By News Editor Katie O’Shaughnessy.
The decision for College Christmas to be a ticketed event was made by the DCU institution, not by the student union.
Lauren Joyce, VP for Wellbeing, told The Bulletin that the unprecedented ticketing of the event was a decision “out of our hands” and made due to health and safety concerns and for crowd control.
College Christmas is traditionally held at DCU on the final Thursday of teaching and involves students enjoying boozy festivities beginning in the early morning.
The SU appear more involved than ever in facilitating events on the day, based on their social media involvement. Shane Murphy, SU President, announced the events in an Instagram post of the SU’s page. However, while it is labeled an SU event, members of the union were not involved in the “technical side” of organising events.
The U Building on Glasnevin campus is ticketed entry only on Thursday 27th November. 2,000 free tickets were made available in two ticket drops across Thursday and Friday and sold out within 40 minutes. Outside of the U Building, the DCU campus is a drink free zone on the day.
Due to the limited number of ‘golden tickets’, as described by Shane Murphy in his weekly newsletter, ticket reselling has become a concern.
Joyce said: “The reselling of tickets has baffled all of us. While Christmas Day is fun, it definitely is not worth paying for a ticket to get in, especially at the prices we have seen!”
On Friday, Nubar – DCU’s student bar, posted a screenshot to their instagram story of a reseller message in a group chat asking for €50 for a ticket into the U Building. Nubar threatened to post the reseller’s full phone number if they did not delete the request within 5 minutes.
In response, Joyce said: “The tickets were free because everyone from the university knows we are in a cost of living crisis and there shouldn’t be financial restraints to fun on campus. Nubar Dave says it how it is so we appreciate his no nonsense approach on this!”
Students unsuccessful in getting a ticket to the U Building will not be left out, says the SU. The union are organising free goujons outside of the U on a first-come first-serve basis on Thursday. This week is ‘Jingle Week’ on campus, an effort made so the festivities do not revolve entirely around events in the U Building on Thursday.
On Christmas Day, the U Building will host DJ’s, live music and free food. The music line up includes DJ Wayne, Finn Fitzgerald & Sceptic, a DCU based band.
*Partial phone number has been redacted by The Bulletin
Image Credits: DCU SU