Monday, May 19, 2025
Blog Page 155

New portrait of former Ghanaian President unveiled at Exeter College

Anuj Mishra
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New portrait of former Ghanaian President unveiled at Exeter College

A ceremony was held at Exeter College on the 9th May 2023 to celebrate the unveiling of two portraits of His Excellency John Kufuor, a former President of Ghana and Honorary Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.

Exeter College hosted a large, day-long ceremony to mark the occasion, at which over eighty guests were in attendance. Alongside artist Naima Aouni, and Kufuor himself, chief guests included His Majesty the King of Ashanti Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, Ghana High Commissioner to the UK His Excellency Papa Owusu-Ankomah, and former UK Cabinet Minister Lord Paul Boateng.

John Kufuor served as the President of Ghana between 2001 and 2009, serving two terms as the country’s head of state. His ascension to the role notably marked the first peaceful and democratic transfer of power in Ghana’s history as an independent nation. His Presidency saw the inception of Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme and a foreign policy of ‘economic diplomacy’, which saw Ghana become a broker of peace in regional disputes.

The Rector of the College, Rick Trainor, spoke at the unveiling, highlighting Kufuor’s long career as a statesman and legacy as a democratically-elected leader. He added that the oil portrait of Kufuor in Exeter’s hall will complement the photograph in Cohen Quad in “inspir[ing] high achievement in public service by Exeter’s diverse student population, present and future.”

Aside from his tenure as Ghanaian President, Kufuor had a long career in Ghanaian politics, having first been elected as a Member of Parliament in 1969. He was elected to lead National People’s Party in 1996, a centre-right party which was, at the time, in opposition. Kufuor subsequently led the party to victory in the 2000 Ghanaian elections.

Kufuor was elected as Chairperson of the African Union between 2008 and 2009. He has also received numerous awards, including the Chatham House Prize in 2008 and the World Food Prize in 2011.

Kufuor studied at Lincoln’s Inn, London from 1959, being called to the bar in 1961. Following this, Kufuor matriculated at Oxford as a member of Exeter College in the same year, graduating with a degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics in 1964.

The first portrait, a photograph taken in 2016, was formally inaugurated following the delay of the scheduled inauguration ceremony during the pandemic. The photographic piece has been displayed prominently at the College’s Cohen Quad since the site was constructed in 2017.

The second portrait is an oil on canvas, painted by the Belgian-born artist Naima Aouni. Born in 1987, Aouni is a self-taught artist, and was commissioned by a group of Exeter fellows to paint this portrait of Kufuor.

The portrait is due to be installed in the 17th Century dining hall of Exeter College. Following its installation, the painting will hang alongside portraits of past rectors of the College, including Marilyn Butler and Frances Cairncross, during whose tenure Kufuor was selected as an Honorary Fellow of the College in 2002.

Other alumni of the College whose portraits feature in its collection include Honorary Fellow Reeta Chakrabarti, a prominent journalist, and College Fellow Prof Catherine Green, who played a leading role in the creation of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Burnout BBQ — Brisket, wings and hot rods

Oliver Hall
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Burnout BBQ — Brisket, wings and hot rods

There’s something uniquely indulgent for me about American BBQ. It is one of those things that seems almost impossible for restaurants to execute away from the United States. It might be that the ribs are too tough, the wings not tasting quite right, or that the brisket just isn’t smoked the same. If not the food, then the atmosphere is almost impossible to capture with everywhere seeming either tacky or sterile. Burnout BBQ in Summertown, though, is one of the only places I have been in the UK that finds solutions to all those problems. The décor is typically ridiculous, the dishes are meticulously authentic, and the atmosphere is buzzing. This isn’t haute cuisine, it’s over-the-top indulgence and it’s a bloody fun place to spend an evening.

Chatting to the co-founders and owners, Thomas and Malcolm, the key philosophy here is to offer everything American that you could ever dream of in an atmosphere to fit. Things started off during the COVID-19 pandemic as a street food business. The pair took the crazy decision to saw a hot rod in half and serve brisket burgers and other BBQ dishes out of the back. The result was more successful than they ever could have expected and when a chance to buy a permanent site came up, they didn’t hesitate for a second.

