Tuesday 10th February 2026
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Town and Gown share the spoils in boxing showdown

Natalie Tan
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Town and Gown share the spoils in boxing showdown

There’s something very satisfying about watching people try to beat the living daylights out of each other. If that sentence seems contentious, you may want to come down and see it with your own two eyes. You haven’t really lived until you’ve seen – or been – attendees milling around in suits and evening dresses, holding champagne flutes and devouring hot dogs, as two boxers beat each other bloody in the ring five feet away.

The latest edition of OUABC’s Town v Gown featured bouts of three rounds of two minutes each. With the sports hall of Iffley Road transformed into a spotlight-strewn ring and crackling with good-natured anticipation, fighters walked out to blaring anthems like Shakira’s ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ and Charli XCX’s ‘I Don’t Care’, which rapidly dispelled any pretensions of seriousness about the event.

Haobai Chen began by securing a win over Tushar Grover in the wide-open, evenly matched middleweight bout, with Constantine Deng falling to Gareth Tan, who sealed a unanimous victory in the welterweight bout.

The last all-Oxford bout saw Barnaby Carter go up against Reuben Meller: not only did Carter have the longer reach, he also had the support of what seemed like a quarter of the crowd, who rose to their feet applauding when he hopped into the ring. By the time two standing counts had been called for Meller, who was now meeting Carter’s manic, predatory focus with the dazed wince of someone who’s been hit in the face one too many times, the referee’s decision to stop the contest seemed merciful.

The first match against external opposition came when Diego Dolgetta-Garcia (Oxford) stepped into the ring to face Pho Van An (UCL) to raucous cheers and an incredibly enthusiastic rendition of ‘Bella Ciao’ from the home supporters. Though Pho and Dolgetta-Garcia seemed evenly matched in the first round, with each fighter dishing out as much as they took, Dolgetta-Garcia had Pho on the ropes by round two after a vicious flurry of blows that Pho only dodged the worst of by clinching him. The fight came to an abrupt end when the referee deemed Pho too injured to continue; Dolgetta-Garcia raised his arms in elation as the hall once again exploded into chants of “ciao, ciao, ciao”.

A series of local derbies followed, with Lukasz Gawrys (Oxford) winning decisively over Joseph Lucas (Oxford Brookes) in the 69kg bout after a ref-stops-contest decision late in the second round. Even before the next fighter, Jonelle “JJ” Domingo (Oxford), took to the ring to face his opponent Vladislav Davis (Oxford Brookes), supporters brandished a massive Philippines flag and made their support well and truly heard. The fight would prove to be one of the better ones of the night: when Domingo nailed Davis with a precise, powerful hook inside the first few seconds to a delighted roar from the crowd, it seemed over before it really began.

Davis, however, had well and truly turned the tide by the third round, picking opportune moments to step inside Domingo’s reach and land blows that were sparse but costly. To the joy of the Brookes contingent, the bell rang on a victory for Davis as the court turned dark red with pulsing bass and a reluctant round of applause.

In an unexpected departure from the programme, the final match featured last-minute replacement Aiden Faulkner (Yeovil ABC), who had agreed the night before to the match, stepping up against Tom Wise, OUABC Men’s Vice-Captain, who had just triumphed at BUCS Boxing Championships the week before.

It’s an age-old adage to save the best for last, but it paid off for OUABC. From the second that Faulkner and Wise began to circle each other, it was apparent to even a complete amateur like me that they were a level above everyone who had gone before. They darted in and out of reach at double-time speed; somehow, still, there was a frighteningly clean weight behind every swing, even the missed ones.

By the end of the second round Wise was sending Faulkner into the ropes more often than not; before the bell rang on the end of the third the audience was leaping to their feet with the satisfied roar of a crowd who had just seen their prized horse triumph in unquestionable fashion. Despite Wise’s unanimous win, it has to be said that Faulkner was by no means bad, and in fact the match would have been worse if he was. He was very good: Wise was simply better.

But it was ironically the first fight of the night that encapsulated it all: beyond the brutality, what makes a fight great is showmanship. The lightweight matchup between Pratul Ramesh (Oxford) and Kai Smith (Oxford) resembled that between a bird and a bear more than anything else. Light on his feet, Ramesh bobbed and weaved around Smith, eventually dodging his wild blows with such ease that he barely looked like he was trying. Ramesh ducked a massive hook, and as Smith staggered forward, carried by his momentum, Ramesh did a little pelvic shimmy, a come-hither, a really-now that drew a rising murmur of appreciation from the audience, that inside six amateur minutes you could still find time for showboating.

Again Smith swung; again Ramesh dodged; again he danced. Arrogance is timeless. I found myself leaning forward in my seat. That’s what Town v Gown promised, and that’s what it delivered: a damn good show.

Holocaust survivor speaks with student granddaughter for memorial day

Finlo Cowley
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Holocaust survivor speaks with student granddaughter for memorial day

Holocaust survivor Robert Slager shared his story in conversation with his granddaughter, Lady Margaret Hall student Grace Steinberg, at an event held at the Oxford Union on Monday 2nd February. The talk, organised by the Union of Jewish Students and Oxford Jewish Society to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, reflected the theme of this year’s commemorations, ‘Bridging Generations’.

