Friday 18th July 2025
Blog Page 1241

The new revolution in body hair

Alannah Jones
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The new revolution in body hair

Two months ago, I decided to stop shaving all my body hair, to put down the razor and go au naturelle. My armpits have been left to their own devices, as have my legs, pubes, and eyebrows. So far, I have found it very liberating.

To explain how I reached this decision, it seems prudent to go right back to the beginning of my hair-removal career. I was 11 years old when the first wispy hairs began to curl from the nooks of my pre-pubescent armpits. No sooner had they tentatively sprouted than I was eager to obliterate them. I pleaded with my mother to let me use her Veet. I was so desperate to rid myself of something I thought had no rightful place upon my body, failing to see it as a perfectly natural phenomenon.

All I could think about was avoiding the impending embarrassment – boys and girls would all change for PE together in the classroom. Seeing me on the verge of tears, my mother agreed (despite her concerns that I was far too young) and the hair was promptly eradicated.

My pubic hair was to escape unscathed for a few more years. At 16, preparing myself for intimacy with my first boyfriend, I remember gazing down at my hitherto untouched curls of pubic hair whilst thinking of the images of  sexualised women I had encountered.

Invariably, they were hairless ‘down there’. With this in mind, I reached for the razor and shaved the whole lot off. When it was done I marvelled at the  smoothness, feeling quite proud of myself, despite the 10 minutes I then had to spend extracting the hairs lodged in the metal bit over the plughole. After that inaugural sexual encounter, the boyfriend mentioned that he would’ve been disgusted by the presence of pubic hair.

There was nothing more off-putting, apparently, than a “hairy minge”. My naive 16 year old self sighed with relief; thank god I had taken the initiative and met his expectations! This boy claimed that, “Hairy vaginas look…angry.” I think, in his mind, a hairy vagina stood for an angry, hairy, raging feminist. At the time I mutely nodded, still pleased with myself. The smug glow was not to last.

The following day, I had a long-haul flight to New York. I woke up itching not with excitement, but with an urgent burning sensation around my pubic area. Puzzled, I pulled off my underwear and discovered to my dismay that the previous day’s smoothness had been replaced by dozens of angry red bumps, the skin red and inflamed. I looked diseased. I slathered on Sudocreme, and prepared for a singularly uncomfortable eight hour flight.

I wish I could say that this put me off shaving for good; but alas my urge to satisfy my boyfriend’s expectations outweighed the discomfort. It was only relatively recently that I decided to give up shaving my body altogether. It’s expensive, painful and pointless.Whilst I understand that this does not apply to everyone, for me it is an arbitrary societal expectation. The person I’m with now doesn’t care either way. But what’s really important is that it is my choice whether I shave or not.

Bar Review: Christ Church

The Bar Review Team
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Bar Review: Christ Church

Hidden in a less than ideal location vaguely near the dining hall, the newly-opened Undercroft (also apparently known as the “Undie” or “Chundercroft” depending on which type of Christ Church student you are stuck in a  conversation with) is normally not accessible to non-college members, but the door was fortuitously propped open in semi-realistic hopes of attracting formalguests and rugby lads. As anticipated, the biggest deterrent was not Christ Church’s normally excessive security, but a combination of the bar’s quickly-garnered dismal reputation and the really quite dangerous cobblestones one must overcome to reach it.

I would have been concerned for the safety of its high-heeled patrons, had the bar ended up with more than six women in it at any given time during my visit. After finally entering, one finds the interior quite incongruous with the beautiful, traditional, elegant architecture of Tom Quad. The combination of arched stone ceilings, light wood furniture, and painted white walls was perhaps supposed to have a bright, Mediterranean feel, or at least a converted-church vibe similar to that of The Vaults & Garden Café on Radcliffe Square, but this looked tacky and mismatched without the presence of actual sunlight, an inevitable consequence of pub business hours and the cheaply frosted glass on the few, sparse windows. It took at least half an hour for me to remember that I wasn’t in a basement (or the Gladstone Link), an illusion only encouraged by the sickly green ultraviolet lights. Instead of adding a sense of history and grandeur, the ceilings thus only ruined the acoustics, echoing the sound of the badly placed speakers and flatscreens. Bizarrely, the few tables were largely placed directly beneath these TVs, so instead of being able to watch the very loud rugby, their occupants were forced to have their conversations interrupted by thenoise instead.