The result is an interior that at first glance you might want to discard as tacky and classless. Look closer though, and every last detail is thought out. That car that makes up the bar? 100% real with the seats serving as chairs at one of the booths to prove it. This place is perfectly set up to create a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

That fun and relaxed atmosphere fits the food on offer perfectly. Although the menu is extensive with offerings of everything from burgers to hot dogs and loaded fries, the full experience is only got from the barbecue trays. Available after 5 PM, the sharing tray is £45 for two people and comes with everything you could possibly want.

Sharing tray

The brisket is smoked in-house for nine hours and you can really tell the difference from what you normally get in the UK. Pulled pork is maple smoked and melts in the mouth just as you would want and ribs are appropriately sticky.

Brisket

Burnt ends are there too and soaked to kingdom come in barbecue sauce. Corn, slaw, and beans bring an attempt at healthiness with the strong taste and greasiness that is only really acceptable somewhere like this. Normally, I’d tear it apart along with the onion rings that are far more batter than onion. Really though, you don’t come to Burnout for light dishes and calorie counting.

Wings are the next highlight and there are three different varieties. The honey seasoning was probably the best and there is a good variety in spice across the board. More than enough sauces are on hand at all times too to change things to your liking.

Chilli Cheese fries are quite the dish and were our choice of the loaded options. The house chilli itself is good and the fresh jalapenos balance the creaminess of the melted cheese well. For me though, these were let down by the counterintuitive inevitability of loaded fries in general: they were just too soggy. I passionately believe that the best bit about a fry is just how thin and crispy it is and when doused in meat, cheese, and sauces, that is inevitably lost.

House Salad

Desserts are just as ridiculous as the rest of the menu. The brownie sundae is loaded with brownie pieces, ice cream, cream, Oreos, and all manner of sauces. I don’t ever want to know how many calories are in this but as a sharer, you can’t go far wrong.

Brownie sundae and Biscoff Milkshake

There are big plans going forward for Burnout — listen to the podcast for talk of a new, larger site. Already here, with no more than 30 covers, this is destination dining for people across Oxfordshire and beyond. Going forward though, Thomas and Malcom are thinking bigger. For now, this is undoubtedly the place to go in Oxford for an authentically fun evening of American food. Just be sure not to park too far away — you might not make it back to the car!

The College-Gap: It’s easy to criticise what you know best

Oliver Sandall
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The College-Gap: It’s easy to criticise what you know best

Beyond just academics and number of quads, do the often ill- or uninformed college choices we make on our university applications significantly affect our ‘Oxford experience’? 

Does your college have a popular bar or JCR? How are the sports teams (or lack thereof)? How social and expensive are your accommodation(s) and (formal) hall? Many (or all) of these questions are often only made apparent once your college choice is locked in. So, what exactly is the problem, or is it even one at all?

Equally important is the question of whether the college system itself negatively impacts your overall ‘university experience’? If you don’t play a sport or aren’t extremely outgoing and sociable on nights out and active in societies, you might find it quite difficult to form or join a tight-knit friend group outside of your own college. You will arguably never be as close friends with someone as that person is with those who they cook and eat with, go to formals with, and pre-drink or get ready with for nights out and other events. So, does the college system benefit or hinder you in expanding your social circle? It’s different for everyone, but I don’t think this should limit your ‘Oxford experience’.

The college system evidently offers many benefits. Lots of colleges provide accommodation of some form across all years of study so that you can avoid having to deal with difficult landlords. Hall and formal hall are privileges not many other universities afford their students (and if they do, at a cost). College-comradery is perhaps the biggest benefit of them all; being able to connect with someone simply because you are members of the same college. College patriotism is very real. I found myself calling college “home” after only three weeks – sorry Mum. I love my college, but sometimes I feel that I am more a student of Somerville College than of the University of Oxford. But is that an issue?

It isn’t for me, but only because I have been lucky enough to find a small group I get along well with in college as well as some out-of-college friends through my niche subject choice (German and beginners’ Czech) and other connections here and there. Yet, for many, the college system can feel limiting. But isn’t this the case at every university? University is equally about making friends as it is learning how to live independently and, at times, be lonely. I don’t think it’s fair to blame the college-system for limiting your social network. Sure, some people are fortunate enough to find a large, but close friendship group in their college within the first two weeks. Those people are incredibly lucky, but it doesn’t mean that if you aren’t part of these groups, you’ll never find friends.

