Friday 1st May 2026
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New College to host new Institute of Charity

Rachel Cordery
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New College to host new Institute of Charity

New College this week announced the foundation of the Oxford Institute of Charity (OIC). The culmination of almost three years of discussion and planning, the OIC is a collaborative initiative between the college and Charity Futures, a charity sector think tank.

The Institute is set to open its doors in the summer of 2022 in a purpose-built home on a newly developed part of the college site. Work at the OIC begins next month with the development of a strategic fundraising plan. Before its launch, the Institute aims to secure a £30 million endowment that will provide a sustainable annual income.

The Institute was established to “promote the importance of research and study of study, both at post-graduate and undergraduate level, in universities more generally”, “deliver high calibre academic research to be used by the global community”, and to “develop networks and foster international links”.

Its additional objectives include the digitisation of charity records to further wider research, and the organisation of conferences and summer schools for leading academics, philanthropists, corporate donors, and leaders of civil society from around the world.

Research conducted will take an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on a broad range of academic knowledge and skills. The research will look at issues such as the history of charity, the relationship between charity and politics, and the ethics of charitable governance.

The Director of Charity Futures, Sir Stephen Bubb, will assume the interim role of Acting Director. He will be tasked with commissioning the fundraising strategy, raising awareness of OIC in academic circles and in charities, and working collaboratively with the college to identify and appoint the first Academic Director.

Bubb said: “When there are so many divisions in society, civil society is needed more than ever. And when charities themselves face challenges, research and study of charity is particularly timely.

“The participation of New College in this collaboration is very significant for us. Charity Futures was established to look at the long-term future health of the charitable sector in the UK,” he added.

“My role is to give the Institute a solid foundation from which it can thrive and prosper long into the future. In practical terms this means establishing a firm financial base and securing an inspirational academic leader.”

The Warden of New College, Miles Young, said: “Charity’s important role in our society is often undervalued, and I believe that one cause of that is that it is surprisingly little studied in Universities […] New College was founded as a charitable enterprise by William of Wykeham as far back as 1379, so this does seem an appropriate place to help remedy the academic neglect of the subject.”

Despite its new base in Oxford, the Institute also aims to promote their project in universities throughout the country, as highlighted by Bubb: “although the Oxford Institute of Charity, based at New College will be a research centre we hope that we will also look at the potential for study and teaching, in conjunction with other universities.”

Mr Young told Cherwell that the Institute is “designed to fill a gaping hole”.

The new direction in research is due to a serious lack of academic research into the subject. With most academic effort focused on “the study of giving”, the resulting model of charity remains “poorly explained, with implications for issues ranging from the governance of charity (often poor) to the perceptions of charity (generally weak).” By furthering academic research into relatively unexplored areas, the Institute aims to “promote better, more sustainable, and effective performance of charity in the world.”

More than Pixels

Benjamin Crowther
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More than Pixels

At the National Gallery in London, a visitor is shocked at how Monet’s Water-Lilies look nothing like the internet images. She takes in the intricate brushstrokes, the bright colours and the sheer scale of the painting. Although a barrier prevents her from touching it, the painting has become an immersive experience. It is the surface of a pond, with groups of lilies highlighted against the shadows of trees in a rich harmony of green, blue and pink. As Monet intended, his work “produces the effect of an endless whole, of a watery surface with no horizon and no shore”. The visitor remembers how flat and dull the painting looked on the iPad in an art class. She’d copied the painting, guessing at brushstrokes from pixels. There had been no emotional connection, until she saw Water Lilies in front of her.

While the internet has provided a global platform for art, it has led to an emotional distance between the audience and the artwork. To change the material to bits and bytes, and the scale to the size of a phone screen, is to change the way artwork is experienced.

Walter Benjamin argued that the invention of the camera reconfigured the networks of the visual world. The camera’s “mechanical eye” rendered the authentic original simply a jigsaw piece in a wider puzzle. Images became omnipresent, in albums and art books, even though the original can only ever be in one place. Furthermore, a photographer imposes her own vision onto the artwork. She chooses the angle from which art is captured. Her focus and lighting choices may exaggerate features that the original artist merely hinted at. Texture is plastered onto a two-dimensional medium, and the immersive experience fades away. In a Google search on “Monet’s Water-Liles, National Gallery”, there are varying reproductions in varying colours, lit by varying light sources, with varying sections cropped. The painting appears over-and-over again across the internet, and each time it challenges the authentic strength of the original work hanging in the National Gallery. To view Monet’s Water-Lilies online or in an artbook is to understand only a fragment of the painting.