The unfriendly, humourless barman was unaware whether Christ Church had a college drink, but served me a gin and tonic. The toilet door was marked by three circles with different symbolic markers, from left to right, 80s bow-wearing Madonna lookalikes, people in wheelchairs, and then the one per cent in bow tie. Once inside, it seemed there were only disabled facilities for women (however, it must be said that the combination of stairs and cobblestones makes the bar not particularly wheelchair-accessible in itself).

As this bar lacks any redeeming quality, it may be worth instead going to Christ Church’s unofficial college bar, House, when trying to bag yourself a lover of the landed gentry classes.

Bexistentialism HT15 Week 4

Bex Watson
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Bexistentialism HT15 Week 4

My boxer friend had spent months weighing food, forgoing alcohol, and complaining  a lot. So this week, I found myself at the Varsity Boxing Competition. On learning he would be fighting near the end, we decided to head off to the Union Bar. Drinks clinked, and we sank rapidly into consuming a quantity of alcohol large enough to rival the Pacific Ocean. A housemate cried, “Does anyone want any Balti mix?”, swiping the pack from the bar and thrusting it around the hubbub.

Fortunately, just as the bar manager’s face swelled and turned bright red, my friend got called up for the fight. No drinks allowed inside. Drunken Bex waddled in with dismay. The fight began. Fists collided. I burrowed into jackets. And then it was over.

And then, time blurred and accelerated. Somehow, I was in purgatory. Minutes, maybe seconds, maybe hours, but at least not days, later, I, in the midst of intoxication, managed to recognise the true location of Hell – in Park End.

Are-We-Mates-Mate sat on a chair, staring into his hands as he moped, whilst the other guy, Mate-Who-Isn’t-Really-My-Mate-Either, glared at us in a similar fashion. People were screaming and shouting all around us and in a flash, I remembered the last time I went to Park End.

I had decided to wear shoes which I knew from the outset were broken and then claimed to have sat cross-legged on the floor, causing the heel to snap. Each time a friend attempted to help me up, I would look down at my shoe, and then sit once more, as if ashamed of my obvious lie.

But as I continued to fall into the abyss of resignation that is Park End, I suddenly decided that enough was enough. I left the two third-year-pseudo-mates, and fled. As I gasped for breath, restored to reality once more, I saw the Boxer and his girlfriend. The Boxer’s face, even with bruises and cuts from the evening’s sport, has never looked more angelic.

They soared towards me and I exhaled. Soon we were snugly walking, hand in hand. We pit-stopped at Hassan’s. Each holding polystyrene, we dozily began the final trail home. We popped our clams open. But mine didn’t contain the chicken nuggets I asked for. We turned to look at Hassan’s. The queue is huge. “There’s no point even trying,” said the Boxer. I look back down at my ten angry onion rings.

Creaming Spires HT15 Week 4

Ava Gina
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Creaming Spires HT15 Week 4

I guess awkward moments are something I specialise in by now. Running into ex-lovers in unsuitable places, whilst looking like I haven’t showered in weeks? Check. Running into girlfriends of ex-lovers and having nowhere to hide? Double check. But among all of the little mishaps that colour my adventurous sex life, nothing could ever be more awkward than having a hot make-out session interrupted by the horrified, gawping face of my tutor.

It all started perfectly normally. I was having an utterly average evening at the King’s Arms, which involved consuming obscene amounts of ale. It also involved a date, but the ale was more exciting. However, as the Cinderella hour slowly approached, I decided to give the chap a chance before the pub closed and kicked us out. That turned out to be a very good decision, as his tongue was definitely more skilled when mute. We went outside for a cigarette and just as he decided to demonstrate further to me his kissing prowess, I  caught the eye of my tutor standing in the doorway. His look was full of recognition and terror. It was obvious that spotting one of his lovely students being a leather-skirted sex vixen was not what he wanted out of his evening. Tutorials will never be the same again. The poor man said nothing and walkedback inside, and I promptly suggested moving the date to my room, away from the scene of the crime. The sex temporarily took my mind off the matter, but now it’s PANIC TIME.