So, what exactly is limited by your college choice? Things like location, architecture, and approaches to certain traditions (such as wearing sub fusc in formal hall) can easily be researched before applying. I am, for example, extremely lazy and the proximity to both Wellington Square and the Taylorian were indubitably deciding factors when applying to Somerville. However, I didn’t know that the college bar is, quite frankly, not very exciting, nor is it one of the cheapest. And though the food in hall is great, it is also relatively expensive. But then again, everyone has access to a kitchen. Each college has its pros and cons – that’s the nature of the system.

I was initially inspired to write this article because I found myself criticising my college and my own ‘Oxford experience’ without really taking time to consider what it really is that I am criticising. Sure, it would certainly be great if the meals in hall were closer to <£3 (as it is in some other colleges) than the £4.52 it is in Somerville. And, of course, it would be great if Somerville was known for more than just its weird brutalist structures and the fact that it is “Maggy T’s” college.

But this article is not about the merits and demerits of my own college and instead about the fact that though the college system is not perfect, it itself cannot single-handedly ruin your ‘Oxford experience’. Indeed, whilst a quick 5-minute browse of Oxfess and Oxhate will result in numerous submissions of people criticising their own college – and some of them do, in fact, touch on real issues like discrimination – most of them are tedious or are, in the grand scheme of things, unimportant and often out-of-touch first world problems. Instead, it is the people you surround yourself with and your willingness to socialise beyond your college that can define your experience. Though some people find such socialising difficult because of their college choice, I still think that the college system affords more benefits and privileges to the average student than it does disadvantages. 

Beyond the veil of college patriotism, do you think your college offers the same opportunities other colleges do, or would you like to switch colleges if you could? I don’t think I would change … or maybe that’s just because I know I can’t.

Image Credit: Philip Allfrey//CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia commons

TT23 Week 3 Solutions

Sarah Beard and Lewis Callister
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TT23 Week 3 Solutions

Sudoku:

Oxdoku:

Crossword:

Expansionist Balliol College Invades Trinity College

Patrick Clinch
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Expansionist Balliol College Invades Trinity College

A large force of Balliol College JCR members surrounded the walls of neighboring Trinity College late Tuesday and advaced into Trinity territory in the night. According to the elected general of the Balliol forces, the Balliol JCR “needs more territory to ensure superior social lives for all our members,” and has determined that Trinity College is occupying land that, according to a sharp revanchist outlook not backed by most academics, historically belonged to Balliol college members. “We are trying to set things straight and ensure the glory of Balliol forever,” said the general, who is a second-year reading Classics.

Trinity College, according to sources, was not prepared for the attack and its defenses crumbled rapidly. “We will have our revenge and restore our sovereignty,” said one Trinity student who had fled the oncoming Balliol forces and was taking shelter at Knoops across the street. “Trinity has a right to persist and requires its territorial integrity in order to continue hosting killer commemoration balls,” continued the student as she sipped her hot chocolate and looked longingly toward her occupied homeland. 

The Oxford Student Union condemned the invasion as representing a flagrant disregard for inter-college norms, and pointed to an 1891 statute that bars colleges from forcibly taking social event territory. “We urge the Balliol College JCR to see reason and pull its forces out of Trinity territory without incident.” Nearby New College, concerned about Balliol’s long term ambitions, has threatened to form a coalition of colleges to respond to the invasion. “We believe that force only responds to force, and the inter-college community must not stand for this,” said a representative from New.

Balliol forces, however, have remained firmly entrenched in Trinity’s Kettell Hall, which sources say they intend to turn into a new, expansive college bar for exclusive Balliol use. The President of the Balliol JCR has attempted to justify this action by insisting that, “Balliol will share this new, epic bar space with guests from other colleges and will use the space more effectively and equitably than our neighbors could have” – a narrative the Trinity JCR-in-exile vehemently rejects.

Trinity forces have regrouped in University Parks and appear to be preparing for a counteroffensive with equipment provided by New College, though New has publicly denied its involvement. It seems unlikely, for now, that peace efforts in the form of a proposed MCR formal swap between the belligerents will be successful.

