Monday 22nd December 2025
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Oxford University accused of ‘institutional censorship’ over reporting restrictions

Gaspard Rouffin
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Oxford University accused of ‘institutional censorship’ over reporting restrictions

Over 20 academics have criticised the University of Oxford for its use of reporting restrictions in ongoing lawsuits, according to a document seen by Cherwell. They are submitting a motion to Congregation calling for an end to the University’s use of anonymity orders and restricted reporting orders (RROs) in legal cases.

The University’s leadership has faced scrutiny for a lack of transparency in these proceedings with members of the Congregation, and particularly for acting against principles of “freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and academic freedom”. Congregation is the governing body of the University, composed primarily of academic staff. 

The 22 signatories of the motion argue that by concealing legal proceedings through the use of these orders, “Congregation is not given a chance to be well informed enough to perform its function of ‘sovereign body’”. The signatories believe that since the University “acts in [their] name” in court, they “need to be able to find out about the University’s involvement in legal actions”.

Anonymity order and RROs are legal orders that essentially prohibit the discussion or publication of the identity of individuals or organisations involved in legal proceedings.

Motion to Congregation

The motion seen by Cherwell asks the University to “refrain from applying for anonymity or restricted reporting orders in legal proceedings”, and also requested that it “withdraw any such orders it has applied for or has been granted in current legal actions”.

Citing the University Statute XII, the signatories said that the University’s use of those legal orders amounts to “institutional censorship”, given that it does not allow them to “question and test received wisdom and to put forward…their opinions about the University”.

Statute XII also states that “members of the academic staff have freedom within the law” to raise those questions and opinions “without placing themselves in jeopardy of losing their jobs or privileges”. Signatories of the motion prefer to remain anonymous at this stage.

The motion seen by Cherwell expresses regret that the University is “undermining open justice” instead of “supporting” it, and states that the institution “should not be in the business of covering up truth”.

An anonymous signatory of the motion exclusively told Cherwell: “One element that is supposed to make Oxford special is that it’s intended to be run by academics, but Wellington Square has taken over, running things in the dark, spending our money in questionable and avoidable lawsuits, and silencing people in our name and without our consent.

“They’ve gone too far. They’ve betrayed our trust, sullying our reputation with their mismanagement of these cases. They’ve gotten away with it so far because they weaponise the law to hide their legal actions. It’s time for academics to take charge of the decisions that matter the most.”

Senior University figures

Cherwell understands that there have been concerns raised regarding senior University figures’ approach to transparency in the context of legal proceedings, and particularly concerning the Chancellor William Hague and the Vice-Chancellor Irene Tracey. 

A source with knowledge of the matter told Cherwell: “The Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor have serious questions to answer about the type of university they are running, whether it is one that protects its own students and staff, or its reputation.” 

They added that “Bloomberg’s investigation, and subsequent reporting, uncovered what for many has been a pervasive culture of silence and intimidation. The University must act now to bring itself into the 21st century, and if it doesn’t, then it needs to be made clear why not”.

The motion seen by Cherwell stated that “it would be improper of the University of Oxford to be applying for anonymity or restricted reporting orders in private while our leaders defend freedom of speech in public”, referring to recent press appearances by the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor defending freedom of speech.

Patterns of censorship

This issue was raised earlier this term in the Oxford Magazine, when the editors expressed regret  that much “is hidden from most [academics] in the way our university operates”, and argued that the University has a “requirement” to promote “transparency” and “free speech”.

The Oxford Magazine is an independent paper edited by members of the University, but not an official publication. It has been at the centre of many controversial discussions at the University since its founding in 1883, and a proposed retirement policy was ruled as discriminatory by a tribunal in January 2020. In December 2020, the University stopped funding the print edition of the magazine, and ended all IT and personnel support for the publication two years later.

The motion put forward by the 22 academics also cited concerns over a “trend towards secrecy in UK courts, with the press reporting on powerful institutions, including universities, seeking and being granted anonymity in legal proceedings”.

The University of Oxford did not respond to Cherwell’s request for comment.

Ashmolean Museum attracts over one million annual visitors for first time in 16 years

Angelina Mirraslavska
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Ashmolean Museum attracts over one million annual visitors for first time in 16 years

The Ashmolean Museum, the UK’s oldest public museum and the University of Oxford’s leading institution for art and archaeology, has welcomed more than one million visitors this year, its highest annual total in 16 years. 

The figure marks a continuous upward trend in visits to the Museum in recent years, with 900,277 visitors recorded in 2023 and 942,692 in 2024. Passing the one million visitor mark means that the Museum is now roughly 14% ahead of the same point last year, when 879,077 visits had been logged by the end of November. The Ashmolean also reports that its audience is becoming more diverse, noting “proportional increases in overseas visitors, visitors from Oxfordshire, and families.”

