Rising prices at Wahoo have prompted a unique motion in the Hertford JCR to reimburse some of the cost of Hertford students’ drinks after nights out at the club.
Hertford student Omer Sheikh Mohamed proposed on Sunday that the Hertford JCR “reimburse students 50p for every double vodka Red Bull bought in Wahoo upon presenting a receipt to the JCR Treasurer”.
The beverage in question has recently increased in price from £2 to £2.50 at Wahoo, while entry costs have risen to £4. Sheikh Mohamed’s motion claimed that, “Wahoo is Hertford’s favourite night out”, and added that the price increases might discourage freshers from frequenting the club and harm the “access work and inclusivity” on which the college prides itself.
After an amendment to the motion, which compelled the JCR President to write to the manager of Wahoo “in opposition to the price increases”, subsidy-seekers’ hopes were dashed when the motion fell 16-22 in a vote at the Hertford JCR meeting. Those against the motion included JCR President Hugh Baker and JCR Treasurer Bhavin Patel, who allegedly dismissed it as “obviously a joke” during the course of the meeting.
English student Siobhan Dunlop was also against the motion. She said, “I am a finalist, so the closest I get to Wahoo is hearing freshers talk about it in the Tesco queue. When I read about the motion in the JCR e-mail, I had to do a double take. Seriously, I am staggered that anyone would believe in their ‘hert’ it is a useful way to spend JCR money.”
Yet Hertford students may not have to worry about affording their Friday nights in any case. Toby Beers-Baker, CEO of Shuffle Nights, clarified that the 50p rise in the price of a double vodka Red Bull only applies after 11pm. He told Cherwell, “Given the extremely high prices of rent and overheads in Oxford, we feel we do give extremely reasonable deals to students.”
He went on to note that on non-student nights, a double vodka Red Bull costs £6. He said, “We are providing student prices on a Friday – something competing venues do not do. There is also a fantastic atmosphere at Wahoo on a Friday due to the popularity and clientele of the night.”
When asked to justify the rise in prices, Beers-Baker cited expensive improvements to Wahoo, which include a new sound system, lighting rig, and dance podium.