The quiet language revolution in Russia’s former empire

Louis Johnson
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The quiet language revolution in Russia’s former empire

I first noticed it when news outlets began to replace ‘Kiev’ with ‘Kyiv’. The former is an English transliteration of the name of Ukraine’s capital from Russian, Киев, while the latter is a transliteration from the Ukrainian Київ. This soon spread. Where Western broadcasters once used Russian versions of Ukrainian names for people, cities, and so on, they are now switching to English spellings that are more in line with the Ukrainian language. Since the onset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, language has become another frontier by which Ukrainians push back against years of Russian domination. The Ukrainian identity being proudly professed is necessarily in stark contrast to Russian. But how has language evolved in Ukraine and the wider post-Soviet world, and what does this mean for these countries’ relationships with Russia and beyond?

Ukrainian is a Slavic language, alongside Russian, Polish and many others. All these languages originally stem from a little-known common ancestor, proto-Slavic. The settlement of Slavic tribes across Europe led to the formation of the eastern state of Kyivan Rus’, whose people spoke Old East Slavic. This state eventually fell after being weakened by the Mongol invasion, internal division, and pressure from neighbouring countries. The western areas of the Rus’ state came under the control of Poland and Lithuania, while the eastern parts were ruled by the Golden Horde and later the Tsardom of Muscovy, leading to Ukrainian and Russian evolving as distinct languages. Ukraine was gradually annexed by Russia as Poland was carved up, piece by piece. Tsarist authorities ruthlessly suppressed the language, burning Ukrainian literature, banning teaching in Ukrainian and insisting that it was no more than a dialect or an offshoot of Russian. 

The same Tsarist propaganda recurs in today’s Russia, with Putin’s claims of historical unity being the basis for his war of conquest. However, even as Russians settled their lands and imperial authorities denied their language and nationhood, Ukrainians kept their tongue alive.  

When Lenin and the Bolsheviks came to power following 1917, they radically changed the country and its attitude towards Ukrainian and other languages spoken in the country. Minority languages were now encouraged, not persecuted, and Ukraine became its own republic within the wider Soviet Union. However, later Soviet premiers (most notably Stalin) were far more intolerant and often brutal in their treatment of Ukrainians and the Ukrainian tongue. Russia was the country’s lingua franca, the primary language of government and the elite. Even following independence, many Ukrainians preferred to speak Russian, though this has steadily shifted as the government promoted the use of Ukrainian in areas such as education.  

Then came invasion. Since Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, and especially since the invasion in 2022, Ukrainian citizens and the government have increasingly championed using Ukrainian over Russian. The use of Ukrainian in the historically Russian-dominated areas in the east and south has soared, with the proportion there preferring Ukrainian over Russian leaping from 10% in 2012 to 70% last year. This has come as one’s choice of language has changed from a matter of preference to a political stand. The senseless violence inflicted upon the country by Russia has led many Ukrainians to view Russian as the language of imperialism, the language of the state butchering their compatriots. Many Ukrainian institutions are moving away from Russian, such as the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. In Russian-occupied areas, while lots of anti-Kremlin Ukrainians still speak Russian, the tide is shifting.   

Ukraine is far from the only post-Soviet country that is experiencing a politicised linguistic revival. In 1936, Stalin’s USSR began a campaign of ‘Cyrillisation’; replacing Latin and other writing systems used for minority languages in the Soviet Union with the Cyrillic script developed for Slavic languages. However, since independence, several countries have transitioned away from Cyrillic: Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and most recently Kazakhstan. The former two have replaced Cyrillic with Latin entirely, while the latter are still doing so. For these countries, shifting to Latin is a way of emphasising their nationhood and independence. Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called the process “spiritual modernisation” and for Kazakhstan, Latinisation has come during divergence from its traditional partner of Russia.   

In Belarus, Russian has become the dominant language, after a brief Belarusian revival following independence was slowly sidelined in favour of Russian by the country’s very pro-Moscow dictator, Alexander Lukashenko (Belarusian: Alyaksandr Lukashenka). In response, the Belarusian tongue has become a symbol of political opposition to the regime. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition candidate in the 2020 Belarusian presidential election who has received support from many Western nations, has championed the use of Belarusian. Indeed, she notably uses the Belarusian transliteration of her name rather than the Russian one.   

