Kagame’s record of genocide and corruption.

At his speech inside the school, Kagame was questioned by business school Dean Peter Tufan on his human rights record, among other issues.

Cusimano has previously told Cherwell, “I’m organizing the campaign not because I oppose Mr. Kagame’s visit; I think that it could have provided a platform for an excellent discussion if framed appropriately. I started the campaign because the event was not only happening without any apparent critical discussion, but was lauding him at a timewhen the extent of his government’s abuses are becoming ever more apparent.”

President Kagame visited to give the keynote speech the 5th Annual Oxford Africa Business Conference. Conference attendees arriving at the business school Saturday morning were met by a group of a dozen protesters wielding signs stating, “Paul Kagame = War Criminal / Stop His Impunity;” “Kagame a Criminal in Power Rwandans Need: Justice, Democracy, Free Expression;” and “Peace in Congo.”

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The protestors also distributed literature claiming “Kagame has more blood on his hands that Hitler: 6,000,000 Congolese 500,000 Rwandans.” The literature also blamed Kagame for the assassination of four former Rwandan presidents. 

At noon, when the hundreds of conference attendees converged for lunch in the foyer, which has a full glass façade facing south onto Park End street, protestors, whose numbers reached around forty, launched raw eggs, water bottles and other debris at the glass window.

Conference attendees responded mostly with laughter, as over a dozen Oxford University security guards and Oxford City police, two of whom were on horseback, enforced a fifteen metre barrier between the protesters and main façade.

President Kagame and his entourage entered the business school through the rear in order to avoid the protestors. Shortly after one o’clock he spoke in the Nelson Mandela Lecture Theatre on the catalysts behind sub-Saharan African economic growth, before answering a series of questions from Tufan, the Dean, and audience members.

Tufan initially praised Kagame’s economic policies, before launching into a critique of his human rights record phrased in the form of diplomatically-worded open-ended questions. Kagame responded that these critiques were predicated on incorrect facts, and that most of his critics were foreign, whereas an overwhelming majority of Rwandans approve of him. 

According to Amnesty International, “opposition figures and journalists remain in danger of arbitrary and impartial prosecution” and Freedom House has said that Rwanda is “not free”.

Yet Kagame’s regime has been praised by some commentators, with Bill Clinton describing him as “one of the greatest leaders of our time.” Rwanda was the second country which wasn’t associated with the British Empire to join the Commonwealth in 2009. Until last year, the UK contributed £21m in development aid to Rwanda annually, and Tony Blair remains an unpaid government advisor.