This is not to say technology has destroyed our enjoyment of art. Social media has allowed art to gain a global platform, and to be accessible to everyone. Sharing images through websites, blogs and social media has enabled the artist and the public to have a direct relationship with one another. Indeed, by 2015, a survey found that 87% of collectors checked Instagram more than twice a day. It must be recognised that the internet world allows a vast audience to connect and respond to artwork.

While there was a fear that viewing art online might lead to the demise of the museum, museum and gallery attendance has instead increased since the digital revolution. The availability of information about museum exhibitions drives people to see the actual original. The social media effect goes both ways: a more modern audience has forced museums to modify their tradition methods of collection and exhibition. Often, they have introduced interactive displays to attract an Instagram crowd. For example, the I was Raised on the Internet exhibition in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago focuses on how the advent of the internet has changed the way we experience the world. A hundred interactive artworks from 1998 to present, spanning photography, painting, sculpture, film and video, invite viewers to become active participants. Social media is challenging the parameters of what defines a museum. For instance, the ‘Museum of Ice Cream’ exhibits brightly-coloured, candy-themed objects to provide backdrops for selfies. The digital and traditional worlds of art no longer exist in separate spheres.

Despite this, the internet still distinct from a museum. Instead, it is a worldwide warehouse. A warehouse does not organise to exhibit, it simply categorises for storage. The curator becomes the user. The internet categorises and structures the images surrounding a particular artwork according to popular searches and individual search results. Therefore, viewing images online creates a false sense of order, constructed by a network of algorithms.

To view Monet’s Water-Lilies on a laptop in your lounge is a vastly different experience from viewing Monet’s Water-Lilies in the National Gallery. Vision is based largely on experience and surroundings. Ultimately, aura of the original stands firm against the unforgiving assault of the online facsimile. To see a painting in real life remains a unique experience.

Government review calls for tuition fees to be cut to £7,500

Simon Hunt
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Government review calls for tuition fees to be cut to £7,500

A review into further education has called for a reduction in tuition fees and interest rates, to be combined with a lengthening of the loans payback window beyond 30 years.

The review calls upon the government to reduce the annual university tuition fee from £9,250 to £7,500, as well as to reduce the level interest rate on student loans from 6.3% to 1.5%.

The Augar review, which is being led by banker and visiting fellow at Cranfield School of Managment Philip Augar, has made 40 recommendations to government, including the return of means tested grants, more support for part-time students and the lengthening of the loans payback window beyond 30 years.

The review was commissioned following a speech by Theresa May in February 2018, where she announced “a wide-ranging review into post-18 education.” The review considers the nature and extent to which students over 18 are expected to fund their education, including the “level, terms and duration of their contribution.”

The review follows criticism of the current student loans system. According to research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, it is projected that only 17% of students will be able to pay off their student loans in full before they are written off, meaning that 83% of students will not pay their loans off in full. This is significantly greater than the government projections of 30% when the new loans system was introduced in 2011.

Founder of Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has said that the current loans repayment system, which allows for students to pay off their loans early, is “just flushing money down the loo.

“For those on lower earnings, overpaying some of your loan is often futile as it won’t alter what you repay in future.”

Analysis released Education Secretary Damien Hinds shows that in 1 in 10 university courses, 3 in 4 students earn less than £25,000 five years after graduation. Hinds commented that the data show that some universities are “more focused on getting ‘bums on seats’ than getting students into courses worth paying for.”

Oxford University has been contacted for comment.

Shakespeare Done to Death?

Catty Tucker
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Shakespeare Done to Death?

“Re-invention is important because the only certain thing is change – so the only thing to worry about is how you manage it, because it happens whether you want it or not.” – Emma Rice

Throughout school, English classrooms were filled with the usual complaints and droning questions about why we were studying Shakespeare; why we couldn’t just pick something new and interesting, why we were choosing a different play by the same writer each year that was ‘outdated, overly formal and dry’ and/or ‘crusty and old,’ depending on who you asked. It seems that a debate not too far from this one (granted, for the most part, being had in marginally more intellectual terms) is happening today regarding what we put on our stages, with Shakespeare coming under as heavy fire as ever.

A new version of the USA’s ‘Canon Wars’ of the 1980s is beginning to be played out by critics and audience members, directors and actors alike, as we question whether it is ridiculous to continue with our current obsession with the same household playwright names and keep re-venting them. Are classics like Shakespeare being done to death? Are we being lazy, re-hashing old plays because we’re not coming up with new writing? The answer is a hesitant no – but there’s good reason for the confidence of the answer being vague, somewhere between a Labour spokesman answering about the party’s stance on Brexit, and a Len Goodman “Seven!”