I suppose it’s not immediately obvious why this bothers me so much. Yeah, my tutor saw me feel someone up, whatever. We’re all adults and it’s not a big deal. Rules of professionalism dictate that neither of us mentions this incident, and our lives will happily go on. Right? Yet just as you wouldn’t want your boss to see you in the throes of passion, you don’t necessarily want to be confronted with your tutor in a non-academic context. I want my private life to be somewhat private (and that’s why I write about it in a student paper, obviously), separated from any professional relationships. Unless a really hot academic wanted to fuck me. Then I’m game. But all in all, an elderly, extremely respected man who may be expected to write me a reference one day is not someone I want around when I’m committed to the serious business of seduction.

Of course, if he were really attractive, it’d be a different matter. One hears many tales of illicit tutor-student incidents. A female student may have been spotted getting hot and heavy with a tutor on the Cowley roundabout. I was once advised by a postgrad to ‘just go for it’ if I so fancied; a suggestion I didn’t take, mostly because I didn’t know how. Perhaps wearing a little leather skirt would have been a good start.

Review: Blake-inspired LiveFriday at the Ashmolean

Mark Barclay
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Review: Blake-inspired LiveFriday at the Ashmolean

It’s cold, it’s wet and I feel overdressed. Huddled masses look to the entrance with wavering optimism. Ah, the weekly pilgrimage to Wahoo, you say. No. I’m at the Ashmolean’s ‘Live Friday’ inspired by Blake’s ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell’. Why? Well, firstly the good times really do roll and, secondly, everybody will genuinely want to come back for more.

The Wahoo comparison does bear out. Like Wahoo, the dimly-lit rooms of the Ashmolean are brimming with curious eyes. They amass in rings, their gazes transfixed on the centre. However, unlike Wahoo, the reason isn’t booze, insecurity, or boredom. The museum has arranged a series of creative activities which participants crowd around to have a go: everything from mirror writing to secret confessions. My Blake-inspired pencil drawing at one workshop certainly brought back memories of childhood as potently as Wahoo’s end-of-the-night nostalgia tracks.

It is undeniably magical to explore the walkways and staircases of the Ashmolean at night. It’s a museum particularly suited to such wanderings. The layout of the galleries feels almost purposefully designed for you to get lost in. So when you stumble into one of the many events scattered around, it becomes all the more intriguing.

This does mean, however, that by the end I feel slightly disorientated, like the haziness of waking up from a dream. It’s a feeling which works perfectly for the curators, who make constant reference to ideas of illusion and reality in the exhibit. In the baroque gallery, you play a game called ‘Fake or Blake’, where quotes from Madonna and Blake and Bob Dylan are interspersed with Blake’s poetry. To our shame, as a crowd we could hardly tell the difference. Another gallery is dedicated to optical illusions and magic, the next to shadow puppetry.

It is a testament to the organisers that the event does not feel like a gimmick; it’s not a scene from Ben Stiller’s dying career. Rather, a genuine atmosphere is created by a multitude of small and well thought out touches which compliment the William Blake: Apprentice & Master exhibition. When you see a demonic figure gazing at you from a glass walkway above, fantasy and reality start to come surprisingly close.

Even the permanent collection is given a new intrigue by the sense of occasion. Quite what sort of occasion it is is still not clear to me. Half art workshop, half party, half theatre, half demented fantasy, it is perhaps best summed up by the huge crowd which lines the central stairs at the end and breaks out into a booming rendition of ‘Jerusalem’. I’ll take that over ‘Call Me Maybe’. 

"Medical leave often feels like a punishment"

Molly Rogers
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"Medical leave often feels like a punishment"

Part of C+’s investigation into student intermissions.

I have taken medical leave twice during my time in Oxford. I’m also currently a member of the Balliol JCR Suspended Status Working Group, which hopes to improve the process of intermission, supporting those who have suspended their studies.

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I have had an overall positive experience of medical leave, but my major problem is the impression it gives the student taking it. Medical leave often feels like a punishment, particularly as a result of rules put in place by the colleges that deny access to the prem- ises, meaning people cannot easily visit their friends.

I understand that these rules are in place for a reason: for example, a break from the Oxford environment might be extremely beneficial to the student. However, there is a need for other people to support the student, rather than just their friends at college.

It’s a really hard decision to take. Nobody wants to leave their studies, and people often feel like everyone’s teaming up against them, but my college has been nothing but supportive, allowing me to make decisions for myself.

