Freshers’ Week Thrives On Cuts

Libby Purvis’ recent Times article fails to consider the fact that freshers want to have fun, regardless of student debt they’ll have to face in three years.

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A recent article in The Times by Libby Purvis claimed that Freshers’ Week is bound to take a major hit due to the cuts brought in by the Browne Review, because students have less money to spend. The article went on to rejoice at this tragedy, condemning Freshers’ Week for being too commercial.

This is the kind of idiocy that makes people think that journalists are monkeys taught to write.

It’s common sense that if you have to pay more for something, you are likely to want to get the most use out of it. In the context of a degree, this translates into the notion that every moment that you spend at university must be productive, or at least enjoyable. Put simply: no moment to socialise must be left unutilised. And so, in an effort to make the most their money, students have enjoyed their Freshers’ Weeks more than ever before.

Can YOU imagine an empty Cindies?

The majority of students pay for their degrees by taking out student loans. Even if we all leave university in a bit more more debt than we would have done before the cuts, the amount of dispensable income we have during Freshers’ Week remains the same. Having a bit more debt upon graduation does not equate to having less cash to spend at Cindies. And let’s face it: freshers aren’t really thinking about their financial positions upon graduating in three years time just yet.

Assuming that what The Times claims is true, how on earth could it be considered positive in any way? According to Libby Purvis, Freshers’ Week is too commercial. Too commercial? It’s supposed to be commercial. Universities are supposed to make some money out of it. Any sensible person would rather have this money provided by rich sponsors than by poor students.

And so, after a week of forging friendships in Cambridge by sharing countless nights of puking, I am happy to report that Libby Purvis was wrong. Freshers’ Week has prevailed in spite of the cuts, and that’s exactly the way it should be.