Holocaust Memorial Day is observed on the 27th January each year, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. It commemorates the six million Jewish people murdered during the Holocaust as well as the millions more killed by Nazi persecution and in later genocides in Cambodia, Darfur, Bosnia and Rwanda. This year’s theme of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, emphasises that “the responsibility of remembrance doesn’t end with the survivors – it lives on through their children, their grandchildren and through all of us”.

Slager, who was born whilst his mother was in hiding in Amsterdam in 1943, explained that his father was deported to Auschwitz in 1942 and that his mother had only escaped . deportation herself thanks to an administrative error. 

In an extraordinary sequence of events, Slager’s foster family would move across the Netherlands to protect him, facing constant dangers – at one point, they had a Nazi officer stationed in their house. Following the war, he was reunited with his mother and given the middle name ‘Bartholomew’ in honour of his foster father.

Steinberg, who is the Vice-President of Oxford Jewish Society, then delivered her reflections on the story of her opa (Dutch for ‘grandfather’). In a moving speech, she emphasised the role that chance had played in her grandfather’s survival. She then read out two letters she had written: the first to her great-grandfather David Slager, telling him about his son whom he never got to meet. The second was to the Protestant couple who hid her grandfather, thanking them for their bravery during the war.

Steinberg emphasised that Holocaust remembrance involves “not only learning from suffering but learning from courage” and that “living Jews are the most effective monuments” for commemorating the Holocaust. For Steinberg, the Bakels’ example showed the power of small “good deeds” in saving lives.

 She also recalled her shock at seeing a swastika sprayed on Oxford’s David Slager Jewish Centre, named after her great-grandfather, in 2024. The mark left by the symbol after it was washed off was, she said, a “scar” for the Jewish community in Oxford. 

When asked by the audience about hope, Slager admitted that he was “disappointed” about the recent rise in antisemitism and acknowledged that there was an “uncertainty that hangs over our heads” about what the future will bring. Hearing Slager speak was a particularly special opportunity for those present, since he does not regularly talk in public about his experiences, finding the process of revisiting the Holocaust too “depress[ing]”.  

Oxford Jewish Society told Cherwell: “It was such a pleasure to be able to welcome so many people to our event commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day. Given the few opportunities to hear from Holocaust survivors, we were delighted to be able to put on this event for the Oxford student community, and we hope that the lessons of the Holocaust were clear to all those who came.”

Grace Steinberg told Cherwell: “It was an absolute honour to share the stage with my opa tonight. This year’s HMD theme, Bridging Generations, reminds us that the responsibility of remembrance doesn’t end with the survivors, it continues with their children, grandchildren, and all of us. Therefore, I am incredibly grateful over 350 people heard his survival story, and educated themselves on the Holocaust, as it’s only this active remembrance that will keep the stories of the Holocaust alive when we are the eldest generations in this room. As I mentioned in my talk, I think the most important part of opa’s story is that it’s not only a Jewish story, a Christian family hid him. This reminds us that our survival as Jewish people has often depended on the kindness and courage of people of other faiths, and the unimaginable impact of one good deed.”

Lawyers are weird. Mods are (partly) to blame

Lilly Law
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Lawyers are weird. Mods are (partly) to blame

Have you been injured in a conversation with a law student that wasn’t your fault? Have you been unnerved by their coffee habits, worried about their hobbies, and uncertain as to whether they actually want to do their subject? Have you watched the light leave someone’s eyes as they hear the phrase ‘commercial awareness’? You may be entitled to compensation from Law Moderations. These exams, taking place in Hilary of first year, contribute to the subject’s pupils being unable to relax, cut off from other subjects, and distant from friends. The University should move Mods to Trinity, for everyone’s sake.

Disclaimer: every subject at Oxford is incredibly stressful. I’m not saying here that law is more difficult, more prestigious, or more impressive than any other. It’s not. I’m saying that making students take exams after 16 weeks of learning does some strange things. Specifically, the isolating nature of Mods creates lawyers who cannot escape their subject, but can’t enjoy it either. I’m also aware that Classicists do Mods in second year. I know nothing about the experience of sitting them, nor about their peculiarities. That’s for someone else to write.

If you don’t take a gap year, there’s just over a month between A-Level results day and starting at Oxford. You’d better have taken advantage of those brief days. The moment you sit down in the week 0 lecture, the only time the Gulbenkian will be standing-room only, you’re plunged into another ice bath: exam season. There are 16 weeks of term between matriculation and the first Moderation. Good luck thinking of anything but that ticking clock.

Immediately, your outlook is skewed. Instead of considering university an opportunity to explore different interests over time, there’s a brick wall on the horizon. Long-term plans never enter the picture when the short-term is so acutely urgent. Get the content down as quickly as possible, churn it into flashcards, write it out as essay plans, repeat. With so much content and so little time, the issues have no space to breathe.

Oxford prides itself on the philosophical elements in its law course. We call it Jurisprudence, after all, and make it a BA rather than an LLB. The beauty of studying law is in the broader picture: stepping back and seeing a tapestry of logic, philosophy, and humanity. You can’t step back when you’re scared you’ll fall. If you’re not given a chance to fall in love with the subject, if the importance of grades is reiterated at every turn, why would you see it as anything other than a means to an end? Great legal minds could be lost or stifled through bad habits they adopted from unnecessary stress.