This is not the case for everyone. There is a particularly large disparity between different colleges, and I feel this issue needs to be more thoroughly outlined and standardised. I know of cases where students have been forced into taking medical leave without a say in it.

If you don’t know the process, it can be very daunting – it all happens very quickly. Within a week from talking to my tutor about it, I’d left. My tutor and the Dean, who was also the Chaplain, sorted it all out. It’s when you’re on medical leave that the problems start. Most of the people I know who took leave, myself included, did not maintain college contact.

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Last year, I was still living in Oxford, but I wasn’t allowed access to college – it feels like a massive punishment, and that’s something our working group is trying to change. Students on medical leave often feel like they’re a fugitive from college, and there’s next to no help with recovery.

When you come back, you’re usually asked to do a collection to prove you’re at the right place. That can be quite stressful – it’s a lot of pressure, and while everyone has collections, these are the big ones.

There are some sources of help for returning students. For instance, the Disability Advisory Service can provide mentors for students with mental illnesses, who meet with you once a week. However, I don’t think enough of this support actually reaches students.

There’s an obvious problem with mental health as opposed to a physical disability. It’s so important that these issues are taught properly in schools. When I developed depres- sion and an eating disorder in my first year, I was so scared, and I think because of the stigma, most people hide the fact that they’re feeling this way. They’re less likely to ask for help, and that can put them in real danger. You don’t understand if you’ve never been through something similar. Education in that respect is so hard to do.

Tutors can vary a lot in terms of the sym- pathy they give. Mental health is so poorly understood. A tutor might think a student is missing essays and meetings on purpose, but in fact they might have no control over their work.

At Balliol, we’re trying to separate disciplinary leave from medical leave. It’s very difficult, of course, because there’s a lot of overlap. The Suspended Status Working Group is in its early stages, but we’re aiming towards getting JCR votes for people on medical leave. At the moment, suspended status students are not members of college, but we want to say to students, “You can still be a member of the JCR, and you still have the right to vote on issues like welfare and access.”

We’ve been speaking to the Dean, but it’s so difficult to make radical changes – the system at the moment is very vague. Hopefully, all this is changing College’s perception of the issues that force students to take an intermission.

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"It was as if they’d forgotten I existed"

Teddy Hall Student
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"It was as if they’d forgotten I existed"

Part of C+’s investigation into student intermissions.

I developed anorexia in my second year at Oxford. I started third year, but by Christmas I was miserable and my tutor suggested I rusticate. She was very, very sensitive to my needs. I was also well supported by my college nurse and doctor.

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At the time of rustication, I felt well looked after, but I consider myself a bit of a special case. One of my friends, for instance, didn’t do a lot of work as a result of depression, and didn’t feel massively supported by her college – their response was more of a “you’re being lazy” kind.

In my case, it was physically very obvious I was unwell, and so my mental health problems were difficult to ignore. I was doing plenty of essays, but being physically frail transcended the attention they paid to my work. I don’t think the same kind of understanding is given to people who suffer from more internal problems, like depression, for instance.

At the end of Michaelmas 2013, my tutor explained that she was worried about me, and then in the tutor’s collection at the end of term, I was told, “You should rusticate, but it’s up to you.” Eventually, I decided the right thing to do was to leave.

I don’t know if I would’ve done it had my tutor not suggested it to me, and I’m very fortunate that she did. One of the things I noticed about the experience, however, was that whilst kind people were treating me well on an individual basis, problems lay in the fact that there was no centralised system.

Nobody really tells you anything about the process, which makes it more daunting.

After I told my tutor, she brought it up at a fortnightly meeting with all the head tutors and the Dean of Students. They basically ‘approve’ your intermission. I just had to send them a doctor’s letter to make it official and say what was wrong. I had no contact with the Dean of Students when they made their decision – I just received an email stating what the conditions of the rustication were. Luckily, I was allowed on college properties.

While I was away, though, I had next to no contact with College. The only emails came from the bursar, who needed to know if I was going to be moving into accommodation. It was all very compartmentalised. I didn’t really feel like College were looking out for me.

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I was also given library fines for books I had out from before Christmas. The Radcliffe Science Library waived their fines, but College sent me an email saying, “Because of your lack of payment, we’re going to have to give you some form of punishment.”