The hesitancy of my ‘no’ comes from the fact that it seems obvious to me that the issues really at stake here are twofold. The first is a ( justified) dissatisfaction with the stale economising of some mainstream theatres (the Globe, anyone?), where Artistic Directors seem to be performing the exact opposite of innovation.

Relying on well-known names and well-established writing to keep their profits coming, they love nothing more than a purist rendition of a classic, and are doing nothing to ‘re-invent’ or re-contextualise it for modern audiences. This leads to boring theatre at best, and at worst, a lack of representation.

What is staged again and again because of issues of economic gain, and a snobbery that manifests itself in contempt for any kind of new approach to an old text, can be highly problematic – when you prioritise the staging of 17th century plays and do not make an active effort to cast radically gender and colour blind, the pool of who we see on stage suddenly becomes very narrow, very white and very male. And that’s not even touching on the actual content of the plays.

On the other hand, social statements can be made through the re-envisioning of a classic story with contemporary recognition of diversity – what could make more of a political statement in the theatre world of America, in its current climate, than a rap musical, featuring a cast almost entirely of people of colour, that depicts the founding fathers? Perhaps this is one of the pillars of Hamilton’s success.

The second issue to be confronted is a real frustration at the restrictive nature of our focus on classics. This potentially blocks innovative writing, created by new voices who are more than worthy of a platform, from taking centre-stage (excuse the terrible pun, it was genuinely accidental). If we continue to glorify classic works, are we stunting the production of contemporary theatre?

The reality is that of course there is no shortage of new writing – at theatre festivals and fringe locations it is prevalent and held up on a pedestal – it is a testament to the spirit of innovation of the festival that means the most recognised award is that for ‘Best Newcomer’ at Edinburgh. Yet somehow, in large-scale theatres there is a love for re-doing classics again and again – pantos, Shakespeare, fairytales in children’s theatre. For me there in no problem with doing this – these titles are classics for a reason: they can reliably entertain audiences and make a profit.

In fact, an attendee of the Brighton conference ‘Starting a Performing Arts Company: the Business Basics’ just last weekend (hosted by The Independent Theatre Council on the 18th of May) discussed the necessity of putting on recognised titles, claiming that for every piece of new writing a theatre commissioned, a known play had to be put on by the theatre to balance profits because new writing categorically makes a loss from its first performance.

The problem comes when we refuse to take new approaches to old works, causing performances to become predictable and stale. Often, this comes as a result of certain theatrical purists wielding the critical knife and threatening innovative productions with harsh reviews or, in extreme cases, a bold Artistic Director losing their job.

This snobbery and purism is exemplified in the scandal which accompanies Emma Rice, the former Artistic Director of the Globe, being sacked just two seasons after she was appointed, when the board who gave her the position had what boiled down to a vote of no confidence – and all because of her ‘controversial’ use of light and sound.

From her first production, what has been deemed a ‘Disco-themed’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Globe, Rice caused a stir, bringing in a mixture of glowing and cutting reviews. There were plenty of rave reviews, increased audience numbers, and praise for the new life and classic ‘Globe spirit’ of audience and actor closeness that Rice breathed into her productions. Her production of Twelfth Night was unquestionably the best version of a Shakespearean classic, and perhaps the best piece of theatre, I have ever seen. This featured a drag queen singing live as Feste and an opening consisting of the chorus signing ‘Celebrate’; hardly a conventional take.

Yet there was also damning criticism. Richard Morrison, reviewing Rice in the Times, wrote that she was “wrecking” the Globe with productions of “perversity, incongruity and disrespect”. This harsh review appears to be more a statement of Morrison’s own taste in doing Shakespeare just as he imagines it was done hundreds of years ago, preserving the ‘authenticity’ of the classics, than a personal indictment of Rice’s skills as Artistic Director, however brutal the opinion may seem.

This illustrates clearly the bigger problem faced in theatre production: it is not that new writing is not being commissioned, or that innovative and artistic approaches to classic plays are not being concocted all the time (they certainly are, and they are numerous and brilliant); rather, it is the stubborn attachment of Shakespearian purists and antiquated reviewers, afraid to see their beloved classics presented in a new way, that is stunting the creativity of production, and causing plays to be done to death.