Extracurriculars provide that long-term thinking, with a progression through the ranks of societies and a real feeling of achievement in a space untouched by jurisprudence. The workload in Michaelmas is enough to obliterate any hope of them. Tutors cover exam content until week 7 of Hilary, so anything in that term would be madness. And at that very point in the term when applications for Trinity open, you aren’t going to be thinking about joining a committee or a newspaper – you’re going to be trying to bash the Offences Against the Person Act into your head. First year dashes by, with nothing but law to show for it.

It’s a pity, because extracurriculars can provide such vital interdisciplinary thinking. I do student journalism, and am interested in other subjects like history. But watching how my peers solve problems, approach writing, approach thinking, have all made me a better lawyer. My essays have changed since my term as a News section editor. My writing is less meandering, more defined.  

First year law is a lonely one. No one goes to lectures and no other subjects are doing exams at the same time. During ‘Trinifree’, your friends have their noses to the grindstone. What’s left but law? There’s pressure to apply for first year days and vacation schemes from the moment Mods ends (if they wait that long). If you’re already used to a structure where you achieve first and ask questions later, practice is a tempting route. It just might pose a problem in an interview when you have no answer for why you want to pursue law. For me, having other options on the table gave me much richer consideration in making my choice. But not everyone has the benefit of that position.  

The worst thing about the placement of Mods isn’t that it turns law students into sleep-deprived caffeine addicts with tunnel vision, although none of that’s great. Law is relatively unique in being a subject most people can’t study before undergraduate. The first two terms of the degree are the very point when the spark of learning could be ignited, but the stress of exams threatens to stifle it forever. I’ve been told by friends that I’m the only lawyer they know who seems to like their subject. Sometimes I wonder if that’s because I started it at A-Level.

So, to any first year lawyers reading this – don’t forget why you wanted to study this subject in the first place. Don’t forget that it isn’t your only option. And hey, if you need a new hobby, Cherwell is always looking for new contributors. 

Student groups unite to tackle homelessness in Oxford

Lily Gage
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Student groups unite to tackle homelessness in Oxford

The Oxford Student Social Action Coalition (OSSAC), a merger between several student homelessness organisations, has been launched. The new organisation will co-ordinate the activities of Turl Street Homeless Action (TSHA), New College Curry Runners, and Food Rescuers. 

The aim of this partnership is to help students work together to support Oxford’s homeless community. They hope to increase visibility of Oxford’s student volunteers’ work and to flag relevant resources and services to volunteers, supporters, and those experiencing homelessness. They will also coordinate projects between the different organisations, direct resources and funding to where they can be utilised most effectively, and support the professional services helping to tackle homelessness in Oxford.

OSSAC has three main aims: to bring food and drink to homeless people in central Oxford; to provide company and listen to those facing a difficult situation; and to bridge the divide between the homeless community and students. The partnership will allow volunteers to work smoothly across OSSAC projects, both during term time and vacation periods.

Anya Gray, OSSAC’s communications and engagement officer, told Cherwell that the coalition came about after “the TSHA committee organised the first Oxfordshire Homeless Conference in October, which brought together student and non-student groups supporting the homeless community”. Euan Warner, the chair of OSSAC, told Cherwell that “it became clear that we were stronger together, and could better prioritise the needs of the end user”. Since then, committees from each organisation have been working together on the merger. 

Warner also told Cherwell that “FoodRescuers and NCCR focus on redistributing leftover food […], while TSHA focuses on homeless outreach, providing hot drinks, hygiene products, and signposting support where necessary”. FoodRescuers’ Project Leader, Darren Lee, told Cherwell: “We all worked in slightly different ways, so we’re hoping that coming together under OSSAC will help us collaborate, share ideas and streamline processes together.”

Any student can get involved with OSSAC, with no formal application or training process required. FoodRescuers work at lunchtime, and TSHA and NCCR work on alternate evenings. Lee particularly encourages sports groups to collaborate with OSSAC. He adds that “in the past, there has been a successful initiative from OURFC committing to covering a shift for TSHA each week’’ and that they want to see more initiatives like this.

OSSAC works closely with its partner organisations, The Porch, The Gatehouse, and Oxfordshire Homeless Movement – all professional charities external to the University of Oxford. The Porch provides a range of services for homeless people in Oxford, such as vocational skills training, laundry and shower facilities, and a library. The Gatehouse works in a similar way, and is a community drop in centre for homeless and vulnerably-housed adults, offering a wide range of free services and activities. 

Warner told Cherwell: “Their insight and support has been an invaluable addition to our work, helping us to improve our service provision, and ensure long term sustainability”, adding that OSSAC is “always looking to increase collaboration, and better integrate with the professional services that play such an important role in the city”. 

Warner told Cherwell that Oxford University needs to be doing more to financially support Oxford’s vital day services for homeless individuals, which he says are a “vital, and invaluable network of support for Oxford’s most vulnerable”, adding that “the University needs to put its money where its mouth is”. The University has been approached for comment.

Nonetheless, the coalition is working closely with University staff and administration to expand their reach, and looking for where Oxford’s student community can be best mobilised to enact positive change for the homeless community. 

Homelessness in Oxford is widespread and has been progressively getting worse. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities found that there was a 70% increase in the number of people sleeping rough in Oxford on a single night from 2023 to 2024. This was significantly higher than the 27% increase across the whole of England. 