Coming back after my year away has been a bit complicated. Because I should have graduated in June, I have faced a lot of administrative issues, partly I think because of the decentralised nature of the college system.

My Student Self-Service wouldn’t let me book graduation for this year. I didn’t have a certificate of student status to show I was exempt from council tax.

My email account was shut down, my Bod card expired, my new Bod card not registered. One of my finals options in Psychology wasn’t being taught any more, and I had to figure this out and tell my department that they needed to write me a paper. It was as if they’d forgotten that I existed.

The list goes on and on. I’m now feeling good and I was happy to come back, but if I was a little shakier or didn’t have the level of support I have from family and friends, I think that it would have been really stressful. Since returning is a fairly sensitive period for a lot of people, and possibly sets the precedent for their remaining years at the University, I think that this should have been a lot smoother. There doesn’t really seem to be an official system for it, especially at Teddy Hall. Since a lot more people are intermitting now, I think this should change. 

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Investigation: Student intermission

Tom Calver
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Investigation: Student intermission

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Other articles in this investigation:

 

The information and stories gathered during this investigation exposed a disparity between different students’ experiences of the same process of intermission.

While some were grateful for the support they received from tutors, others felt that their mental health problems were being treated as disciplinary matters.

While some were given the suggestion that they take a year out, there were several accounts of students claiming to be forced to leave against their will, which they say led to aggravated stress and anxiety.

Some students also spoke of the difficulties of having to sit additional ‘Special’ and ‘Penal’ collections, which often required them to achieve higher than usual pass marks.

The term used to describe the process of intermitting is itself somewhat problematic. An intermission is often colloquially known as ‘rustication’, while the University and OUSU sometimes use the term ‘suspended status’. Several students feel this term has disciplinary connotations (which C + found accounted for proportionally very few cases of intermission).

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Intermission numbers increasing

C +’s FOI request showed that 5.3 per cent of Oxford students in 2013/14 intermitted, a total of 1183 students. This figure has increased over the past five years, rising from 4 per cent in 2008/09. Half of all students who took time out of their degree did so for health reasons, while personal and academic reasons accounted for 15.2 per cent and 10.9 per cent, respectively. Of those 1183 students who intermitted last year, 93 of them have now taken more than a year out.

The total figures for postgraduate-only college intermissions were considerably higher. From these 13 colleges (no data from All Soul’s was available), 8.1 per cent of students intermitted, while the average figure for colleges admitting undergraduates was 4.4 per cent. As Christ Church Dean Professor Martyn Percy explained, the “reasons for suspension differ very considerably between the undergraduate and graduate students”.

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Intermitting students “don’t need access to the College library”

Last February, the University finally allowed ‘suspended status’ students to “retain their University card and Single Sign On (SSO) access to online resources, including email, and to University libraries”. Yet allowing students to use college facilities remains at the discretion of the individual college, and many of the students we spoke to claimed that their anxieties and problems with studies were aggravated by the fact that they were not allowed access to college resources, and were obstructed from seeing their friends. One commented that the policy made her feel like a “fugitive”.

Chris Ballinger, the Academic Dean of Exeter College, responding to these criticisms, said, “Since a student who is intermitting is not on a course and learning new material, they don’t need full tutorials, lectures, or access to the College library.”

Another student brought up the issue that the only reason she felt that her intermission went smoothly was because she had a very sympathetic tutor. She told us, “If I hadn’t had a tutor who was really comfortable about it, it could have been a lot worse. However kind people were being to me individually, problems lay in the fact that there felt like there was no centralised system.”

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Perhaps the lack of a clear centralised system can explain the enormous discrepancies between colleges when it comes to intermission rates. While the lowest rate for 2013/14 was at Brasenose, where 1.8 per cent of students intermitted, 7.7 per cent of Christ Church students intermitted in that same year.

In response to the findings, a Christ Church spokesperson told C +, “A relatively small proportion of Oxford students suspend status at some point during their studies. The Academic Committee at Christ Church monitors the situation systematically and regularly.”

“They thought my mental health problems were the flimsiest of excuses” 

Several of the students we spoke to also highlighted the problem of those with mental illnesses being treated as disciplinary cases. In her discussion of mental health-related intermissions, Balliol’s Molly Rogers told C +, “Mental health is so poorly understood – the tutor might think a student is missing essays and meetings on purpose, but in fact they might have no control over their work.”