Having said that, and having criticised the Globe for its own disappointing recent decisions, the new Artistic Director, Michelle Terry, is finding success bringing her own kind of innovation and modernity to its stage, as she stars in the eponymous production as Hamlet him(her!)self.

As for Rice, she retains many loyal fans, who remain confused at her dismissal from the Globe to this day (among them, Susannah Clapp, The Observer’s theatre critic, who consistently praised her inventive approach). Nevertheless, in a ‘happy ending’, she is finding success as the Artistic Director of her new company, Wise Children.

Harris Manchester sweep the floor in Floorball Cuppers

Lucas Buzalgo
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Harris Manchester sweep the floor in Floorball Cuppers

On Sunday afternoon, the annual Floorball Cuppers tournament took place at the Iffley Road Sports Centre. Although it is a fairly unknown sport in the UK, floorball is a popular sport in Northern and Central Europe, particularly in Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. The sport is a form of indoor hockey quite similar to ice hockey or field hockey; it is a fast paced game played with a curved stick and a hollow ball.

Since teams were limited to a maximum of two first-team players, most players picked up a floorball stick for the first time in their lives on Sunday afternoon. Zachary Lim, captain of the Catz team, was overjoyed by the large number of new players. Speaking to Cherwell he said, “Floorball Cuppers was a thrilling experience! Seeing so many new faces pick up a floorball stick for the first time and enjoying the sport was such a delight!”

Beginners found it surprisingly easy to pick up the basics of floorball, but most found it difficult to learn the skills that can only be gained through experience, such as positioning and stick handling. Saad Rana, a relatively inexperienced Keble player, recognised the importance of off-ball movement. “Being a striker is more about what you do when you don’t have the ball. Applying high pressure up the field to force a mistake from the opponent is an incredibly important but difficult skill to master. Moreover, you need to be willing to go wide and set up a goal for your teammates. This tournament was a great way to put my skills against some of the best defenders in the university and learn some new things along the way,” he told Cherwell.

Six teams from several colleges entered the tournament, including last year’s winners, Green Templeton College. Coming in as favourites to win the tournament for a second consecutive year, there was a lot of pressure on them to perform well. However, a poor defensive record and a lack of preparation saw the Green Templeton team get eliminated in the group stage. Despite their disappointing performance, Johan Cassel, captain of Green Templeton, enjoyed the competition, and reported that despite the college’s unsuccessful run this year, the competition as a whole was still fun to compete in. When asked why he felt his college had experienced a drop in performance, he suggested that the other teams had turned up to the tournament much better prepared this year. His team did get some consolation, however, after their convincing win over Teddy Hall in the match for fifth place.

Despite looking like one of the weakest teams on paper, the inexperienced Keble team came undefeated in the group stage. Against all the odds, with some incredible chemistry and defensive organisation, Keble beat Catz in the semi-final. In the final, they had to face the team from Harris Manchester College, who had just come from an extraordinary 7-0 win in their semi-final, and looked like the favourites to win the trophy.

The Keble team knew it would be difficult, but they were fixed on winning the Cuppers trophy. An early goal from Harris Manchester turned the match into an uphill battle for Keble. However, they were determined to put up a fight. Keble striker Saad Rana hit the post from an excellent pass by his teammate straight after they conceded, but it wasn’t enough. In the second period, the match went from bad to worse for Keble, as Harris Manchester scored their second goal of the final. In the dying moments of the period, Isaac Ettedgui, Keble’s star striker, scored his third goal of the day to make the game 2-1, giving some hope to the Keble team, as winning the Cuppers trophy now became more of a possibility for them. Despite this, in the last period of the game, the small size of Keble’s squad became apparent. Most teams were composed of six or seven players, but Keble’s team only had five members, meaning they were unable to make any substitutions. As the Keble players grew tired, Harris Manchester found themselves having more space and were able to capitalise on this advantage. They scored one more goal to seal their victory, and Harris Manchester were crowned Floorball Cuppers champions.

The Keble players, although disappointed that they could not snatch a win, were nevertheless proud of their performance. “Cuppers was an emotional rollercoaster: from the ecstasy of victories to the despair at missing out on silverware, Floorball Cuppers epitomises why floorball is such a captivating sport,” Keble’s enthusiastic defender Omar Mohamed told Cherwell. Sylvester Siew, captain of the victorious Harris Manchester team, was not only proud of his team, but also highlighted the admirable sportsmanship which was observed throughout the tournament. Speaking to Cherwell he said, “Every team was giving it their all, fiercely competing on the field. Yet at the end of it all they were all congratulating one another! It was really nice to see suchsportsmanship.”

