Students outraged as King’s Affair Committee declare they are unable to provide a full refund to ticket-holders

Hollie Wright, a student from Christ’s who was due to attend the ball, was outraged by this decision: “Many of us are already financially struggling in these difficult circumstances; my mum just got laid off and I have no college bursary incoming as there is no next term. That 25 per cent may be nothing to those who are wealthy but for people like me it’s a lot and could feed me for a fortnight.”

Another ticketholder holder, Emmanuel student Edan Simpson compares KA’s refund policy to other May Week events: “I fail to see how the KA can’t afford to reimburse us fully when they’re a sell out event every year-if the likes of Robinson and Newnham can fully refund in normal times before Corona, why can’t the KA??”

However, some ticket-holders have expressed sympathy for the King’s Affair committee at this difficult time. Emmanuel Angelidakis, a Homerton student who attended the event last year and was due to attend this year, offered the following comment: “I understand why some people are disappointed about the KA ticket refund policy. However, we need to appreciate that due to various circumstances the committee might not be able to refund 100 per cent of the tickets. The times are stressful for everyone and I am sure they are doing their best, and I can’t even imagine how hard this must be on them.”

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The Chair, Tom Ward, offered the following statement to the Tab Cambridge: “The email sent this morning about the King’s Affair ticket refund policy was intended to convey our sincere apologies for the cancellation of the event, and, as a gesture of goodwill, our willingness to refund as much of the ticket price as we felt were were able, given our financial constraints. The figure of 75 per cent was identified because this was the absolute minimum percentage to which we felt we could commit at this early stage.

In light of the responses we received to that email, however, the team have begun liaising behind the scenes in order to explore the potential implications of increasing the refund to 100 per cent. Although we cannot commit to this figure, we can assure you that, over the next few days, we will be working with this figure in mind. We thank all our ticket-holders for their co-operation and continued support.”

The ball was due to take place on the 17th June with “Oneiros” as the theme.

Cover photo credit: Power Photography