Both Kazakhstan and Belarus have been longtime Russian allies, with Russian spoken as a language of convenience. The widespread use of Russian has been a source of soft power for Moscow, with the ease of cross-border tourism, business and diplomacy maintaining some sense of shared identity between the states of the former Soviet Union, far more successfully than across the former territories of several Western European empires. Russia has come across as a friend to many countries formerly in its empire. First gradually, and now very quickly, this sense has been eroded. In trade, many Central Asian states are looking away from Russia and towards China and the West. Moscow’s status as regional peacekeeper is collapsing; due partly to its war of aggression in Ukraine, but also the CSTO’s failure to act following Azerbaijani incursions into member state Armenia, exposing the Russian-led security organisation as a paper tiger and opening the door for the EU to lead peace negotiations.  

While embracing their native tongue has been a part of nationhood for post-Soviet states, an explicit rejection of Russian is new. In a bitter irony for Putin, the waning use of Russian and embrace of native tongues across the former empire is symptomatic of declining Russian influence. In invading Ukraine, Putin hoped to use Russian speakers as a political tool but has instead created an impetus to drop the language entirely for Ukrainians and other peoples wary of Russian conquest. Language is not merely a vessel to convey ideas, but the way that we express who we are. As Russia’s actions have made it an international pariah, people across the world are increasingly expressing an identity in contrast.

Image Credit: Vladimir Yaitskiy/ CC BY-SA 2.0 Via Wikimedia Commons

Project launched to power Oxfordshire’s emergency vehicles with hydrogen

Hugo Harvey
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Project launched to power Oxfordshire’s emergency vehicles with hydrogen

A £7.8m project being developed by Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue, in partnership with engineering firm ULEMCo, has been awarded £3.9m by the government. In a move away from fossil fuels, the project is working to create a way for emergency vehicles to be powered by hydrogen. 

The scheme is part of a wider effort from the county council to reduce its operational emissions to net zero carbon by 2030.

Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment, Pete Sudbury reiterated the 2030 target: “hydrogen could play an important role in our efforts to decarbonise. I’m delighted that we are partnering with ULEMCo on this important step in exploring and advancing zero carbon solutions.”

ULEMCo and the council are developing a hydrogen fuel cell that could be used by a range of specialist vehicles; fire engines, ambulances and street sweepers are among those part of the initiative. 

Chief Officer for Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service, Rob MacDougall commented that “heavy fire engines pose a particular challenge and we feel that hydrogen powered fuel cells can play a promising role in delivering on the county’s climate action ambitions.”

Up until now, the project, announced in 2021, has only been in the research phase. Now, with the funding awarded, the project will be able to continue to move forward and potentially develop a prototype vehicle.

Medics and Pantos: In conversation with the Producer of the Medics charity – Tingewick

Deborah Ogunnoiki
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Medics and Pantos: In conversation with the Producer of the Medics charity – Tingewick

Tingewick is a charity led by a group of 29 medical students at Oxford. They work together to raise money as well as completing all their clinical placements together. Throughout the year, they put on a variety of events for the other medical students and the general public in order to raise money for two charities that are chosen at the beginning of the year. This year, the profits are being spilt between The Oxford Hospitals Charity and Yellow Submarine. The most famous event is the Tingewick pantomime, written, directed, and staged by Tingewick Firm with the cast being fully made up of 1st-year clinical medical students. It is attended by over 1400 doctors, nurses, and members of the general public at the John Radcliffe Hospital site. 

I sit down with producer Tolu Duckworth, a 4th-year medical student, to talk about the charity and its importance in the Oxford community. 

Though a Google search can tell you a lot about Tingewick and its history since its creation in 1938, I ask Tolu “What is Tingewick?” I want to know what this charity means to the people who volunteer their time out of their degree. Tolu tells me “Tingewick is a charity that is run by medical students from Oxford to raise money for local Oxford charities. This year, we’re raising money for The Oxford Hospitals Charity, which provides resources and equipment to help give patients, doctors, and people all the stuff that they need to look after their health across the Oxford Hospitals Trust. And also, Yellow Submarine Charity, which is a charity which works with local children who have autism and developmental needs to help them sort of progress and gain the skills that they need to help them in the real world by offering them jobs, training ships and residentials as well, they could go on across the year.”