Oxford Central remains the Museum’s largest source of Oxfordshire visitors, followed by East Central Oxford and then Radley, Wootton and Marcham. A cluster of areas, including Islip, Arncott, Chesterton, Barton, Wallingford, and Brightwell, collectively rank next. Internationally, the Ashmolean continues to draw in substantial numbers from the United States, Australia, Germany, Italy, and France.

A recent survey suggests that free entry has played a significant role in this rise, especially during the ongoing cost of living crisis. The Museum maintains free general admission, accommodates both bookings and walk-ins, and has hosted several free exhibitions this year. These include current displays by Irish artist Daphne Wright, US-based Hong Kong artist Pat Suet-Bik Hui, and three artists exploring the Chinese “three perfections”, alongside object-based exhibitions such as a collection of Roman coins from Oxfordshire.

Alongside its free offerings, the Ashmolean has continued to draw audiences through ticketed exhibitions. One of this year’s displays, This Is What You Get, focuses on the visual art of Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke, whose collaboration of over 30 years has shaped Radiohead’s distinctive style. Running from 6th August 2025 to 18th January 2026, the exhibition features more than 180 works, from original album-cover paintings and digital compositions to etchings, unpublished drawings and handwritten lyrics. 

Curator Lena Fritsch describes the collaboration at the heart of the exhibition as a synthesis of sound, image, and text – a Gesamtkunstwerk that highlights the experimental nature of Radiohead’s music. Tickets remain free for members, under-12s, and museum colleagues, with various concessions and half-price categories available. According to figures shared with Cherwell, the Ashmolean has issued 32,370 tickets to date, indicating strong and sustained public interest in the exhibition.

Another key element behind visitor growth has been the museum’s newly redesigned Rome and the Roman Empire gallery, which opened on the ground floor earlier this year. The gallery examines the Roman world at its height in the first and second centuries AD, tracing the lives of people across the empire, from emperors to the enslaved, and following its reach from Oxfordshire to Syria. The space broadens the traditional boundaries of Roman art by displaying not only frescoes, sculptures and tombstones but also household objects and interactive features designed to appeal to visitors of all ages.

The ghosts of the King’s Arms’ past, present, and future

Josephine Stern
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The ghosts of the King’s Arms’ past, present, and future

Ever felt a supernatural presence hovering over you in what claims to be Oxford’s oldest pub, the King’s Arms? And no – not the ghost of an ill-fated first date from last Michaelmas. 

According to Dark Oxfordshire, the KA boasts an even more eerie reputation. There are some who claim to have heard a pair of phantom Oxford dons at the bar, heatedly bickering – in Ancient Greek, no less – over the quality of the port wine. The Haunted Hub adds that patrons have reported the spirit of a former musician playing piano at odd hours in an otherwise empty room. And if you’re still unconvinced of the pub’s spectral credentials, the Deputy Manager of the King’s Arms told Cherwell that a ghost-finder once detected an entire ethereal family loitering there. Having perished in a fire which consumed their upstairs lodgings, the noise of the youngest daughter, Amelie, running and playing can still be detected. 

Today, the King’s Arms continues to beckon a motley crew of pub-goers to haunt its sticky hallways day in, day out. Standing proud on the corner of Holywell and Parks Road, the pub is a favourite of students, academics, tourists, and locals alike: a rare Oxford gem in that it belongs to no single type of person. My friend, a History and Politics student, gathers with her tutorial partners each week in the KA to spend a self-consciously highbrow hour and a half dissecting John Rawls’ political philosophy. By contrast, just a fortnight ago, I stumbled through a pub crawl that kicked off in the King’s Arms, its aim decidedly far less intellectual enlightenment and far more maximal inebriation. Variety is the spice of life, I suppose. 

In short, such assorted ghosts as solitary musicians and drunken professors have been joined by the ranks of the equally sundry living, with each individual who roams the halls now contributing their own quirks, charm, and colour to the storied pub. The result: a social sphere that feels, as ever, like a refuge for wandering souls. 

To be sure, more generally, Oxford’s bountiful pubs seem to offer the opportunity to shed the tired trope of the neurotic, over-worked student and slip into a more unguarded way of being. However brief, a couple of pints in The Star’s beer-garden, or sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in the Half Moon, softens one’s defences and eases the pressure of appearing perpetually profound. It is in these pockets of calm that the suspect hauntings of essays and expectations are relieved, leaving room for genuine, candid connection. The pub demands us to trade in academic armour for the company of lost spirits, living or otherwise. 