Homelessness is a particularly severe issue in Oxford, in part, due to ‘studentification’, a form of gentrification where students dominate housing stock and local rent markets, and because a significant proportion of Oxford’s available housing has been purchased by colleges to be used as accommodation. This has compounded the existing cost of living and housing crisis. 

Rory Stewart’s ‘Middleland: Dispatches from the Borders’ in review

Hassan Akram
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Rory Stewart’s ‘Middleland: Dispatches from the Borders’ in review

Rory Stewart is one of the only politicians of this century who is not also a thoroughly bad writer. With The Places in Between (2004), Occupational Hazards (2006), and The Marches (2016), he had already demonstrated his serious literary gifts, which reached their apex in Politics on the Edge (2023), his greatest success. The latest arrival, Middleland (2025), is not his masterpiece, but it is as much worth reading as any of his work – erudite, perceptive, and beautifully written.  

The book is a collection of local newspaper articles whose unifying thread is the author’s former constituency in Cumbria, embroidered with a series of reflections on the ignorance of politicians, the importance of local democracy in preserving local traditions, and the disconnect between ordinary people and the political class.  

Disconnect is the recurring theme of Stewart’s work – between Iraqis and the Coalition Provisional Authority in Occupational Hazards, between ministers and administrators in Politics on the Edge, and, here, between residents of Cumbria and Whitehall policymakers. “I often felt as though I were translating between two incompatible languages”, he writes: “The language of policy (targets, metrics, frameworks, rollouts) and the language of place (this farm, that family, next winter’s milk production).” 

For example, the British government remains blithely indifferent to the persistent problems of Cumbria’s local economy. Cumbrian farms, which have an average income of £8,000 per year, struggle without government support. Officials, rather than doing anything productive, sit and make “reassuring sounds about the upland farmers’ role in creating and maintaining… ‘rural services’”. The French and Japanese governments, by contrast, recognise the intrinsic value of such farms and support them with subsidies. Why, Stewart asks, can we not do something similar? If we did, we could sustain an increasingly precious connection to a vanished rural past.

In these and similar questions, his genuine care for his former constituency shines through. His book is, if nothing else, a love letter to Cumbria. It describes the geography, its emerald-green slopes, purple moor-grass, and ribbons of industrial-era terraces. There is Cumbrian history, including accounts of the Romans and the Anglo-Scottish wars and an enthusiastic historiographical piece on the meeting of five kings at Eamont Bridge in 927AD. There are ample tributes to the people themselves, to “the eccentricity, the learning, the charm and often the bluntness of a hundred meetings on footpaths”. The fragmentary format is an advantage because we are carried on short surveys from theme to theme in a way that largely sustains the interest, although occasionally Stewart overestimates the extent of the average reader’s enrapturement at Cumbrian minutiae. 3 pages may be rich and engrossing; 30 remain quite enjoyable; 300 risk a deadly overdose. This is not a book to read in one sitting. 

Fortunately, it is not all Cumbria. Interludes in Libya, Edinburgh, and London are very welcome when they arrive. Stewart includes a scintillating piece on Robert Burns and a powerful tribute to his friend, the late journalist Marie Colvin, who was killed reporting from Syria. He is a much better writer when describing a change of scenery. A hotel in North Africa is described with a cinematic economy which would be the envy of most novelists: 

“Last summer, the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli was filled with reporters and photographers. They had propped their laptops on tiny marble tables in the lobby. Waiters brought Turkish coffees, but the reporters’ eyes flicked only from their screens to their phones, checking for messages about Gaddafi’s whereabouts, a recently discovered palace or prison, or a press conference. Only Marie Colvin seemed to look around the room.” 

There remains the question of why these pieces were reprinted in the first place. Some of the articles here are very slight, the kind which the literary executors of some eminent author might reissue a hundred years after they were written to a public hungry for the great man’s unseen jottings and scribblings, but which have no business being reprinted so soon. Stewart could have done better. He has mentioned his abortive attempts at a novel set in the 1940s and I, for one, would certainly like to see Rory Stewart the novelist. In any case, a sensitive, intelligent, widely travelled and experienced writer with his literary gifts has much better books in him than this one.  

Middleland: Dispatches from the Borders by Rory Stewart is available now.

A breakdown in technicolour: ‘Company’ in review

Beatrix Arnold
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A breakdown in technicolour: ‘Company’ in review

With flashing lights and a shower of confetti, Fennec Fox Productions’ Company bursts onto the Playhouse stage to deliver its exuberant portrayal of romantic pessimism, just in time for Valentine’s Day. 

George Furth’s classic ‘concept’ musical (1970), centered around the life of middle-aged New Yorker Bobby (Aaron Gelkoff), takes the audience through a series of vignettes, grounded by the repeated scene of Bobby’s 35th birthday. With the unifying themes of marriage, relationships, and commitment threaded throughout, the play explores a range of perspectives on romantic love, focalised through Bobby’s married friends.

The play is very much character-driven, and the cast do not fail to do it justice. Gelkoff’s performance achieves the impossible: making me actually feel sorry for a straight, middle-aged man living in New York. In spite of the character’s fundamental unlikeability, and his penchant for blurting out the wrong thing at the wrong time (how does he have so many friends in his 30s?), his compelling charisma and witty delivery establish an easy rapport with the audience, so that they find themselves invested in each revelation about his shallow life. 