It’s a hefty commitment, but why is it important? Tolu tells me “It’s always just sort of good to give back. So given the fact that this is a society charity run by Oxford medical students, all of our placements are involved within the JR, Churchill, Hornton etc. So, understanding where the money comes from, to provide the resources to help the patients that we will in the future be helping out as well is so needed, because a lot of the stuff that doctors do, that nurses do, other health care professionals, etc, they can’t do it alone. And donations are so important so that they are able to provide patients with all the things that they need in order to promote good health and just help them recover from things that they may be dealing with and experiencing. And it’s just always great to give back to charity as well. And Yellow Submarine is also close to one of our members. So, wanting to raise money for that is something that’s quite close to our hearts and that’s what we wanted to go for this year.”

Tolu tells me how much they raise on average, “So I think last year’s committee raised, across their fundraising year, I think over £30,000, which we’re definitely trying to hit, or even beat. And previous years have also raised about £20,000 a year. So definitely, definitely, big money involved. And it all goes towards Oxford charities and is split between the two. Every year money is raised for Oxford hospitals, but the second charity is always different. It’s always just nice to be able to help smaller charities that may not necessarily get as much funding, just to make sure that they are given support in any way. So just out of the need.” 

But how do this small group of medical students manage to raise £20,000 – £30,000 every year? Tolu explains that “There are so many things that we put on as a group. Like I said before, there are 29 of us, all medical students with a range of skills and traits. One thing that we’re currently doing is we’ve held a raffle with some amazing prizes that have been donated by some local businesses, including an annual pass to Blenheim Palace, free cinema tickets, £50 voucher for Coconut Tree, and so many other things. We are doing the National Three Peaks challenge very soon, actually. We’re raising money just in terms of sponsorships and doing other types of challenges across the year. Even cycling the equivalent of the height of Everest is coming up at some point in the year, some charity bake sales, and just other awesome things as well. And the big thing that happens every year is a pantomime show that we put on. The fourth-year medical students all audition, sing, act, and dance to a show that we as the fifth-year students write, produce, and choreograph everything to put on and play around and have fun, and the tickets to the show contribute towards, again, fundraising as well as the drinks and the things that we sell them on the day. And the pantomime is the big thing. And it’s a lot of great fun to end the year with our pantomime, which would be happening at the end of November. It’s something to look forward to and look out for.”

With the pantomime being such a hit what exactly does this night of laughs actually entail? Laughing Tolu tells me “So Tingewick actually started as just the show. And it’s been going on for sort of over 80 years now. It started off as a way for medical students to unwind and have fun amidst their degree. And I think within recent years, it then turned into like a fundraising scheme, which makes a lot of sense. Though everyone knows Tingewick as the pantomime, there’s actually just so much more involved behind the scenes, including our separate fundraising events. So if there’s anything to sort of get involved with it’s the pantomime shows, you can see a lot of medical students make fun of themselves, their tutors, Oxford, and everything, it’s just really great fun. And it’s usually like a spin on really classic shows. I think last year was based on Legally Blonde before that, it was a Doctor Who theme, and there have been Shrek themes as well. It’s a really great show just to see your friends and classmates in. The pantomime is the biggest thing we have, and it’s great every single year. I’m not biased at all but definitely go watch it.”

Tingewick is more than the pantomime, which will be put on this November, so in the meantime what is next for the student-run charity? Well, according to Tolu, “So in terms of upcoming things, we’ve got our charity raffle, which is ending on the 24th of May, our Three Peaks challenge, which we are doing over the weekend of the 20th and 21st of May. So keep an eye on our Instagram account to see our journey climbing up Snowdon, Ben Nevis, and Scafell Pike in 24 hours. Why are we doing this? It’s for charity! So, please help. We have just loads of different challenges and events, loads of fundraising events, lots of baking, lots of eating, lots of inviting the old committee to come back and join and just preparing for our big shows like the pantomime. So that’s what we are sort of working on and we’re excited!”