Despite intense competition for the Cuppers trophy, many players had come to Cuppers simply to try something new or to have a fun afternoon. Julian Quak, an experienced defender who played for Teddy Hall, emphasised the importance of this tournament for beginners. “It was a tough and highly competitive tournament, and allowed many new players the opportunity to experience and enjoy floorball in a competitive setting. Overall it was a great experience and I am already looking forward to next year’s tournament.”

Next up for the floorball club is a one-day university tournament at Iffley Road where they will be taking on the likes of Bath, Nottingham, UCL, Warwick and York to battle it to win the largest university floorball tournament of the academic year.

John Bolton: The case for a citizen’s arrest

Ben van der Merwe
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John Bolton: The case for a citizen’s arrest

Last week, the US military drew up plans to invade a country the size of Germany.

Iran’s 82 million citizens would first be subject to a massive cyber-attack, cutting off energy to schools, homes and hospitals. Telephone lines, internet access and ATMs would be “crippled”. The country’s public services, already struggling under the weight of US sanctions, would be forced to the point of collapse. Then, the bombs would start.

B-52 bombers, sent to the Persian Gulf this week, would rain thousands of pounds of explosives over the heads of the residents of Tehran, a city the size of London. The plan also specifies the deployment of 120,000 US troops to the region, a potential invasion force which would bring, in the words of Donald Trump, “the official end of Iran”.

Central to drawing up these plans was John Bolton, a man whose appointment as Trump’s National Security Advisor last year was almost immediately followed by America’s unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, paving the way for the current crisis.

War with Iran is the motivating project of Bolton’s professional life. In his search for allies he has even accepted money from MeK, a MarxistIslamist cult and designated terrorist organisation. (Bolton described the group as a “viable alternative to the rule of the ayatollahs”.) A colleague recently told the New Yorker: “Bolton has had this anal focus on Iran for twenty years. I don’t know why.”

Next Saturday, John Bolton will be speaking at the Oxford Union. While the Union’s courting of the far-right has brought protests and boycotts, Bolton’s visit has gone largely unremarked. There is, as of yet, no protest planned, but Bolton represents an immediate threat to the lives of people of colour.

Rather than an occasion for controversy and condemnation, Bolton’s visit is on track to be yet another station in the relentless banalisation of the forever war. Given the Union’s tendency to breed submission to authority it seems unlikely that Bolton’s views will be met with serious challenge. Questions are to be submitted beforehand and, presumably, vetted. The minimum that the Union could have done to counter the real basis of Bolton’s views, inviting an Iraqi or an Iranian victim of Bolton’s to defend their own humanity, has not even been suggested.

The International Criminal Court defines a crime of aggression as “the planning, preparation, initiation or execution, by a person in a position effectively to exercise control over or to direct the political or military action of a State, of an act of aggression which, by its character, gravity and scale, constitutes a manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations.” Needless to say, the US has consistently refused to sign an agreement giving the ICC jurisdiction to prosecute crimes of aggression. Turkeys do not vote for Christmas.

Bolton’s role in actively fomenting war in Iraq is beyond dispute. At the height of the dispute over Iraq’s alleged WMD programme, the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons José Bustani proposed independent inspections. For a country that believed its own case for war this would be a victory, but Bolton immediately set out to orchestrate Bustani’s sacking. Bolton recalled in his memoirs: ““I stepped in to tank the protocol, and then to tank Bustani.” Bustani later claimed that Bolton had threatened him by saying: “We know where your kids are.”

Bolton went on to play a key role in promoting the claim that Iraq had procured weapons-grade uranium from Niger, a claim central to the case for war, but that the US later admitted was based on “fraudulent evidence”. When Bolton came to promote his memoir at the 2008 Hay Literary Festival, George Monbiot, the Guardian journalist who was speaking on a separate panel, recalled thinking: “The greatest crime of the 21st Century, the Iraq war, had been so normalised that one of the authors of that crime, John Bolton, was there at the festival promoting his memoir. And if we really are serious about the principles we claim to espouse, then someone should go and arrest him.”

Taking the situation into his own hands, Monbiot prepared a charge sheet and, as Bolton was giving his speech, ran onstage, announcing a citizens’ arrest. Monbiot was quickly tackled, and Bolton remains a free man, but the incident underscored the sheer criminality of Bolton’s actions. In the first month of the Iraq invasion, British and American bombs killed more civilians than have ever been killed by jihadist terror attacks in the West, including 9/11. By 2013, more than half a million Iraqis had been killed in a needless, illegal war.