Old habits tend to die hard, however. It is no small feat to ditch a meticulously crafted Oxford persona: the unflappable scholar, the sharp raconteur, or the champagne socialist – each honed under careful scrutiny. In other words, after a day spent playing the role of ‘the Oxford student’, it can be hard to know if a pub trip signals the curtain call. For many, the theatre of it all knows no boundaries, and the pub becomes a new stage upon which the performance can continue well into the night. If the costume comes off, it does so tentatively – and never all at once. 

I had this theory in mind on my last trip to the King’s Arms, and was more than ready to put it to the test. Standing outside the pub, drink in hand, it is almost impossible to decipher who is still in character and who has given up the charade. Were those two trying their hand at method acting, or were they genuinely impassioned about the significance of free will in Macbeth? In any case, I left the pub with the sense that an uncertain space resided between performance and repose, between folklore and reality. I only wish the scales could tip slightly towards the latter, so that authenticity might stretch beyond the walls of this transient, in-between realm. 

Charles Dickens assures us in A Christmas Carol that: “While there is infection in […] sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.” This rings true not just in Oxford’s most-fabled haunted pub, but in any of the city’s haunts. Pubs are at their most vital when they offer wayward souls a reprieve from close examination, where the crushing weight of expectation lightens, so that they may roam carefreely. They offer more than cocktails and conversation; in this uncanny overlap between the living and the departed, spirits of every kind can rejoice in the revelry. 

So, next time you visit the King’s Arms, listen out for the faint clinking of piano keys and muffled scholarly debate, toast a drink to your fellow patrons, and loosen your guard, before even the resident ghosts decide they would prefer more authentic company. 

University criticised for not crediting Indonesian researchers on rare flower discovery

Anna Waldram
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University criticised for not crediting Indonesian researchers on rare flower discovery

Oxford University’s recent X (formerly Twitter) post about the discovery of the Rafflesia hasseltii flower in the Sumatran jungle, Indonesia, has sparked online backlash. Critics say the post did not give adequate credit to the Indonesian researchers that Oxford’s Chris Thorogood worked alongside.

Oxford University shared a post on X on 19th November describing the discovery, which has since received 11.2 million views. They wrote: “Yesterday, Oxford Botanic Garden’s @thorogoodchris1 was part of a team that trekked day and night through tiger-patrolled Sumatran (an island in Indonesia) rainforests to find Rafflesia hasseltii.”

Thorogood, an associate professor of biology at Linacre College, Oxford, recently travelled to the Sumatran jungle, working with a team of Indonesian researchers to find rare flowers and plants. He documented his journey in a series of posts on his own X account, including several expressing his gratitude to members of the team he worked with.

Most notably, the team found the rare Rafflesia hasseltii flower, with Thorogood writing on X: “Few people have ever seen this flower, and we watched it open by night. Magic.” Botanist Septian Andriki described to the BBC how, after “13 years of waiting”, the team “had to travel 20 hours on land” and climb and descend a mountain to reach the flower.

The post received significant backlash for not adequately crediting the team of Indonesian researchers who worked alongside Thorogood. The top comment, which has received 47,000 likes, reads: “WRITE THE NAME OF THE INDONESIAN RESEARCHERS, COLONIZERS.” The controversy also prompted widespread debate online about Oxford’s broader role internationally, including an opinion piece in the Jakarta Post, Indonesia’s largest English-language newspaper, which critisised the role of Western researchers in general.

The flower, known locally as tiger-faced mushroom, or cendawan muka rimau in Malay, is only found in a few locations in Kerinci Seblat National Park in Indonesia, as well as parts of Peninsular Malaysia. Local tribes such as the Orang Asli use the flower for medicinal purposes, and a 2009 study indicated that it has shown potential in accelerating wound healing in rats.

The University told Cherwell: “The University of Oxford is delighted to be working in collaboration with colleagues from BRIN Indonesia (Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional), including Joko Witono (BRIN), the University of Bengkulu (Universitas Bengkulu), including Agus Susatya (Bengkulu University), as well as local community groups, to document and conserve Rafflesia in Indonesia. These partnerships have been ongoing since 2022, a key aim being capacity building, and supporting local conservation heroes. Visiting the site of Rafflesia hasseltii was carried out in this context, and we are very grateful to Septian (Deki) Andriki who joined Chris Thorogood in the field, and their local guide, Iswandi.”The University has since posted on Instagram detailing the team Thorogood worked with, thanking, among others, ‘local conservation hero’ Septian (Deki) Andriki.

Mansfield College unveils plans for major redevelopment

Amaan Yasser Effendi
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Mansfield College unveils plans for major redevelopment

Mansfield College has submitted plans for an extensive redevelopment of the College that would create 174 additional student bedrooms, as well as new teaching facilities. Mansfield described its estate transformation project as its “most significant investment” in decades. 

