A motion at OUSU Council on Wednesday has passed, criticising the annual rates Oxford University charges OUSU to hold Freshers’ Fair at the Examination Schools. £15,948 is charged for the use of the building, £11,000 for the marquee and further costs for advertising, security and staff.
The motion originally criticised OUSU for charging £40 at the fair for a stall, but amendments proposed by OUSU President Becky Howe shifted the focus onto the University, from which the costs for stallholders stem. The amended motion resolves to mandate the University to increase its subsidisation of the three-day event.
Freshers’ Fair is organised each year by OUSU, where £40 is charged to all clubs and societies for a single table, £90 for two tables and £140 for three tables regardless of what they are for, the size of the society or its wealth. The £30 charge for a replacement lanyard has also been criticised for being too high.
These charges were criticised for being excessive by the motion’s original proponent, Jessy Parker Humphreys from Jesus College, particularly because most universities do not charge at all for tables at their freshers’ fairs. Further to this, the presidents of some smaller societies have had to pay out of their own pocket to fund a table at Freshers’ Fair. With regard to lanyard replacement costs, the initial motion (before it was amended) argued, “Charging £30 to replace a lanyard consisting of a piece of printed paper in a cheap plastic wallet is exorbitant and unnecessary.”
Natasha Somi, a member of Race Matters (formerly Skin Deep), who rented a stall at last year’s Freshers’ Fair, says, “I think the stalls are extremely expensive and that this especially disfavours smaller charities who don’t have sponsors. The current system means that Freshers’ Fair is potentially unrepresentative of student societies. I would definitely be behind efforts to reduce the price or to change the pricing system.”
Becky Howe, OUSU President, told Chewell, “Once all the costs are broken down, the cost of £40 to societies is actually significantly subsidised by income from other areas of the fair. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t charge clubs and societies anything at all to have stalls at Freshers’ Fair, but we simply could not continue to run the event in its current form if we didn’t have the £40 charge. However, if students want the format of the event to change – i.e. have it in a smaller venue – that’s something we can absolutely look into, with student involvement.”
The motion argued that the Freshers’ Fair is a central part of the student experience, and that the University should ensure the continued sustainability of Freshers’ Fair, in light of student concerns about stall costs. It further argues that the cost of exam schools is “excessive”.
While the £40 fee remains controversial, the University’s Clubs Committee gives startup grants, and special purposes grants and loans to registered clubs and societies, which specifically aims to help with costs like the stall price at Freshers’ Fair. In order to encourage further use of these grants, the amended motion also mandates the President to advise clubs and societies (via the all-student email or otherwise) of the Clubs Committee grants before the Committee’s Hilary Term deadline.
The University told Cherwell, “We will be happy to discuss this issue with the Oxford University Student Union” later adding “OUSU is given a reduced price for using the Exam schools for Freshers’ Fair, so there is a significant difference between what they pay and the fee that would be levied for a commercial event. As is the practice for all events at the Examination Schools, we have to ensure that directly incurred costs (for staffing, utilities etc) are covered.”