The show’s specificity, capturing the zeitgeist of 70s New York, means that it’s difficult to ensure its continued pertinence, particularly when transposed to 21st century Oxford. The production veers away from overt modernisation, and leans into the 70s aesthetic, from marujiana-smoking hippies to tracksuit-wearing dieters. Yet far from alienating the modern audience, the play’s themes of frustrated connection continue to resonate, even among students, so that the production’s decision to situate it within its original context ultimately emphasises the perennial nature of its concerns. 

The standout performance is Rosie Sutton’s Amy, delivering the iconic number ‘Getting Married Today’ with a manic intensity that vacillates between hilarious and alarming. The hurtling momentum of the patter song gives the impression of spiralling panic, belying her masterful breath control. Such an emotionally fraught scene was pushed to comic extremes by the zany juxtaposition of her anxiety and the serene trilling of the priest. 

The live music from the orchestra, if a little too loud at times, cleverly punctuates the action, with jaunty riffs and well-timed bursts of melody. Sondheim’s score is played with brilliant vivacity; its insistent intrusions aptly reflect the suffocating aspects of social life as Bobby is surrounded on all sides by a barrage of conflicting demands on his attention. 

The high-level choreography is a highlight, accompanying the songs with endlessly energetic and impressively synchronised dance routines. The fast pace and high intensity of many of the numbers, such as ‘Company’ or ‘You Could Drive a Person Crazy’, means that the slower songs drag a little. This was the case with ‘Sorry-Grateful’ (the ‘Mister Cellophane’ of the musical), which, although the singing was of a high quality, was comparatively underwhelming. 

Holly Rust’s set, mimicking an indoor soft play area, is perhaps a little heavy-handed in its metaphorical import, but definitely makes the show visually arresting, and contributes greatly to its physical comedy as characters enter the main stage area via a brightly-coloured slide. The pair of swings, descending from the ceiling, are an ingenious conceit, transforming seamlessly from playground swings into overhead handrails on the subway, before being used as the vehicle by which Bobby is literally pulled back and forth by his friends. The fire exit door through which Bobby departs at the finale amid a stream of white light was a little on-the-nose, reminiscent of The Truman Show. 

The play as a whole is characterised by a certain superficial profundity, projecting the vacuous impression of emotional, and even philosophical, depth onto the actions of a largely unexceptional man. But this is, of course, a result of Furth’s script, not any failing on the part of Fennec Fox Productions, and the energy invested into the performances more than makes up for this. 

The awkward niceties of social life are pushed enjoyably ad absurdum, with the music, staging, and visuals lending the drama an exaggerated, sitcom-esque aspect. As the action redoubles, smoothing the boundaries between past events and counterfactuals, it indulges in a kind of oneiric surrealism, a breakdown in technicolour. The production was a well-executed marriage of humour – physical, visual, and sonic – and cynicism, a vastly entertaining staging of this musical theatre classic.

Hague speaks at Oxford Politics Society

Angela Yu and Edmund Remington
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Hague speaks at Oxford Politics Society

Chancellor Lord William Hague addressed students at a keynote event hosted by the Oxford Politics Society last Thursday, warning of a “new chapter in the history of the world”.

Discussing his early political beginnings as a 16-year-old speaking at the Conservatives’ 1977 Annual National Conference and his career as Foreign Secretary and Leader of the Conservative Party, Hague addressed the “destabilising” changes in international relations, which require “the United Kingdom to re-energise itself, to use its greatest strengths to recover some of its traction, its power in the world”.

Alluding to the actions of US President Donald Trump, Hague noted that “we can start to see what happens when you don’t have enough power to uphold international law, and protect our allies”.

Reflecting on mistakes he made as Leader of the Opposition, Hague told the audience: “I wish I’d known… that politics is not just about giving people a set of policies you think they agree with… they are interested in the story you are telling about the country, and they are interested in the values you hold as an individual.”

Lord Hague outlined a “far greater divergence of views” now than the “relatively stable world” of 2010, when he chaired the Conservative negotiating team for the Coalition government. The former Foreign Secretary under David Cameron cautioned the development of politics into “versions of right and left-wing populism”.

 “I do think it is very important in the political system to have parties which are roughly called centre-right, or indeed centre-left.”

Discussing his former counterpart at the dispatch box, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Hague said they “can’t think of anything to disagree over anymore”. He noted similarities between the Conservative Party’s Position now and under his leadership from 1997-2001, and compared both to the Terminator restoring itself one finger at a time, noting “it takes time to recover”.

Commenting on the current Government, he praised Prime Minister Keir Starmer for “doing so many of the right things” on the international stage: “I do sympathise with Keir Starmer… having to phone President Trump every few days.”

At the start of the event, the Chancellor was asked about his experience of student politics whilst a student at Oxford. Lord Hague, a former President of the Oxford University Conservative Association and the Oxford Union, urged others to have a “more varied student life than the one [he] had”. 

Nonetheless, he insisted it was his university experience that gave him the “practical experience of politics”, with the Oxford Union offering experience “directly helpful for British parliamentary politics”. “[Politics] is the one forum in which you can affect change that affects millions of people.”

Hague highlighted his work on the Disability Discrimination Act as the proudest achievement of his political life: “Perhaps I was wasting my time half the time I was in politics, but if you can do things like that, perhaps it’s worth it, and you’ll tell young people, ‘Do get involved in politics’.”