The project aims to replace the buildings in the College’s South Range with a single, unified building. This new building would complete the College’s Main Quad , in addition to forming two new quads, theSouth and West Quads. 

As well as facilitating additional student accommodation, the newly proposed building would reimagine the existing point of arrival into the College. It would include a new Porter’s Lodge, shared student kitchens, as well as new Junior and Middle Common Rooms. 

The College also plans to construct a new two-story Mews Building, located on its northern side, which would contain catering ancillary facilities. This plan would see the addition of  150 double-stacked bike stands,and a new passenger lift extension to help improve accessibility.

A spokesperson for the College told Cherwell: “Mansfield is a beautiful and inspiring place to study, work and visit, but we have long since outgrown our current space. To ensure we can continue to lead the way on widening participation at Oxford, we need more high-quality student accommodation on site, with improved accessibility, digital connectivity, and increased communal and kitchen facilities.”

The new buildings will involve low-carbon designs, with the ambition of helping Mansfield fulfill its sustainability targets. Heat pumps and photovoltaics (the technology converting light into electricity) have been included to ensure a low-energy system. This is estimated to result in a 42% carbon reduction, exceeding Mansfield’s current target of 40%. The plan also aims to increase the College’s biodiversity by at least 10%.

Mansfield Principal Helen Mountfield, KC, said: “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure Mansfield’s future for generations to come…By increasing on-site student accommodation, improving our green spaces and honouring the College’s heritage, this development helps both our community and the wider city to thrive.”

The project’s architects noted that the proposed design aims to complement the buildings on the College’s northern side, designed by  19th-century architect Basil Champneys. Edmund Fowles, the lead architect on the project, said: “We want the character of the new buildings to be ‘quietly radical’, speaking of the College’s present ambitions of diversity, openness, optimism, and social justice.”

Oxford City Council’s decision on whether to approve planning permission is expected to arrive in spring 2026. Prior to  this, the application will be open for public consultation. If it receives approval, the College plans to begin construction in autumn 2026 and expects the project to be completed before the start of the 2029/30 academic year.

Graceful and self-assured: Circle Mirror Transformation reviewed

Lara Machado
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Graceful and self-assured: Circle Mirror Transformation reviewed

Boulevard Productions’ Circle Mirror Transformation is a faithful and competent take on Annie Baker’s 2009 tragicomedy. 

The play follows a group of people of different ages taking a beginners’ drama class at their local community centre. The class is taught by Marty (Hope Healy) who over six weeks leads the group through a series of drama games. Her students are her husband James (Andrew Spielmann), Schultz (Alec Greene), a recently divorced carpenter, Theresa (Alex Coupland), a failed actress and aspiring masseuse who has just moved to Vermont from New York and Lauren (Evangeline LaFond), a painfully self-conscious sixteen year old. As the group grows closer, their lives become entangled in complicated ways.

The nature of the play is fragmentary. We see a series of discontinuous drama exercises performed across six weeks. Each exercise is separated by a small blackout. Whenever the week changes, there is a longer blackout and the cast leaves the stage. A sign signals which week we are on. During the blackout, Tarund Mohanthas treats us to some live music on the electric guitar. Although Mohanthas is obviously a talented musician and the music is pleasant, it seems to serve little purpose other than ensuring that the audience has something to distract them during the long blackouts which are unfortunately still rather awkward. 

The acting is by far the most impressive aspect of the production, with great performances by the entire cast, who are individually talented but most importantly very aware of and responsive to each other’s performances. Especially for an opening night, they were remarkably graceful and self-assured.

Healy in the role of Marty is a standout. She is completely believable as an older woman and her wide, patronising smiles and motherly gestures are the source of much of the show’s humour. However, Healy is clearly a great dramatic actress too. She perfectly conveys the tension between trying to tease out the group’s vulnerabilities and being emotionally neglected herself. She has a very expressive face, which, as the play unfolds, becomes increasingly torn. Spielmann joins her in an equally subtle performance. There is a great gentleness in his approach to James’ somewhat elusive character which makes him hard not to feel for.  

Greene has a particularly difficult task with the character of Schultz, who is often the butt of the joke and as his budding relationship with Theresa goes awry could be played unpleasantly. In Greene’s hands, however, Schultz is always sympathetic. He was clearly an audience favourite, eliciting many laughs. Schultz’s infatuation with Theresa is also entirely convincing: Greene’s puppy-like adoration of his classmate is both funny and endearing. Alex Coupland’s Theresa is very charming and great at depicting emotional conflict. 

