Last Saturday, St Anne’s students were surprised upon entering Baby Love Bar to find that they were to share their ‘Song Titles’ bop with sixty remaining revellers from a fortieth birthday party.
Although the St Anne’s students had expected to have the club exclusively after 11pm, Martin Forde, owner of Baby Love, stated that they had not requested for the venue to be private.
Some St Anne’s students commented on the queue length and the birthday guests’ behaviour but St Anne’s Entz reps, Stephanie MacGillivray and Alison Hinds, explained that, “although the situation wasn’t ideal and it felt a bit awkward, it wasn’t too much of an issue and people generally had a pretty good night”.
St Anne’s bops, usually held privately at the club and starting at 10pm, started at the later time of 11 on Saturday owing to the privately held birthday party taking place beforehand.
MacGillivray and Hinds told Cherwell, “the reality was that we were allowed entry from 11, but the guests of the 40th Birthday party were still there. Obviously this caused a few problems because the club soon became very full due to both events being held there, and so some St Anne’s students had to queue, resulting in a few people leaving and going elsewhere.” However, they also commented on the “helpful” nature of the bar’s staff when trying to resolve the issue, adding that “the remainder of students did manage to get in”.
One St Anne’s student, who did not wish to be named, commented on the slightly raucous behaviour of some of the birthday guests, telling Cherwell that one woman was seen “chucking in the toilets” and that a group of men were “lined up at the bottom of the stairs making pervy comments as students walked down”.
When asked about this behaviour, Forde responded “If there was something inappropriate, why didn’t they say? I would have sorted it out and [I] take complaints very seriously”. Another student also commented, “If we wanted to club with other people then we could have gone anywhere, bops are about having fun with college friends”.
MacGillivray and Hinds, however, explained, “The guests of the other party did stay at Baby Love, but they kept themselves to themselves, and so did we”. One St Anne’s fresher seemed unconcerned by the extra guests at the bop, telling Cherwell, “Our college supports fun regardless of age. I look forward to attending the next Babylove diamond wedding anniversary”.
MacGillivray and Hinds acknowledged the misunderstanding saying, “While we are obviously disappointed that they were not more transparent about what they meant by the club being ‘ours’ after eleven, they were helpful in resolving the issue.” The pair also hoped that there would not be “any similar problems in the future”.