Another recalled, “The two meetings I had with college staff were calculated throughout to put the fear of God into me. I got the strong impression that they thought my mental health problems were the flimsiest of excuses.”

Out of the intermitted students surveyed, 37 per cent said they did not think that their college was sensitive to their needs at the time of intermission, and 57 per cent claimed they were not given adequate support during their time away. Many of our interviewees described a complete lack of contact from their colleges – one told us that the only contact she had from the University was about her library fines.

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In response to these claims, Jayne Taylor, the Domestic Bursar of St Edmund’s Hall, told C +, “A suspension of studies is intended in part to give a student time away from the College community, so that they have the space to deal with any medical, personal or disciplinary problems they may be having. The College therefore keeps communication with intermitted students to a minimum. Intermitted students are encouraged to make contact with the College at other times if they need to.” 

The University responds to C+’s findings

A University spokesperson told C+, “I would caution very strongly about drawing any conclusions about trends from what are relatively small sample sizes. The make-up of the student body has changed substantially over this period, with increasing numbers of mature and overseas students, which may be impacting on the level of intermissions.

“The University does have central guidelines regarding intermission – this relates to students’ academic progress and access to university services and facilities. College-specific aspects of the intermission process, including access to college premises and services, are dealt with by individual colleges, as they are separate independent entities.”

The spokesperson insisted, “The University does have a centralised mental health policy, which is online, and student mental health is very much on the University’s agenda. It is working on further guidelines to outline best practice and update its central policy.

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“’Mental Health Issues’ as students understand them can cover a wide range of circumstances – it is dangerous to mix them up. Many students can feel they are “depressed” in a common sense way, but this is different from “mental illness” such as clinical depression and anxiety disorders. If students suspend on medical grounds, this must be done with the evidence and recommendation of a doctor. It is only with the college system at Oxford and Cambridge that there is this extra level of welfare support provided, by clinically qualified nurses, junior deans, welfare deans, peer supporters, chaplains, and so forth.

“It is best if students who are having difficulties reach out for the support available sooner rather than later. Counselling and support services cannot take away all life problems, but they can provide the appropriate support that for many students will make all the difference. University counselling services, including at Oxford, have been developing evidence-based therapeutic interventions, and using professional clinical experience, for many years.”

“I now hate OUSU”: Colleges react to Le Pen protesters

Ellen Milligan
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“I now hate OUSU”: Colleges react to Le Pen protesters

Students at Exeter, Pembroke, and St. Catherine’s have expressed disapproval over OUSU’s decision to demonstrate against Marine Le Pen’s talk last Thursday.

Pembroke’s JCR passed the motion, “This JCR resolves to condemn the disruptive actions of these protesters.” It criticised OUSU for not protecting the welfare and rights of students, arguing that extremism and intolerance is best countered by free debate and not through disruptive protests. However, they reaffirmed their support for peaceful demonstration.

Ryan Tang, who proposed the motion, told Cherwell, “I decided to propose my motion because it seemed that a lot of Pembroke students were not happy at the way OUSU is politicising itself and supporting disruptive protests without consultation. They all say that we elected them into office, but the reality is that it’s nearly impossible for us to keep tabs on what they decide and attending OUSU Council is not something that appeals to 99 per cent of Oxford students.

“By passing this motion, hopefully we can send a message to OUSU that they need to consult students a bit more when taking political stances instead of just listening to a handful of activists.”

Exeter College’s JCR also passed a motion strongly disapproving of OUSU’s stand, which they believe “took a party political standpoint against Marine Le Pen’s appearance at the Oxford Union and the Front National, an action that should not be in the remit of OUSU regardless of the popularity and validity of the party political views protested against.” They also expressed their disapproval of OUSU mandating the president to send out an email to all Oxford students about the protest.

Exeter JCR president Tutku Bektas told Cherwell, “We came to university to hear and engage with a plurality of views, even those which we may vehemently disagree with. After OUSU passed a motion that condemned Marine Le Pen’s appearance at the Oxford Union, we thought it important to send the message that there are still students that value free speech.”