With a population more than three times that of Iraq’s in 2003, Iran would be launched into a chaos not seen since it was invaded by a US-backed Saddam Hussein in 1980, at a cost of one million Iranian lives.

Many Cherwell readers will have made the original sin of so many Oxford students, paying £250 for the privilege of launching the careers of the worst members of tomorrow’s British establishment. If you do have a Union card, Bolton’s visit offers a chance for redemption. Monbiot’s charge sheet, which is publicly available online, remains as relevant today as it was in 2008. Debate, protest and boycott are not enough. John Bolton must be stopped.

Council rejects Plush’s application to stay open later

Ana Gheorghe
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Council rejects Plush’s application to stay open later

Plush’s application to sell alcohol until 3.30am on Fridays and Saturdays, as well as staying open until 4am, has been turned down by the council.

The council cited fears that it could lead to more crime and posed a risk to clubbers as well, who would be more likely to be victims of crime after leaving the club.

Plush had been hoping to bring the newly-relocated venue in line with its former licence at Park End Street.

The LGBTQ+ nightclub moved from their old venue on Park End street in January into the former Purple Turtle site off Cornmarket Street.

Despite Thames Valley Police saying that Plush’s record in terms of crime was ‘exemplary’, police persuaded the council not to allow the later closing times as it would have placed pressure on police in the city centre.

Plush is situated within Oxford City Council’s Special Saturation Policy area. This meant that for the application to succeed, Plush had to demonstrate that it would not add to the existing impact of licensed premises on alcohol-related disorder and antisocial behaviour in different parts of Oxford.

Police licensing officer Alex Bloomfield said: “We’re not solely talking about people getting drunk and getting into fights. We’re talking about people who, yes, might have consumed alcohol, but also the likely increase of them being victims of crime as Council rejects Plush’s application to stay open later Ana Gheorge well as being the perpetrators.”

In a statement, Thames Valley Police said: “We recognise that there is a wish within the public to be able to go out and enjoy the consumption of alcohol and regulated entertainment in a safe and pleasant environment.”

However, they added that Plush’s plans would be “likely to add issues in the night time economy”.

Thames Valley Police also stated: “the management team of Plush are…one of the most responsible operators”, and that “matters at the old site, as well as the current one have always been well managed and when incidents have occurred the venue has been exemplary in the way they have dealt with it”.

Plush stated that given the police’s praise, it is “all the more disappointing [that] the Thames Valley Police has decided to refuse an application which, rather than extending the hours that Plush is able to trade, simply aims to reinstate the hours that Plush has always traded, but at its new venue.”

Stuart Hayles, one of Plush’s directors, said: “On the basis we’ve been trading for nine years with the hours we’re asking for, without any incident, without affecting the Special Saturation Policy, we don’t believe there’s evidence to indicate we will suddenly have an impact.”

Plush can appeal against the decision, which Mr Lygo said had been reached by a majority verdict on the three-person panel. Currently, only The Varsity Club and Cirkus can sell alcohol until 3:30am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Worcester run riot in Athletics Cuppers

Alice Harray
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Worcester run riot in Athletics Cuppers

The recent Athletics Cuppers saw some of Oxford’s finest sharpening up for the season ahead, putting in place final preparations before BUCS and aiming for Varsity selection. There were half blues galore as well as a handful of full blue performances from OUAC members who competed alongside many athletes who turned up to support their college in the hope of gaining a Cuppers title.

The most notable performances of the day were in the women’s throws. Jenny Richards (St Cross) and Abi Jones (Teddy Hall) both threw the blues standards in the hammer (38.00 metres) and javelin (37.00 metres) respectively and Katie Dennison (St Catz) was just 25cm off this standard in the shot put. With at least two half blue standards in each throw, the squad is a force to be reckoned with. Among these performances was that of middle distance runner Alex Shipley (Worcester), whose 33m javelin throw was an impressive season opener. There were also dominant performances by Fergus Imrie (Keble) in the men’s shot put and discus for a further two half blues.

The sprints saw personal bests and strong competition. Julian Manieson (St Peter’s), a rugby player turned OUAC convert, took the win in the men’s 100m, a race with just 0.4s separating the top four. Shakira Mahadeva (Queen’s) earned her first half blue in the 100m, but Katie Hannawin (Worcester) took the win and completed the double with a dominant performance in the 200m. Hatty Wigginton (Brasenose) also ran a huge PB in the 100m ahead of Ellie Thompson (Somerville), and the blues standard looks to be under threat.

