NEW COLLEGE JCR has been forced to pay for an intercollegiate paintballing trip after Magadalen’s Entz Committee failed to sell enough tickets to the event.
The trip was organised by New College JCR as a post-Freshers’ Week event for 180 students from different colleges.
Magdalen’s Entz team indicated that the JCR wanted 40 places on the trip at £30 each, but after little success in pitching the offer to students, the committee allegedly refused to cover costs for the wasted tickets.
New’s JCR Treasurer Yathesan Gangakumaran complained, “Magdalen wanted a fairly large number of tickets and didn’t bring anyone to my knowledge. They didn’t keep up their end of the bargain. We can pay it back fine, but apparently the day before they had only sold five tickets and said they weren’t going to pay for any of the remaining ones.”
Ben Karlin, New’s JCR President, agreed that his college had been treated unfairly. “It kind of screwed us over a bit,” he said. “We pre-paid for all the tickets and coaches and it was a success in that everyone who came enjoyed it. It was just annoying that allocations were sold to other colleges who then refused to pay us anything. It puts us out of pocket.”
According to one student, 84 people attended the event from New, but only two from other colleges, both from Christ Church.
New’s Entz Rep, Will Cowell De Gruchy, was keen to stress that relations between the JCRs had not been affected. “There’s no ill-feeling because of there not being a turn out from other colleges. It was an informal agreement and nothing was signed,” he said.
A JCR budget surplus of £800 left over from Trinity term meant that New has avoided suffering any substantial financial loss over transport. Additionally, the paintballing company agreed not to charge them the ticket prices for all places not taken up.
Magdalen’s JCR Entz Committee refused to comment.
New College JCR forced to pay in paintballing fiasco