St. Catherine’s JCR’s OUSU Representative, Christopher Casson, expressed his anger at OUSU’s actions in a blog post entitled ‘I now hate OUSU. Here’s why.’ He said, “We voted to condemn an organisation whose sole purpose is to encourage free speech and debate, for literally doing their job. It isn’t our [OUSU’s] place to start attempting to censor things that go on in the Union. We’re meant to be representing students, sure, but that includes the students that want to hear her talk.”

When asked if St Catz had any plans to disaffiliate, Casson stressed, “We do think that it’s important to be part of the organisation so that we can fight for the changes we want from the inside.”

Nikhil Venkatesh, who proposed the motion to OUSU, said, “I would encourage all common rooms to stick with OUSU. In a democratic system, there will always be some decisions some members disagree with, but the beauty o f OUSU is that anyone from any common room can get involved and change it. I don’t apologise for my motion, or for my participation in the protest. I feel it’s important to point out that the motion was not a motion of ‘no platform’.”

Less than half of students registered to vote

Henry Shalders
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Less than half of students registered to vote

Less than half of all Oxford University students are registered to vote in the May General Election, according to data published by OUSU.

Only 44 per cent of students have registered to vote across all colleges, meaning that 11,420 university members will be able to cast a ballot in May. 19 colleges have fewer students registered than the University average and only seven have more than half enrolled.

These poor registration levels will have spurred OUSU on in its voter registration week at the start of February. The worst ranked college was Green Templeton, with only 13 per cent of students registered. Wolfson topped the enrolment table with 65 per cent. Worcester led the pack of colleges with JCRs, as 55 per cent of its students signed up. Other high enrolling colleges were Somerville, Merton, and New, each with 53 per cent.

Opposition politicians, student leaders, and higher education experts have all criticised the government’s registration reforms. Critics argue that the changes, requiring every student to self-enrol online or through the post, have disenfranchised the young. The new individual voter registration system came in after the May 2014 local election under the coalition government. Previously, all eligible voters had to be registered by the ‘head of the household’ in which they resided. Colleges would undertake this for students, guaranteeing 100 per cent registration.

A BBC study in December 2014 suggested that though 87 per cent of voters have been automatically transferred under the new system, of the 13 per cent who have not the majority are students. Oxford is one of the areas in the UK worst affected by this, with 60 per cent of voters in Holywell and 40 per cent in Carfax no longer registered to vote.

Nick Hillman, director of the Oxford-based Higher Education Policy Institute, told Cherwell, “Students have as much right to be on the electoral roll as everyone else. It would be a tragedy if the new registration system weakened their voice to a whisper. Some universities have built electoral registration into their enrolment processes and some have found ways around the requirement for students to provide a National Insurance Number when registering. Such initiatives need to be spread more widely.

“The new system has some advantages over the old one, but it would be terrible if it led to young people’s views being ignored.”

Andrew Smith, MP for Oxford East, stated to Cherwell, “The government moved too fast introducing single voter registration and the outcome has been a catastrophy, with over a million voters falling off the register. In my constituency of Oxford East, we have been especially hit as the seat has one of the largest student populations in the country. The government should have put in more provisions to prevent this disenfranchisement.

“In this climate, it’s especially important that students and young people make their voices heard. I encourage students to check they are registered, and if not, do so.”

Smith, a former Work and Pensions secretary, also recommended making student enrolment and registration concurrent.

Luke Miller, St Peter’s JCR president, told Cherwell, “The changes to the voter registration rules have had a terrible effect on students nationwide and it is a scandal that the government has cynically allowed this to happen. St Peter’s students have clearly been hit hard by the changes.”

OUSU VP for Charities & Communities Ruth Meredith said at the OUSU Student Awards, “Not being registered to vote and not voting keeps us quiet. It allows a minority to decide on what should be important, instead of hearing a diverse cacophony of voices.”

The government, though, remains committed to the reforms. A £10m fund was announced in December 2014 to tackle low student voter registration. The Cabinet Office told Cherwell, “It’s more important than ever that students take ownership of their own vote. If you want to vote in the constituency where you study, you will have to register at gov.uk/register-to-vote. The Government is working with the NUS and other student organisations to help spread the message about the importance of being on the register, and how to do it.”

A spokesperson for the Deputy Prime Minister told Cherwell that the data published by OUSU failed to take into account students who may have registered at home

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