In the jumps there was the battle of the Dans, with Dan Gregory (St Catz) beating Dan Lyness (Wadham), the triple jump winner, in the long jump by 9cm. Gregory also took third in the high jump on countback and Ade Okuwoga (Jesus) jumped a half blue of 1.80m for the win. Heidi Hurst (Merton) was also only 10cm off a half blue in the women’s pole vault.

The tightest race of the day, however, came in the form of an inter squad battle, with the 800m boys taking on the 400m squad at their own game. Max Buckley (Magdalen) took a comfortable win to complete the 200m/400m double but a dive for the line by 800m specialist Nathan Mapperley (LMH) gave him second place, despite receiving numerous war wounds to go with it. Nathan was fresh from an 800m race-off with Sam Brown Araújo (University) but in that race, it was Sam who found the final kick in order to pass his opponent on the line. A well-judged race gave Alice Harray (Worcester) the win in the women’s 400m.

Turning to the longer distances it was Natalie Beadle (Teddy Hall) and Thomas Quirk (St Cross) who took the wins in the 5000m. The steeplechase saw a strong debut from Ella Sharrock (Balliol) who unfortunately just missed the half blue standard, which was nevertheless achieved by winner Connie Hurton (Pembroke). The men’s 3000SC saw a strong 1-2 from our blues steeplechasers Jamie Parkinson (Jesus) and Aidan Smith (St John’s) and a final surge on the home straight in the 1500m from Oliver Paulin (Merton) saw him consolidate his spot in the Oxford team for BUCS later in the term.

The real competition, however, was for the overall Cuppers title. Here Worcester followed their dominant performance at Cross Country Cuppers with another win over last year’s champions St Catz. This was a miraculous performance for the team, especially considering they came 22nd in the table in last year’s Cuppers, highlighting the quality of some of their newer members.

However, a great deal of credit must also go to Daniel Gregory of St Catz who competed in a total of five events to take his college to second place. The closest battle of the day was for the third place spot, with just nine points separating third to seventh. It was Keble who managed to win the war and once again, University placed fourth in the rankings.

Credit must also be given to all the officials and OUAC volunteers who helped make the day run smoothly, and without whom, events like this would not be able to take place.

Lady Pat. R. Honising – Coping with Graduation

Cherwell Life
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Lady Pat. R. Honising – Coping with Graduation

Dear Agony Aunt,

I’ll confess, this letter is a tiny bit fraudulent. I’ve noticed how much of a great job you’ve been doing offering your hard-earned advice to the student population, and I was just reaching out to see if you could give the graduate community some love too. I graduated officially a few weeks ago and to tell you the truth I’m lost. Coming back to Oxford to collect my very expensive certificate and throw my mortar board up in the air until my mum managed to get a good action shot was the last little scrap of Oxford life that I was holding on to – now I’m out in the real world wishing that being a PT dweller was still a viable and respected pastime. Please, Lady Pat, give a graduate who would do anything to be back in the Dreaming Spires some help to move on.

All the best,
An In-denial Anon.

Dear Anon,

Oh honey, that’s rough. After three plus years in a city like this, I can only imagine how you must be feeling having been ripped straight from the soft “comfort” blankets of college life and flung into the outside world. Luckily for your Auntie Pat, daddy’s millions cushioned the blow a bit with a modest five-bedroom, three-bathroom in Surrey for a graduation gift, but I realise we can’t all be as fortunate and humble as me. With a few words of encouragement from me you’ll be sorted right out, as there’s absolutely nothing like a pat on the back and a gratuitous “you’ll be fine!” to shield you from the tribulations of adulthood. 

First of all, it wouldn’t be advice from me if we didn’t engage in a little bit of self-reflection. So you’ve graduated, and by the sounds of your letter, you aren’t planning on becoming a permanent resident of OX1 again any time soon. You may not have realised it, but this is the first step, (whether it was a passive decision or based off of a look at Zoopla and its unsubsidised-by-college living costs) but you’re out of Oxford. This means you’ve made that first step to begin the rest of your life! It doesn’t matter whether you’re doing a soul sucking corporate grad scheme or putting in night shifts at your Local to be able to fund that delayed gap year to Thailand, you’re doing something new with your time, and these little victories should be applauded.