Speaking exclusively to Cherwell after the event, Lord Hague affirmed that he has had good relations with Labour ministers since becoming Chancellor, including regular contact with Liz Kendall, the Secretary of State for Science, and the Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology Lord Patrick Vallance.

“I know Lord Vallance well, and he’s very supportive of the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor… they’re doing some welcome things.”

Lord Hague told Cherwell about the University’s own approach to preparing students for global changes, particularly around artificial intelligence, and defended the University’s decision to provide free access to ChatGPT Edu to students. Lord Hague said: “I think it is the right approach. We have to be at the forefront of AI. There are major issues about how we preserve the full faculties of the human mind while doing that. But the answer is not to shut ourselves off from it… a great university is where we work these things out.

“Humanities [subjects] also have an absolutely crucial role in determining how we respond to all of these things, and again, it’s in Oxford that we could really bring that to bear.”

The Chancellor expressed his desire to “go to student societies, as much as time allows”, adding a responsibility to meet with students to the “normal role” of a Chancellor across his 10-year term. He told Cherwell: “It’s not normally part of what the Chancellor does… I do personally, not only from a point of view of personal enjoyment but in order to be able to represent the university, I do think it’s important to [interact with] students.”

President of the Oxford Politics Society Ralph Armitage told Cherwell: “I think giving him a chance to talk to, to hear from students from different parts of student political standpoints… is super valuable.”

Speaking to Cherwell, one attendee described Hague’s appearance as “incredibly insightful”, whilst another felt Hague was succeeding in his role as Chancellor, “managing the situation very well despite difficult circumstances”.

Another student attending the event told Cherwell that Hague “seemed to be doing a good job” but “it would be nice to hear more about what he is up to”.

At the end of the Q&A session, Lord Hague was asked about the BBC TV show Traitors: “I’m a very faithful person, but I was trained in Oxford politics to be a traitor.”

Magdalen Fellow wins 2025 Banipal Prize for Arabic translation

Lara Murrani
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Magdalen Fellow wins 2025 Banipal Prize for Arabic translation

Professor Marilyn Booth, a Magdalen College Emeritus Fellow, has won the 2025 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic literary translation for her translation of Zahran Alqasmi’s Honey Hunger. The judges praised its “exquisite language and style” and its rendering of an Omani setting in English.

The Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize is an annual award, founded in 2006, for translators bringing contemporary Arabic literature to English-speaking readers, and is administered by the Society of Authors and the Banipal Trust. Booth’s prize will be formally awarded by the Society of Authors on 10th February.

Honey Hunger follows a troubled young man, Azzan, grappling with an alcohol addiction, who finds purpose through beekeeping and honey gathering. The book is a technical exploration of the mechanics of honey harvesting, as well as an exploration of past and present. The book also revolves around a romance, Booth told Cherwell: “I’ll leave it to readers to discover more.”

Booth told Cherwell her translation began from “love for the book”. She took the unusual step of completing it before she had a publisher, despite the risk. She described working through many drafts, each with a slightly different focus, and doing substantial research as a result of the novel’s focus on wild bees and ecology in Oman. She told Cherwell: “Never in my life have I learned so many tree names.” 

Alongside the technical detail came the problems of translation to an English audience. In Honey Hunger, the villagers and the Bedouin do not understand each other’s Arabic as a result of the language’s great variety of spoken dialects. Booth said conveying that dissonance in English was “compelling” but “almost impossible”, requiring the translator to “come inside somehow” and participate in the novel’s conversations.

Professor Tina Phillips, who chaired the judging panel, called Booth’s translation a “masterclass” that “seamlessly transports the reader to distant mountain landscapes of Oman”. 
Booth, an Emeritus Fellow at Magdalen and scholar of Arabic language and literature, is an internationally acclaimed translator. She told Cherwell she hopes the prize draws more readers to Arabic literature, adding that “given what is happening in today’s world, literary translation seems more important than ever”.

Oxford University did not suspend professor investigated for rape

Arina Makarina and Gaspard Rouffin
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Oxford University did not suspend professor investigated for rape

CW: Rape, sexual assault

An emeritus professor at the Saïd Business School, who is also a fellow of an Oxford college, was investigated for rape by Thames Valley Police (TVP). He remains in his positions at the University of Oxford despite the accusations, which were made by a female academic. Emeritus status allows individuals to keep using University premises.

Cherwell understands that the professor was arrested and interviewed by TVP in relation to allegations of rape, and was later released on bail. Based on the available evidence, the police decided not to bring a charge against him. 

This decision was challenged, and there is an ongoing judicial review into the matter. The professor denied the allegations when questioned by TVP. The professor declined to comment on the matter when approached by Cherwell.

Cherwell understands that the academic who alleged that she was raped alerted the University of the situation, and asked for protection as well as restrictive measures to be implemented. The University did not formally investigate the professor, and did not restrict his access to premises or remove his emeritus status.

The University of Oxford told Cherwell: “Sexual harassment has no place at Oxford. Our sympathies and thoughts are with anyone who has experienced harassment or misconduct. We take concerns seriously, applying robust procedures. Support for those affected is a priority, and we take precautionary and/or disciplinary action where justified. 

