When I applied to Oxford I didn’t really understand how the collegiate system worked.
To the naïve Irish kid, the only difference between Hertford and Balliol was the size of the college. In a way, the college seemed to be the residential holding area, while the university existed everywhere else. Since I’ve been at Oxford, I’m amazed at how untrue my initial conceptions were.
Oxford is a collegiate university, and is pretty unique in how it is structured (Durham and the other place excluded). The college is the hub of everything you do during your degree. You live there, you eat there, you’re (often) taught there, you socialise there, and you play sports there. The college becomes a second-home. Of course, not all colleges are perfect, and some make better homes than others. But, as a rule of thumb, you become immersed into the college, and leave here with an attachment to the college, not the university. When phoning old members from Hertford over the summer for the college annual appeal, I discovered that affections for a college can continue for decades.
The existence of the collegiate system makes a difference when it comes to how our student union is structured as well. OUSU has come in for a lot of flak in recent years, some of it undeserved. People accuse it of being detached and out-of-touch with the concerns of normal students, or suggest that the sabbatical officers are merely seeking to kick-start their political careers. My own experience of OUSU is that those involved are well-intentioned, and generally competent. OUSU’s problem is that of over-reach.JCRs and MCRs are the life and soul of student unionism in Oxford. At the centre of every college beats the regular heart of common room meetings, elections, and referenda. Common rooms deal with the issues that matter most to our students. If someone thinks we should offer more money to students facing hardship, the common room can bring this about in their own college. If another college common room wants to spend all their money on their sports teams, they can bring this about in their own college. The diversity of the colleges and their JCRs and MCRs comes about because students can directly affect the direction taken by their representatives. The procedure is simple and not particularly bureaucratic.
OUSU should recognise the primacy of common rooms more. An Oxford student union should promote issues that student representatives do not have time to deal with, such as student rent, top-up fees, or the College Contribution Scheme. A JCR representative should be able to approach OUSU and get information at the drop of a hat. OUSU should be a collator of the swathes of facts out there. In a sense, OUSU should try to be less of a political campaigning vehicle and more of a service provider. This would mean that OUSU should not adopt clearly political positions without the approval of the majority of common rooms. For instance, this term OUSU is leading a campaign to stop the Oxford Union inviting known racists to speak on free speech. This decision was taken in Council before consultation with common rooms was possible. Do we know what the students of Oxford actually think about this issue? How could they have their say? It is wrong for OUSU to be involved in this campaign against free speech without direct approval from the common rooms and their members.OUSU should take a couple of steps back. I believe that the normal student wants OUSU to provide us with good leadership on university-wide issues. OUSU should organise good club nights. OUSU should give assistance to student societies. OUSU should provide us with good deals on bulk purchases (i.e. condoms). This would mean OUSU leaving the politics to the political societies and concentrating on helping common rooms. This change is happening but needs to happen faster. From my experience of speaking to Hertford’s old members, once most students leave Oxford they remember what their JCR did for them, while OUSU is a distant non-entity. That must say something about which body has the most impact on student life. I live in hope of seeing OUSU become the servant of the common rooms, and the facilitator of good common room stewardship. After all, it is common rooms which actual matter to students and who keep OUSU in business.
Tom Lowe is JCR President of Hertford College.