So you’ve physically moved on, but I do understand my dear that this isn’t even half the battle. Picture this – you’ve just got home from a full day of work, which you are still adjusting to after your three-contact-hour weeks. You open Facebook to see that your friends who did four year degrees are still being tagged in Oxfesses left, right, and centre – and on top of that you’ve received a pity invite to the fifth week JCR Bop. It’s like all you once knew exists in a different time zone – what’s fifth week to them, to you is seven days of waiting until payday to fund a very average house share… and it all comes crashing down. Sorry love, I don’t mean to exacerbate, but to help we’ve got to face these problems head on. It’s time to be the bigger (and also more miserable) person and do the right thing, leave the Facebook groups, unlike the Oxfess/Oxlove, and unfriend the club reps and union hacks who “just wanted to see how you were doing!”. Treat it like a really amicable but painful breakup, out of sight, out of mind. 

Of course, this is not to say that the minute you leave Oxford following your graduation you can’t step foot back in; you’re never too old or too irrelevant to do a victory lap of the Bridge smoking area! Just take it easy, focus on your exciting prospects, and maybe also stop writing in to the Cherwell Agony Aunt, and you’ll never look back. 

Lots of love,

(Not your) Aunt P. xoxoxo

Futsal Club off to a flying start

Tom Ashley
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Futsal Club off to a flying start

Another week, another Futsal double-header down at the Acer Nethercott Hall at Iffley. This time, it was Staffordshire University who provided the test for Oxford’s two fledgling teams.

The Dark Blues were looking to follow up wins for both the Men’s and Women’s teams against Oxford Brookes two weeks ago, with two more impressive performances here.

Staffs were sure to provide a stern test. Their men’s team had come top of the Midlands 3A division and were the 2017 Midlands BUCS Cup Champions, while their women had secured a very respectable mid-table finish in the Midlands 2A Division this season.

The women’s game got off to an ominous start, as Staffordshire raced into a two-goal lead within the first minute, much to the delight of the visiting fans. It was clear that Oxford were not prepared for the Staffs’ tactics of long balls to their attacking player.

However this did not faze Oxford in the slightest and they quickly got themselves back in the game. The Dark Blues soon settled into the game and took control, holding the ball well and dominating possession. Some clever footwork and clinical finishing ensured that Oxford not only drew level, but by half-time were 4-2 up.

In the second half, Oxford deployed new defensive tactics to try and cut out any luck the Staffordshire side would have. Staffordshire’s tactics were to send long, high balls to their striker, who would then attempt to flick the ball on into the net. However, now Oxford’s defenders kept tight on their attacker, cutting out any balls she was hoping to receive and denying the Staffs from having many shots. This move from Oxford seemed to frustrate the Staffordshire attacker, and she became more physical, meaning that both she and Oxford’s defender gave away fouls in their battle for dominance.

In the other half of the pitch, Oxford’s attack followed a similar pattern as in the first half, with the home side intelligently keeping the ball and waiting for the right moment to attack. Meanwhile, the visiting side were evidently tiring and struggled to keep up with the fast pace of the game. The result was four more goals, whilst Staffs also managed to score two more – they were also very unlucky with a superb shot from distance which rattled the crossbar of the Oxford goal.

Oxford closed out on a 9-4 win, to secure a brilliant second successive win against a well-established futsal team. This victory over a secure Midlands 2A side has given Oxford high hopes of promotion for next season as, because they are a new team, they will only be entering in the Midlands 3A league.

The pressure was now on for the Men’s team, who would be hoping to match those exploits. Confidence was high following the hard-fought win against Brookes, and the introduction of a couple of new faces to the squad.

From the first whistle, Oxford were superior both technically and tactically. It was clear that the Futsal-specific training over the past two weeks had vastly improved the players, who kept a very solid shape and transitioned well from defence to attack. Oxford were two up at half time, but it was very telling that the stand-out player on the pitch was the Staffs goalkeeper.

Futsal is a game of two 20-minute halves, where momentum is key and multiple goals can be scored each minute. Going into the second half at just two goals up meant that Oxford were keen to press home their advantage. Oxford were able to score two further goals without response in the second half, although Staffs were very unlucky not to get at least one, with a combination of brilliant goalkeeping and the post somehow keeping out an unfortunate Staffs striker. However, to keep a clean sheet in a Futsal game is extremely rare; to do so in just your second game as a team against a far more experienced side is rarer still.

Oxford and Futsal is starting to look like a very good match. Four games, four convincing wins. Both the Men’s and the Women’s Blues look in very good shape for the start of next season in the BUCS leagues.The squads for next season are shaping up nicely, although there are still spaces available for those who are interested in representing the university in one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. Whoever lines up in dark blue come October, looks to stand a very good chance of adding to the sporting success of this university.

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