Alexandra Allaire
On Friday Sept. 30, the AUS held a Frosh town hall meeting on the topic of reforming Arts Frosh. Despite drawing few participants, the meeting went ahead with enthusiasm and provided an opportunity for dissatisfied students to come forward and share their experiences.
One attendee, a U0 Arts student who wished to remain anonymous, felt that as a 17-year-old he missed out on key parts of Frosh. Before buying his wristband, he noticed on the AUS website that Frosh events were not centred around alcohol, and decided to purchase an admission wristband. He was disappointed when, on the first evening event at Palais de Congres, he reached the front of the queue only to be told by a bouncer that 17-year-olds were not being let in because the club was too full. He urged AUS to “keep [frosh] good for the 18-year-olds, but at the same time allow for more inclusion of underage students, too.”
AUS President Jade Calver and the present committee members were keen to hear his feedback and were engaged throughout the discussion, encouraging him to point out all that he felt could be improved, as well as what was positive about the experience.
When talk turned to possible reformations of the system, the AUS VP Events, Jason Karmody, noted that this year AUS made conscious attempts for frosh to be more inclusive for underage students.
The focus of the discussion then moved to specific improvement suggestions, including “significantly cheaper” tickets solely for daytime events, and organizing separate ‘dry’ events without alcohol.
Calver indicated that not forewarning students that most Frosh events were alcohol-based was a mistake.
“That was an oversight on our part,” Calver said.
The student insisted that people should not have the same experience next year, and asked for a refund. On the Frosh website, alcohol is mentioned only under the FAQ section: “At no point will anyone ever be required to drink.”
“Frosh is designed for everyone to meet new people, have a good time, and ease their way into university, so we make sure that there are tons of ways for people to enjoy themselves be it with or without alcohol,” the website reads.
Calver indicated that in the future, the underage student’s situation would not repeat itself.
“I think we’d all agree on lower prices for under-agers,” Calver said.
