Headlines
Colleges’ endowments are growing; Their spending on students isn’t
In 2023, Oxford University’s 43 colleges boasted a total endowment of £6.4 billion. This figure is nearly four times as much as that of Oxford University itself and well over ten times larger than the endowment of all other UK universities, excluding the University of Cambridge. The sheer magnitude of Oxford’s collegiate wealth is no secret; yet the ways in which colleges use their extensive resources remain far less transparent.
While all colleges do put aside millions of pounds for...
Comment
Features
Long vowels or short shrift: Oxford’s shocking accent hierarchy
A Scottish undergraduate spoke to me of how she consciously altered her voice during tutorials and moots, where she would “tone down” the broadness of her accent.
War crimes, rent climbs, and bad wines: A very short history of protest at Oxford
We start all the way back in February 1355 with perhaps the most pretentious cause for protest possible.
Has Oxford made us hate reading?
"Ever felt like you were suffocating under a pile of books, making the idea of picking up yet another feel utterly daunting?"
Oxford University and the guise of climate consciousness
Oxford University and climate action. Opinions on Oxford’s relationship with such action differ profusely across student activist groups, the University administration and climate-focused academics. In navigating the conflicting views and disagreements between key stakeholders, data made available to the public in response to FOI requests, is of paramount significance....
Ozempic and the commercial medicalisation of beauty
There is no doubt that beauty culture penetrates all aspects of contemporary society. According to a Mckinsey & Company report, in 2022, the beauty market generated approximately $430 billion in revenue, and is expected to reach approximately $580 billion by 2027. In 1849, it was a tiny industry worth...
Things can only get… worse? Why 2024 is no 1997 for the Labour Party
One of the characteristic features of the 1997 Labour Party general election campaign was their use of D:Ream’s song "Things Can Only Get Better" in their campaign video. This song was selected to conjure optimism following what many saw as eighteen years of Conservative failure which had left the...
Profiles
Max Fosh on viral pranks, comedy tours, and the art of posh self-deprecation
Max Fosh is a YouTuber and stand-up comedian, who first garnered acclaim for his StreetSmart series of street interviews. Fosh then expanded towards more prank and challenge-style videos, before launching his first stand-up tour Zocial Butterfly in 2021. Cherwell interviewed him ahead of his Loophole tour across the UK,...
A ‘golden age’ for Oxford: In conversation with Chancellor Patten
Lord Christopher Patten has been the Chancellor of Oxford University since 2003. Before that, he acted as the last Governor of Hong Kong and as Chairman of the Conservative Party.
In February 2024, Lord Patten announced his retirement from the Chancellorship; intense media speculation about which British public figure might...
Culture
On Leadership by Tony Blair, Precipice by Robert Harris, and Oxford crime – Books of the Month
On Leadership by Tony Blair; Precipice by Robert Harris; Lessons in Crime: Academic Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards
North Korea and the Global Nuclear Order review – “An excellent account”
Dr Edward Howell, whose columns in the Spectator and the Telegraph are among the few intelligent and readable things left in those outlets, has produced an excellent account of North Korea and its place in the global nuclear order. Here is a book which the University Press would do...
Life
Narcissus’ reflection: Ego and the Oxford experience
What exactly does it take for someone to think of themselves as ‘worthy’ to study at one of the greatest universities in the world?
The grey area
Amy Seal -
It is a funny thing to become a statistic. It all seems so binary before it happens to you. Are you the zero, or the one?
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