Two protestors unveiled a banner in the Union on thursday during the debate on higher education which read ‘Fuck You Willetts (And Made In Chelsea Is Shit Too)’ during a speech by David Willets, the Minister of State for Universities and Science.

The banner was unveiled from the upper balcony, and was accompanied by chanting by the two protestors, who shouted “David Willetts, get out, we know what you’re all about” and  “Cuts, job losses, money for the bosses”.  

The motion being debated in the Union was “This House Believes University Education is a Right not a Privilege”, a motion which David Willetts was arguing in favour of, whilst the Made In Chelsea star Spencer Matthews was arguing against the motion. 

The two female protestors are reported to not be members of the Oxford Union. They were both removed from the chamber shortly after the banner was unveiled. 

Twitter was quick to react:

Amy and Manishta became legends as they banner dropped David Willets at Oxford Union to angry Tarquin groans… pic.twitter.com/FiNTAZn2pY

— Matthew Smith (@MatthewSmth) October 31, 2013

Protesters storm the @OxfordUnion interrupting David Willets’ closing speech #educationdebate pic.twitter.com/V7UTkTSuEu

— Alys Key (@FashionMoriarty) October 31, 2013

Oxford Union is always good entertainment. This week, a huge banner offering profanities for the university secretary and security. Again.

— Liam Saddington (@Saddy_94) October 31, 2013

This protest followed a day-long protest in favour of the nationwide lecturer’s strike on Thursday which included a sit-in in the Examinations Schools, in protest against poor pay for academics and University staff. A small group of protestors also concentrated outside the Union gates before the debate. 

The East Oxford Classics Centre aims to open Classics up to a wider audience. It has been set up at Cheney School, in Headington.

Workshops, events, exhibitions and lessons in Latin and Ancient Greek will enable members of the community to explore the ancient world. The facilities of the centre will be available to students at the school and members of the public. All activities will be free.

The Centre is run by the Iris Project in partnership with the Oxford Faculty of Classics. The Iris project is a charity founded in 2006 by Dr Lorna Robinson, which promotes Classics in city schools and organises classics theatre projects and the Literacy through Latin scheme. The latter brings Latin to the curriculum for disadvantaged schools in Oxfordshire.

Cambridge classicist and journalist Professor Mary Beard opened the centre with a speech on the Thursday 24 October.

She said that stamping out stereotypes is a key objective for the centre, adding, “It isn’t the case that the classics are just for rich boys.”

It is hoped that the centre will help raise the profile of Classics as an interesting and relevant subject for everyone. Beard explained, “Latin and Ancient Greek are demanding but there are also wonderfully fun and spirited sides to them as well.”

Classics Outreach Office Mai Musié pointed out that Oxford students will benefit from the scheme, through helping with teaching at the centre. She said, “Students will get a chance to gain skills that they are not able to within the structure of academia. This could provide a platform to pursue careers such as teaching and working with young people and at the same time consolidating their subject knowledge.

“Despite the wonderful initiatives that have been set up by various Classics-oriented organisations, the increase of GCSE and A-Level take up of Ancient History and Classical Civilisation and popular BBC documentaries and dramas, Classics still has a problem of being seen as elite.”

She highlights the fact that not many people know that you can study Classics at Oxford with no prior knowledge of Latin or Ancient Greek, an option known as Course II.

Former President of the Classics society Jane Chan praised Oxford’s good work, but thinks there is still much to be done. She commented, “Classics is no longer limited those who have the privilege to learn the languages in school but it still has the highest private intake amongst all courses. Of the more than one hundred and twenty classicists in a year fewer than twenty of them come in without Latin and Greek.

“To allow Classics to be more accessible it is not Oxford, but society’s perception of it that must change.”

The first talk, entitled ‘Who is Sappho?’, is to be given by Dr Felix Budelmann. His lecture will be the first in a monthly series by department tutors.

Academics and staff from across the university walked out in a row over pay yesterday. The move, part of a nationwide day of industrial action by higher education staff, came in response to the decision to raise pay by only one percent this year: unions believe that this constitutes a pay cut given the present rate of inflation is at three precent.

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Student group ‘Support Our Staff’, marching from Carfax Tower in solidarity with the strikers, peacefully occupied Exam Schools for an hour and a half yesterday. In a speech to protestors, first-year Wadhamite Barnaby Raine said, “It is about a broader struggle. We are here today because we believe that education is a public good, because we believe we are learners, not consumers, and because we want an education that is free for students, pays staff properly in recognition of their importance to society, we want a different kind of society that doesn’t believe private is good and public is bad.”

Raine continued, “We are here today to send a message to the government that we will defend our schools, our universities, our hospitals, striking workers, and that we will not have money spent on war and nuclear weapons when it should be spent on public services.”

A UNISON striker told Cherwell that he was there to “stress the importance of the support staff and lecturers at the university in providing a full student experience to all students.”

He added, “The university has lost sight of the fact that it’s not the buildings, or the artefacts, or the Ashmolean that makes the university, it’s the staff and the students that create the university, and they have lost sight of that fact, and are not allowing a pay level which will recruit the best quality staff to maintain their world-leading status.”

It remains unclear exactly what proportion of staff took part in the industrial action, but the University and College Union (UCU) expected 50% participation.