All the cast are skilled at background acting, they are always reacting to each other which makes them a pleasure to watch. LaFond is particularly good at making us feel her age and discomfort in what is a very physical performance. It was easy to get distracted watching her reactions. She carries the play’s ending with grace and subtlety. 

It must be said that this is not a script that strongly speaks to me. In many ways the characters  – although some more than others – remain frustratingly stereotypical and multiple of its lines feel like misguided attempts at profundity, so it really is a testament to the actors’ skill that I was kept engaged with material until the end. 

Loris Avery’s set is simple but very effective. The Pilch is papered over for the second time this term, now with faux wood panelling. A mirror covers the back wall of the Pilch and a yoga ball lies in one corner. It perfectly evokes the space without getting in the way of the intimacy which Charlie Lewis, the director, seems to be aiming for. 

The lighting by George Gibb, who is also responsible for the sound design, is similarly effective in its simplicity. The sound is less successful. At the end of the play, it is supposed to evoke a busy street and mark the transition between a drama exercise and reality, but the sound is far too quiet and indistinct and it is hard to understand what is going on. 

At certain moments it felt like the text needed to be interpreted more strongly. When Marty sets up the game of secrets is she innocently introducing a new drama game or does she hope her husband will reveal himself? Similarly, it would have been good to set up with James’ attraction to Theresa that seems to appear out of nowhere. 

Lewis and his team have put together a strong production which is certainly worth your time. As a faithful interpretation of Annie Baker’s play, little can be said against it. 

You can watch Circle Mirror Transformation at the Michael Pilch Studio 1st-4th December at 7.30pm

‘We’re all mad here’: Alice in Won-DRE-Land at Tingewick 2025

Peter Chen
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‘We’re all mad here’: Alice in Won-DRE-Land at Tingewick 2025

When I wandered into Tingewick Hall on a cold, dark evening in seventh week, I was utterly unprepared for the madness that awaited me over the next three and a half hours. By the time I walked out of the John Radcliffe I had – both literally and figuratively – been transformed: armed with more insider hospital jokes and medical puns than I ever thought possible, and faced with the frankly impossible task of reviewing a pantomime whose absurdity could justify its own book. Still, I will impose upon myself the sentence of trying to do justice to a production that stands in a league of its own, and hope that the verdict you pass will spare my head.

Tingewick has deep roots in Oxford’s medical scene. The hospital Christmas pantomime dates back to the days of the Radcliffe Infirmary – now the site of the Schwarzman Centre – more than two centuries ago. It was in 1940 that the medical students first took charge, with earlier productions led mainly by nurses. The name Tingewick, originally styled “Tynchwycke”, commemorates Nicholas Tynchwycke, the first teacher of medicine in Oxford, and physician to Edward I in the 14th century. Today, each cohort of fourth-year medics takes to the stage under the direction of a select group of fifth years – the “Tingewick Firm”. The society’s status is written into the fabric of the John Radcliffe Hospital itself, which boasts a large hall and foyer bearing the Tingewick name.

This year’s panto, Alice in Won-DRE-Land, is directed by Poppy Stafford-Dorlandt and produced by Anthony Vakis, with Wesley Donaldson as Treasurer. The title gives the game away early: yes, DRE stands for Digital Rectal Examination, the first of many, many medical gags. We follow Alice (Saskia Haines Francis) as she journeys through the body of Mr John Radcliffe (David Akanji), stricken by a mysterious illness, in search of six bodily “stones” that will allow Cathanos (Alice Wyles) to restore him to health. Along the way she encounters the Fluperheroes (Finn Galway as Clerk Stent/SuperVTMan, among others), assorted strange creatures, and the imperious Queen of Hearts (Anastasis Avraam) and her cronies.

Plot is not the production’s strongest suit. The story sprawls across eight (nine?) scenes, two acts, twelve musical numbers, and an unrelenting barrage of digs at tutors and consultants. But what it lacks in narrative tightness, it compensates for in sheer invention. The writing team – Faisa Ali, Natalia Nieora, and Lexie Pert, led by head writer Emily Semahegñe – have clearly thrown everything they have at this script. For those not steeped in clinical life, a good portion of the humour inevitably goes over the head: much of the clinical in-jokery was certainly lost on me. Judging from the constant, loud, and sustained laughter around me, however, it landed squarely with the target audience, who received a very healthy dose of medicinal comedy.

Musically, the show is remarkably strong. A standout sequence is a reworked ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, staged while Alice is trapped in the brain and ambushed by animals escaped from testing. It combines some of the evening’s best vocals with sharply drilled choreography by Julia Louw and Kirsten Parsons, underpinned by live music directed by Shawn Lau. The band is a consistent highlight, managing to keep pace with frequent lyric changes and abrupt mood shifts, and special mention is due to cellist Emily Paterson, who navigated some technically demanding terrain with ease.