“We reject any suggestion that the University tolerates harassment or puts reputation before people’s safety. While we cannot comment on individual cases, we are committed to continuous improvement and have strengthened our approach over recent years. Our online Single Comprehensive Source of Information sets out our approach, support and training and we encourage anyone who has a concern to raise it.”

Professor’s College

Cherwell understands that the college where the professor is a fellow did not place any restrictions on his access to college grounds after being made aware of the rape allegations, and did not take any measures to suspend his fellowship. The college was approached by Cherwell for comment.

The professor served on the Governing Body of his college for over 10 years. Members of the Governing Body of Oxford colleges are also charity trustees, and have legal duties and are “ultimately responsible” for safeguarding according to the Charity Commission.

At least one Oxford college – but not his own – has placed a ban on the professor entering premises after being made aware of the allegations against him. However, the University of Oxford – which manages central buildings including faculties, departments, and libraries – has not.

The professor also holds a research position at another public university abroad. This university did not respond to Cherwell’s request for comment.

Saïd Business School

The academic who submitted the complaint against the professor later sought help from the Dean of Saïd Business School at the time, Professor Dutta. It was reported that, after the academic went to Dutta for help regarding her original complaint, Dutta propositioned her. He allegedly said: “I feel very attracted to you. Can something happen between us?” Dutta denied making the comment.

Dutta resigned in August following a five-month investigation by the University, which upheld three allegations that he sexually harassed a female academic. The University of Oxford had stated that “stepped down as dean of Saïd Business School and has now left the University”.

According to a Bloomberg investigation, Saïd Business School hired Dutta as dean despite knowing that he had earlier resigned as dean of the business school at Cornell University following a “personal relationship with a junior employee”. 

In a statement to The Times regarding his resignation, Dutta said: “I deeply regret causing any distress or offence by anything I said, and it was never my intention to be anything other than supportive of my former colleague”, and declined to further comment citing an ongoing dispute. 

Last May, a letter by the faculty and staff of the Business School expressed “deep concern regarding the lack of communication and support” surrounding the investigation process.

Cherwell understands that the professor does not currently face any restrictions regarding access to the Business School premises, and that he still holds his emeritus professorship. Access to Saïd Business School is managed separately from access to other University premises and entry to the facilities requires a separate access card. 

Saïd Business School did not respond to Cherwell’s request for comment.

Hewstone and New College

The Times revealed earlier this month that the University of Oxford “withheld information about harassment claims”. Miles Hewstone, former fellow of New College and professor of Social Psychology, resigned from his full time post in April 2019 following an investigation over alleged harassment. 

The University declined to share the details of the internal investigation with New College, claiming that the information was confidential. Hewstone retained his University emeritus professor status and remained an emeritus fellow at New College until last November, when his status was removed following probes from the media.

Similar to the Saïd Business School emeritus professor, Hewstone’s emeritus status allowed him to continue using University facilities, and Oxford University credentials when lecturing around the world.

A number of women have shared their experience of being sexually harassed by Hewstone. They reported him making “very blunt” comments about wanting sexual relationships, and one academic reported that Hewstone touched her sexually without her consent.  

The British Academy, the European Association of Social Psychology, and the Society of Australasian Social Psychologists submitted a joint letter asking whether it was safe to invite Hewstone to attend conferences given reports that Hewstone had “abused his position of power in harassing students and young scholars dependent on his guidance”. Oxford declined to respond and referred the organisations to Hewstone. 

Sexual misconduct

Speaking exclusively to Cherwell, Anna Bull, the founder of the 1752 Group, an advocacy group addressing sexual misconduct in higher education, said that “gendered power imbalances are a risk factor for sexual harassment. At Oxford, 75% of professors are men, which creates a conductive context for sexual harassment abd violence towards more junior staff as well as students”.

Bull said that “Oxford has been much slower than other universities” to address accusations of sexual harassment and violence. For instance, Universities UK, an advocacy group for higher education institutions, issued guidance in 2016 for tackling harassment and sexual misconduct, which according to the 1752 Group was “only implemented in Oxford last year, in 2025, so it has been over 9 years later since other universities have had this in place”.

Bull said that this was “indicative of Oxford’s lack of prioritisation of this issue, and… even though they are now taking action on addressing student sexual violence and harassment, it remains a huge issue at the University”.

She added that “staff perpetuating sexual harassment towards students or other staff has been really slow to be addressed. Oxford has really serious questions to answer about how they are keeping students and staff safe”.

A 2021 study from the University of Oxford, based on over 25,000 respondents in higher education in the UK found that 52.7% of respondents experienced at least one act of sexual harassment, with most acts of sexual violence taking place at the University. It also found that women experienced the highest rates of sexual violence.

According to Thames Valley Police figures, the rape conviction rate in Oxford was around 2.2% in 2024.  

If you have been affected by issues in this article:

  • You can access support from the 1752 group, an advocacy group for addressing sexual misconduct in the UK higher education sector.
  • You can seek free confidential legal advice and information on the law in England and Wales, specifically on Violence Against Women and Girls from a UK charity Rights of Women.
  • Academic staff can make a complaint regarding sexual misconduct or bullying to the University and College Union(UCU). Likewise, you may contact UCU’s confidential email [email protected]or call their dedicated helpline on 0800 138 872.
  • If you are having trouble having your complaint acted on or taken up by your institution, you can escalate it by using the institution’s whistleblowing policy. Whistleblowers UK provide advice for those who are considering taking this step.
  • You can access the University’s Sexual Harassment & Violence Support Service for confidential, specialist support (no report required). The service includes an Independent Sexual Violence Adviser (ISVA).  Sexual Harassment and Violence Support Service | University of Oxford.

