Hello and welcome to Oxford! Congratulations on getting here and starting the next chapter of your life in a place as special as this city; you’ve worked hard, and although there are more challenges ahead, this university has so much to offer.

Keep Off The Grass, our guide for freshers, attempts to reflect as much of this as possible. Every Michaelmas Cherwell (our favourite Oxford student newspaper) compiles a pamphlet full of insightful advice, meant to induct you into Oxford-local status in eight tabs.

Thank you to our lovely and talent team of editors and illustrators. We hope that this is a handy guide as you dive into the thrilling adventure that is Oxford life, and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have questions!

Yours sincerely,
Sasha and Irene, Co-Editors in Chief

Contributors: Anneka Pink, Clementine Scott, Daisy Aitchison, Katie Kirkpatrick, Maurício Alencar, Sara Hashmi
Editor: Irene Zhang
Illustrator: Aleksandra Pluta

An Oxford-to-English Dictionary

Societies and Activities

Academics

Libraries

Cafés

Date spots

Pubs

Creative Pursuits

Traditions

Cover illustration by Aleksandra Pluta.

Image credits (top to bottom):

Caleb Roenigk via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Caroline Culler via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Penn State via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

David Iliff via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Bex Walton via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Kin Mun Lee via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Jim Linwood via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Fabrice Florin via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Sheng P. via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

For Cherwell, maintaining editorial independence is vital. We are run entirely by and for students. To ensure independence, we receive no funding from the University and are reliant on obtaining other income, such as advertisements. Due to the current global situation, such sources are being limited significantly and we anticipate a tough time ahead – for us and fellow student journalists across the country.

So, if you can, please consider donating. We really appreciate any support you’re able to provide; it’ll all go towards helping with our running costs. Even if you can't support us monetarily, please consider sharing articles with friends, families, colleagues - it all helps!

Thank you!

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