The overall vocal standard is impressively high for a student panto. Solos by Avraam, Haines Francis, and Ella Emery-Peters are particularly notable, and the ensemble numbers are generally clear, coherent, and rhythmically tight, despite the density of the rewritten lyrics. A show that relies so heavily on contrived lines and internal references could easily have descended into chaos; instead, the cast largely maintain control and clarity, even in the more frenetic set-pieces.

Visually, Alice in Won-DRE-Land is a feast. Under the leadership of Adithya Nair, set and costume design deliver an endless parade of inventive props and visual jokes, many of which reward close attention. The world inside Mr Radcliffe’s body is rendered with a gleeful disregard for anatomical realism but a keen eye for stagecraft. A particularly titillating and much anticipated dance number – led by Joy Sidhom, Cem Muminglu, and Jonas Krusic – more than lives up to the hype, drawing one of the loudest reactions of the night.

With a cast list as long as a hospital on-call rota, it is impossible to acknowledge everyone by name; among those who particularly stand out, whether for comic timing, vocal strength or sheer commitment to the bit include: Manon Roberts, Samuel Thompson, Luke Boulton, Josh Jankiewicz, Thomas Bowyer, Milind Khashu, Samuel Santhouse, Sophia Clyde, Daniel Cox, Aria Appoo, Ashley MaLauchlan, Matthew Brown, and Jack Grivvell.

It would be remiss not to emphasise that all this effort serves a purpose beyond entertainment. Tingewick 2025 is raising money for Oxford Hospitals Charity (which supports innovative research and some of the most vulnerable patients in the community) and Asylum Welcome (which helps refugees and asylum seekers across Oxfordshire lead dignified lives). It is hard to begrudge an over-long joke or an obscure reference when the result is a substantial contribution to organisations doing vital work.

In the end, Alice in Won-DRE-Land is exactly what a great student panto should be: chaotic, occasionally overstuffed, and self-indulgent, but driven by a disarming mix of talent, goodwill, and sheer graft. I entered Tingewick Hall unprepared for the rabbit hole; I left with my sides aching, my medical vocabulary expanded, and a renewed respect for what a group of exhausted fourth and fifth-year medics can achieve when let loose on a stage. We may all be mad here, but sometimes madness is the best medicine.

Distance does make the heart grow fonder

Poppy Littler-Jennings
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Distance does make the heart grow fonder

Being a student at Oxford certainly comes with its challenges – something that, as Oxford students, we love to lament. The workload is intense, the nightlife limited, and the caffeine dependence debilitating. But whilst the University is not without its faults, since embarking on my year abroad, I’ve come to realise just how much there is to love about it. With this in mind, I think we could all use a reminder of the charm that lies at the heart of our wonderfully unique student experience. 

I’m currently about three months into my semester studying at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Paris, and whilst it is just as wonderful and surreal as you would imagine, I feel as if my academic muscles are beginning to atrophy. Without the weekly essays and the accountability that comes with tutorials – all of us with horror stories of turning up to tutes woefully unprepared will understand – I’m not doing anywhere near as much work as I would in an Oxford term. On one hand, I’m relishing the chance to step off of the academic conveyor belt for a bit, breathe, and enjoy all of the opportunities that living abroad as a student boasts (at this point I remember my tutor’s comparison of termtime to a lorry going down a mountain at full speed without any breaks).

But equally, there’s a part of me that misses the productivity and the fast-paced nature of a normal Michaelmas. Maybe this is the result of a kind of Stockholm Syndrome but, regardless, I’ve been reminded of why I chose Oxford in the first place. The opportunity to study my passion under the tutelage of leading experts is not something to be overlooked. At the ENS, my experience as an international student has been very different. Cours or classes are more like lectures, with little discussion or interaction, and the only assignments to validate modules are due at the end of the semester. This, whilst a welcome break at first, is definitely less effective at cementing my understanding of new topics and less engaging than the tutorial system.   

Beyond the scope of the purely academic side of Oxford, there is so much more that I’ve come to miss – the little idiosyncratic oddities that make Oxford what it is. Formal dinners as a regular indulgence; heavily subsidised college bars never more than a stone’s throw away; gazing in awe at the dome of the Rad Cam every time I stumble across it… All of this is part of a microcosm of quirks and traditions that we might occasionally roll our eyes at but ultimately is close to all of our hearts. I know it’s embarrassing when you catch yourself using Oxford-specific vernacular with friends from home (“What the f*** is a bop?” – a dear friend of mine) but it wouldn’t be our university without it. With this in mind, I would venture to argue that the romanticisation we tend to deride so-called Oxford influencers for is not necessarily the crime we purport it to be. Why are we so intent on denying that (true to its Harry Potter connotations) Oxford can feel magical? Whilst I don’t deny that the intensity can of course be damaging, and too much pressure can erode the novelty of gorgeous libraries and eating in resplendent halls, I think we can also become desensitised to our University’s beauty too quickly. 