Lost and found: The art of translation

Beatrix Arnold
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Lost and found: The art of translation

In undergraduate Classics, translation is an unforgiving exercise, demanding almost mathematical precision. I’ve spent excruciating hours poring over lexicons and grammar books, only to face reproof for neglecting the odd particle. When so many English versions of ancient texts already exist, not to mention digital translation resources, it’s easy to question why we bother.  

Yet translation should be more than mechanic substitution. It demands that the translator acts as a conduit, conveying the intricacies of emotion, style, and intention, while negotiating the hurdles of linguistic complexity. It involves a degree of compromise, balancing fidelity to the original with creative interpretation. When a piece of literature is transposed into the idiom of a new age, a new culture, each adaptation becomes a radical re-reading, not a straightforward reproduction. Rather than representing the work as a historical artefact, mute and moribund on the page, the process of translation can shore up unmined meanings. In ancient languages, with a comparatively restricted vocabulary, each word is capable of being expressed in English in multiple ways, giving rise to vastly divergent interpretations. Word choice becomes a declaration of intent. As the translator Emily Wilson points out, the Odyssey’s opening line, which Fagles translates as “Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns”, could equally be rendered as “Tell me about a straying husband”, a very different framework for the same Greek words.  

Things inevitably slip through the cracks; wordplay in particular demands more than a literal translation. For instance, Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest in French translation frequently becomes L’importance d’être Constant, replicating the pun by renaming the protagonist, yet losing out on the connotations of deceptiveness. Moreover, there are concepts so tethered to their specific language that they defy straightforward translation. How far the unfamiliar should be domesticated is a consequential choice – is it better to retain culturally specific allusions, or facilitate understanding through parallels or explanations? English translations of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet embed words of dialect, a deliberate choice to ensure that the work remains firmly rooted in its original context, with its particular local colour. The rhythms of each language, which determine much of literature’s emotional impact, are likewise impossible to reproduce exactly. Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin, for example, is widely regarded as untranslatable, owing to the intricacy of its rhyme scheme, and the unique musicality of the Russian. The best that can be achieved is adaptation: Deborah Smith in her translations of Han Kang – The Vegetarian (2015) and Human Acts (2016) – attempts to emulate the cadence of the Korean, its repetitions and underspecifications, resulting in a stark prose that enhances the tragedy.  

The insistence on preserving the original essentially untampered with is futile; excessive hand-wringing over what is being lost in the process can only stunt creativity. Translation is, in a sense, a work of realignment – nothing can remain fixed. Since utter fidelity to the original source is impossible, the objective should be to create something that works in one’s own language, a discrete piece of art, so that the translator is effectively another writer of the same book. The boundaries of language are always permeable – a good translator is an unscrupulous gerrymanderer.  

After all, translation is an inherently malleable concept, and does not necessarily signify replication of the source material. Language is not exclusively about designation, but the meanings hovering between statements, the conveyance of a mood, a perspective, an intention. There is no need, then, for translation to adhere to semantic, generic, or even formal boundaries. In this expansive spirit, Louis and Celia Zukofsky wrote homophonic translations of the poet Catullus, rendering not only the meaning but also the actual sounds of the Latin into English (miser Catulle becomes “Miss her, Catullus?”). Anne Carson went even further in her ‘translation’ of Catullus’ poem 101, an elegy for the death of his brother; Carson’s version constitutes a single long sheet of paper folded concertina style into a box entitled Nox, an epitaphic reflection on her own brother’s passing. How far then can we push the definition of translation? What’s to stop any response to a literary work being considered a translation – is Petersen’s Troy (2004), for example, a translation of the Iliad (despite it being a terrible film)? 

The politics of translation are similarly complex. To translate a literary work into another language is, in a sense, to appropriate it from its original context for the enjoyment of another set of people. Taken further, a French translation of, say, an Arabic text could be viewed as an implicitly colonial act, while the ubiquity of English translations raises the spectre of global monolingualism. But surely this kind of engagement can be part of a dialogue, not an act of imperialistic plunder? Accessibility is the most fundamental objective of translation; widening the reach of a literary work is a conservationist practice, sustaining and invigorating its author’s voice, rather than an attenuation of its power. It is not sufficient for a translator to be merely a linguistic intermediary; the practice demands cultural proficiency and a profound understanding of the recipient language. The art of translation is one of bridging cultural divides, so that literature may resonate with readers worldwide. Such interaction eases the discomfort of translingual encounters and fosters cross-cultural understanding. 

It is this notion of a participatory culture via translation that enriches the literary tradition – Goethe wrote that “every literature grows bored if it is not refreshed by foreign participation”. Translation does more than keep the original alive (although sometimes I wish we’d just let Latin die); it also vivifies the recipient language, traversing linguistic boundaries to provide access to unfamiliar cultures, concepts, and perspectives. The translator is literary critic, co-author, cultural ambassador, and, most importantly, close reader, engaging in a fundamentally creative practice. So perhaps it’s misguided to ask what gets lost in translation. The more pertinent question is what may be found.

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