At the sit-in, campaigner Nathan Akehurst told Cherwell “I am impressed by the turnout today. There was a real show of strength for our staff and for the concept of well-paid, publicly-funded education. We’ve had so far motions passed at OUSU and several common rooms, we know that when we march here, we represent a huge sector of the university, and we have sent a strong message to Andrew Hamilton, the UCEL and the government that we will not take cuts to higher education lying down.”

Akehurst continued, “Staff are getting a pay rise in money terms, but in real terms it amounts to a pay cut. According to independent government sources, university staff are experiencing the longest sustained pay cut since the Second World War, essentially a 13% pay cut since 2008.”

On Wednesday evening, college JCR and MCR representatives at OUSU Council voted 45-5 with 15 abstentions to back staff industrial action. OUSU was subsequently mandated to encourage students to reschedule Thursday tutorials and not to attend lectures on the strike day.

Speaking on Thursday, OUSU President Tom Rutland told Cherwell, “I supported last night’s motion out of concern for the living standards of University staff, but also out of concern for our students whose lecturers and tutors have faced a real terms pay cut of 13% since 2008.”

He added, “There is a threat to the student academic experience when steadily declining pay may impact on staff motivation and productivity. It is right that University staff are properly supported and remunerated for their invaluable contribution to our education and wider society.”

Rutland, who attended the protest, is not believed to have taken part in the sit-in.

The Universities and Colleges Employers Association – the body which represents Higher Education employers – said in a statement that unions have overlooked incremental pay rises, which actually put total wage rises nearer to 3%, and say that only 4.7% of the total Higher Education workforce voted for strike action.

A spokesperson for the University of Oxford told Cherwell, “The University respects the right of individuals to take part in lawful industrial action. Contingency plans are in place aimed at minimising any disruption or inconvenience such action may cause to students, staff, and visitors to the University.”

St Anne’s JCR has unanimously passed a motion to give singer Cher, the “Goddess of Pop”, the status of honorary member.

The proposed motion noted that, “there is currently a lack of honorary JCR members, and a lack of glamour in JCR meetings.”

Cher is the first person to be granted the distinction of honorary membership of St Anne’s. The college was one of the first establishments in Oxford to offer education to women and remained an all female college until 1979.

Andrew Hall, who proposed the motion, claimed that Cher has “pioneered autonomy for women in the entertainment since the 1960s”, thus making her the ideal candidate for membership of St Anne’s JCR. However he also admitted that the proposal was mostly humorous, adding, “Let’s face it, honorary motions are just a bit of fun to liven up standard JCR meetings.”

The motion was passed without opposition. As Oscar Boyd, former St Anne’s JCR president, who seconded the motion, put it, “Are there any Cher haters in the world?”

However he himself was apparently sceptical about the motion at first, but conceded that “After Andy [Hall – the proposer] performed his Cher routine I was convinced.”

Yet there were some amendments made to the motion. There is to be a life sized cardboard cut out of Cher on display in the JCR room but until this arrives then Hall himself is required to dress up as Cher for JCR meetings.

Cher has been an incredibly successful artist since the 60s selling over 100 million solo albums worldwide. She has also had success in her other ventures including winning an Oscar for her acting work in the film Moonstruck.

This year she has released another studio album. The versatility and longevity of her talent will hopefully be reflected in St. Anne’s. Hall said, “After the nuclear apocalypse all that will be left will be cockroaches and Cher – I want that kind of durability for St Anne’s.”

The top 16 teams in Britain and Ireland have qualified to compete in the cup, with Oxford being the only Quidditch Club to have 2 teams qualify: The Radcliffe Chimeras and the Oxford Quidlings. The top teams in the competition will qualify to compete in the European Regionals, with the chance to win a place in the world cup in April next year.

The game, made famous by the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, has been especially adapted for ‘muggles’, who have to run around with a broom between their legs at all times. 

As Matthew Weston, of the Oxford University Quidditch Club explained, “It’s actually a very important handicap, comparable to only using your feet in football or having to dribble the ball in basketball. It means you can’t run as fast and have to throw and catch with one arm.”

The quaffle is made by a slightly-deflated volleyball which allows it to be caught in one hand, and bludgers are dodgeballs thrown at players.

The snitch, in contrast, is not a ball at all, but a person in a yellow jersey with a tennis ball in a sock down the back of their shorts, who has all of a predetermined area to run and hide in. The human snitch can have their own tactics when it comes to hiding from the Seekers, including what are known as ‘snitch spectacles’, which might even include the use of decoy snitches. Catching the snitch and retrieving the ball only gets thirty points rather than the 150 in the books.

“It’s going to be a really big event, with scouts from QUK (Quidditch UK) and the IQA (International Quidditch Association) there to look for players to form part of the UK team to compete in the international cup early next year,” said Ashley Cooper from The Oxford Quidditch Team.

There has also been suggestions that the Oxford University Sports Federation should award Quidditch players half-blues for playing for the university, particularly as the sport does have a governing body in the form of the International Quidditch Association.

“I don’t think they should be awarded half-blues,” said one fresher from Exeter College. “You only get a half-blue for playing ice-hockey and it would devalue the whole thing. I don’t think that quidditch should be seen as more of a sport than ice-hockey”.

However, in their defence Western said, “this isn’t just some kind of immersive Hogwarts reenactment, people are being drawn to the unique tactics and culture of the sport. Furthermore, not only is Quidditch a mixed-gender sport, but we judge gender in terms of identity rather than biology, making it probably the most progressive sport in the world in terms of welcoming gender identities.”

At the tournament there will also be sessions for spectators to have a go at playing quidditch for themselves, for both adults and kids.