Even the allure of Oxford itself springs to mind, which might seem odd considering I’m currently living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But the small-but-mighty Oxford holds its own against the boulevards of Haussmannian buildings and views of the Eiffel Tower peeking around street corners. The way that the University is intrinsically intertwined with the city grants its students a special relationship with every nook and cranny of the place, allowing it to truly feel like home. So whilst running into an ex-situationship in the Tesco’s on Magdalen Street is a nightmarish reality, there is also something comforting about the snug muddle of colleges, libraries, and faculty buildings that makes up Oxford.  

As I’m typing now, I cast my mind back to that day in Year 13 when I received my offer and was, predictably, overcome with disbelief and euphoria. I would urge fellow students to do the same – remember that attending Oxford is both a huge achievement and a colossal privilege. Amidst the essay crises and the weight of your sub fusc, remember to look up every now and then to appreciate where you are (unless you’re in the glink). 

The Gee’s knees: Brunch in North Oxford

Beatrix Arnold
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The Gee’s knees: Brunch in North Oxford

Good things often come in threes. Having reviewed both Parsonage Grill and Quod, it was only right that we complete the trilogy with their North Oxford sister restaurant, Gee’s. 

On a crisp November morning, after a short walk up Banbury Road, we were welcomed into the warmth of the restaurant’s iconic conservatory dining room. The neighbourhood certainly set the tone: spacious 19th century townhouses lined with trees stretched down the road, the kind that most of us could never dream of affording in our lifetimes. The dining room was gorgeous, brightly-lit by the sunshine pouring in through the glass roof. The service was extremely attentive, and always friendly, contributing to a relaxed and accommodating atmosphere. 

For me, brunch at Oxford has never escaped the confines of the college, and so I welcomed the chance to try a mid-morning meal that didn’t involve undercooked hashbrowns at Christ Church, or watery mushrooms at Somerville. Thankfully, Gee’s provided an altogether different culinary experience. 

We began by ordering coffee, which, with a rich flavour profile, was clearly of a very high quality. Faced with an eclectic menu, we chose several dishes to share. The eggs benedict were perfectly cooked, with a rich yolk that spilled over the dish when broken into. The citrus notes in the sauce, combined with the freshness of the chives, really elevated the dish. 

The highlight, for me, was the smashed avocado and burrata on toast. The creamy burrata and the chewy sourdough transformed the dish from the typically millennial photo opportunity into a truly decadent brunch option, complemented perfectly by a generous drizzle of olive oil. We also opted for a pain au chocolat, a pastry which, in the UK, can so often be disappointing. Yet the beautifully flaky pastry, combined with the rich filling, would have exceeded the standards of even the most pretentious French patisserie connoisseur. We also ordered the pan con tomate; the juicy tomato mixture, enhanced by olive oil, provided the ideal texture to accompany the sourdough toast. Ordering a cocktail at 11am on a weekday felt a little indecent, but the bellini was a delicious balance of sweet peach and dry prosecco, exalting the entire meal to heights that the college brunch could only dream of.

As with its sister establishments, Gee’s is definitively an occasional restaurant. The other diners included a disproportionate number of people in black tie, the kind of place people with wealthy parents and substantive allowances might stop by before a graduation ceremony. But in a gorgeous setting, with an appealing menu, a cocktail in hand, and amazing company, Gee’s was the perfect place to spend a long, leisurely morning as I congratulated myself on my excellent life choices.

What we ate: Pain au chocolat £3.95; Pan con tomate £9.50; Eggs Benedict £11.95; Burrata & smashed avocado on sourdough toast £12.95; Bellini £10.95; Americano £4.25

The luxury of political ignorance

Morien Robertson
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The luxury of political ignorance

PPE at Oxford is often seen as a one-way track to ending up in the House of Commons (usually on the wrong side of the house). Introduce yourself to anyone as a PPE-ist and you’ll inevitably receive the displeased sighs or disgusted face befitting the discovery of a bit of chewing gum on the bottom of a shoe. This is understandable, of course: many politicians do take PPE at Oxford and go on to make a mess of the country they were ostensibly taught how to govern. So perhaps this article is just a futile effort to avoid the unfortunate association of my degree.