So much is going on for Tingewick, and though it’s run by the medics, I ask Tolu how the rest of us, as fellow students can support the charity. Tolu tells me, “Just get involved in any of the events that we put on, buy a raffle ticket, sponsor us, even if it’s a pound or a penny, and come to watch the shows. I think the big thing is the pantomime show because it is just a lot of fun to sort of support your friends if you have any medical student friends in 4th-year or 3rd-year as well. It’s just great to show support in that way. So definitely do try and come to the show because it’s like a nice sort of combination of all of our efforts of the year.”

Many of us go through our Oxford degrees, go to doctor appointments in Beaumont Street or may have ended up at the John Radcliffe after a particularly heinous night out, without ever thinking of what it takes to keep these services open. They not only help the thousands of students who move in and out of Oxford but also the wider Oxford community who live here year-round. Tingewick’s work to support The Oxford Hospitals Charity represents the best of us as students and as people. 

New Oxford Monopoly board available in November

Martha Smith
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New Oxford Monopoly board available in November

The games company Winning UK has recently announced that they are developing a new and updated Oxford Monopoly board. Unlike the old board, the new Monopoly board offers the opportunity for the public to suggest and vote on the sites that will be featured. A representative of Winning UK has described it as a “new board for a new generation”. 

The first Oxford Monopoly board was released in 2001, described in a Winning UK Facebook post as being “hugely popular in its day”. However, the original Oxford board has since been discontinued. 

Major Oxford landmarks are expected to be on the board: such as the Radcliffe Camera, the Bodleian Library, and the Ashmolean. With the new edition, we can also expect the inclusion of new retail spaces, potentially including the Westgate Shopping Centre. 

Additionally, on the 12th of May, a person dressed as Mr Monopoly (who may have been a representative of Winning UK) was seen around Oxford at many of the popular tourist destinations, advertising the new Oxford Monopoly board. 

When asked to comment on the new Monopoly board, a student told Cherwell: “Really cool to hear that Oxford is getting a board that focuses on the city and not just the university. They’re open to suggestions about what places to include and I hope they add some of Oxford’s many green spaces and parks. Not only will this make an easy gift idea for friends and family, but hopefully the game means tourists will be able to enjoy Oxford from the comfort of their homes”.

Suggestions for the board can be sent to [email protected] before midnight on Thursday 25th May. The new Oxford board is set to be available from November 2023. 

Oxford admissions interviews to stay online

Alexandra Hedström-Blake
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Oxford admissions interviews to stay online

The Admissions Committee (Part of the Conference of Colleges) has decided after a vote that future Oxford undergraduate interviews will remain online for the next five years. Interviews will follow the online model developed during the COVID pandemic, despite the University’s long-standing tradition of in-person interviewing.

After a lengthy consultation process, 24 colleges voted in favour of keeping interviews online for the next five years versus seven against. This decision comes as the University may also be moving admissions tests online following their new partnership Tata Consulting Services (TCS).

The decision to move interviews online was shared with some JCR and MCR presidents and students. Oriel students were informed in an email “future admissions rounds will be on-line”,  despite attempts made by both the students and members of the college’s administration to keep interviews in-person.

While responses to this are set to vary across colleges, Oriel has confirmed that it will attempt to offset any potentially negative impact on prospective and incoming students during the admissions process by maximising the opportunities available to visit the college “at other times during the year”.

Such concerns over the welfare and support available to offer-holders and prospective students have been echoed elsewhere, with students at St Hilda’s College voicing fears over the disparities that may emerge between students with different access requirements, stating that it was the equivalent of “kicking people out”. Without school access to computers or the resources necessary for online interviews, considerable concerns have been expressed over the move, although the University does offer equipment and technology to schools lacking.

In a statement to Cherwell, the University confirmed “The colleges of Oxford University have decided that forthcoming undergraduate admissions interviews will take place online. This follows extensive consultation carried out with stakeholders across the University and elsewhere, concerning the merits of both in person and online formats in admissions interviews, and the success of this format over the past three years. Oxford will continue to aim to deliver a consistent and high-quality experience for this part of the collegiate University’s application process. We are grateful to the many schools, colleges, parents and guardians who support their students for an Oxford interview”.

This article was updated at 10:45 on 21/05/2023 to include University comment.

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