However, believe it or not – and certainly don’t inform my politics tutor (sorry Federico) – over the last year or so I’ve found it impossible to engage with political news, especially British party politics. Whilst in Sixth Form I was one of those (super cool) people constantly refreshing Twitter to find out the latest fiscal announcement or policy U-turn, ironically enough, being in Oxford has slowly but surely reduced this desire to the point where I have to make an active effort to keep on top of what’s going on in the world. Recently I opened the Financial Times and was genuinely baffled by an editorial reading “Labour has shredded its claim to competence” – having missed all mention of the budget, an event which looms large in the calendars of political aficionados (and those who wish they were).

Perhaps this is simply because you naturally get sick of the subject you’re constantly studying – just look at the mockery English students face when they complain about having to read novels all day. No matter how much you might think you like something, subjecting it to endless academic scrutiny is a surefire way to prove yourself wrong. Yet this isn’t the case for me. Contrary to the beliefs of all those politicians-in-waiting, the academic politics course in Oxford is very far from lessons in governance; even less so is it training to be a backbencher (apart from induction into not having much real thinking to do). And the kinds of quantitative analysis and theory-testing that we do is, in fact, very enjoyable for me – precisely because it is so different from what you get in a current affairs programme. 

The real explanation, I think, as to why getting through a news article feels like an ever more insuperable task, lies in a dangerous conjunction of four facts: (1) there’s not (that) much you can do to change things significantly; (2) many of us are fairly isolated from its fluctuations, or can at least pretend that we are; (3) politics is very boring; (4) Oxford is pretty interesting. I don’t intend to debate the first here: whilst lowering the voting age to 16 is a good step in giving younger people more of a voice, the overall nature of representative democracy means that individuals’ impacts are inherently minimal, so it takes some kind of aggregating movement to have a discernible effect on the composition of government. I hope for your sake, dear reader, that (4) is true – whether that’s because you have back-to-back nights out or because you get to have tutorials with academics you love, it seems fair to suggest that student life in Oxford is, on the whole, pretty damn good. With a huge range of events, societies, work, and interesting people, the usual problem is having too much, rather than not enough, to do.

If you are deeply exposed to the vicissitudes of short-term policy decisions, then naturally politics will be of some interest to you – even if not out of choice. And this is true for lots of students. Many people simply cannot afford (quite literally) not to pay attention to politics. Even if you aren’t allowed to work during term time, when the vacation rolls around again, you suddenly realise that someone has to pay for all those formals – and not everyone can pull out daddy’s chequebook. But still, if you aren’t dependent on the government for some kind of benefit, seeking refuge, or any number of other cases, it’s (all too) easy to pretend as though Westminster is far away. (Tuition fees? No such thing.) 

If that’s not convincing – which it really shouldn’t be – then consider (3). Oxford’s own politics tutor Matt Williams is fond of describing politics as “Love Island with nukes”. This can be taken in two ways: if you love soaps and have little else going on in your life, then perhaps this high-stakes production will be just the opiate you need. Alternatively, if you wouldn’t watch Love Island even if held at gunpoint, it sounds like just another reason to clock out. With so much else going on, who in their right minds wants to follow a cabinet re-shuffle? That’s not helped, of course, by some of the least charismatic politicians ever to grace Parliament’s seats. (Say what you like about him, Tony Blair’s PMQs are some of the finest lessons in British debating you could ask for. His successors? Not so much.) When you stop to think about it, it’s almost amazing that so many people read about politics so frenetically. If you aren’t sure, I can recommend a hundred more enjoyable or interesting things to look at (Try Cherwell’s Lifestyle section). 

To all of this you may well say: it might be just lovely for you to frolic around, blissfully unaware, in your ivory tower. But you have a duty to be informed, to participate in social and political affairs. In the past, I myself was one of those moralising evangelists for being an ‘active citizen’ – it was being informed or the guillotine. But Tim Harford, a staple of the centrist dads, makes a fair enough point: why? There’s certainly a level of knowledge and attention which you should pay to the goings-on in the world – these things do matter. You should vote and have opinions on who runs the country – god knows other people will if you don’t. But after a certain point, the marginal gains of another news story or six drop off rapidly. Who does it help? It might feel like doom-scrolling The Guardian is a necessary response, forced upon you by the wrongs of ‘the system’. But if you’re not organising a movement, attending a protest, door-knocking, or voting (none of which I intend to diminish in the least here), then why bother? At a certain point, following politics just doesn’t help. 

And whilst I wouldn’t want to suggest that my life in Oxford is making the country, let alone the world, directly better off, it’s too quick to just dismiss it. At the least, study gives you critical and (if you’re lucky) practical skills, and I think much more besides. After all, it is a luxury to be able to do this – to turn off the news and read a book, chat with others, and explore an ancient city. So make the most of it. You’ll have the rest of your life to follow Labour’s “shredded claim to competence”.

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