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Orwell: a deserving modern hero

Melissa Hussain
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Orwell: a deserving modern hero

George Orwell should be declared a modern hero. The Etonian rebel was an interesting character, for he voluntarily subjected himself to poverty for many years between Paris and London. He eagerly wrote about his dreadful experiences, sprinkling his writing with stories of the British Empire, from Marrakech to Burma. He echoed the oppression of indigenous peoples, often subject to the brutal shortcomings of imperialism. As a result, Orwell’s books are woven into the fabric of British society. He pioneered a political dictionary of phrases, including ‘Doublethink’, ‘Big Brother’, ‘freedom is slavery’, and ‘all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others’. These phrases come from his written commentary of the Soviet Union and other totalitarian regimes across Europe. After fighting in the Spanish Civil War against fascism, Orwell took on the responsibility of educating his readers from the frontlines. 

As with many dystopian writers, Orwell made predictions that would come true several decades later. I once asked myself whether some political leaders used his infamous novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, as a political bible. Principally, he predicted that technology and economic growth would lead to powerful, oligarchic regimes with concentrated wealth. Orwell’s writing is readable and that is one of the greatest things about it. He unravels his complicated observations into enriching narratives.

I shall list, in no particular order, which essays and books I would recommend you read. This week marks seventy years since the prolific author’s death, but his work and attitudes continue to live on, and I am thus proud to present the following recommendations.  

A Hanging: an essay describing the tragedy of the abysmal justice system in Burma, an ensuing weakness of British colonial rule.

Why I Write: This essay is a lovely complement to Orwell’s other works. We directly hear from him and the burdens he felt as a writer. 

The Spike: Orwell talks of his experience at a miserly workhouse. Workhouses were places where the destitute of British society would go and work for free, in return for food and accommodation. 

Some Thoughts on the Common Toad: Orwell talks on the sublimity of nature and denies that it is a bourgeois exercise to seek pleasure from it.

Shooting an Elephant: Culture clashes can be traumatic, and this essay is an example of that. However, we are likely to take Orwell’s stance, because as the title suggests, this culture clash refers to the treatment of animals by officials.

Nineteen Eighty-Four: Perhaps you should start with Nineteen Eighty-Four, as Orwell offers a rich commentary of politics, economics and sociology, using an adventurous and heart-wrenching story.

Animal Farm:This novella can be read as a lovely bedtime story for children, but once you delve deeper, you will realise that Orwell has described the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union.

Why the Poor Die: While this is self-explanatory, Orwell is able to create a very clear image of what poverty was like in his time, but the sentiments still remain universal. This is a crucial essay, if one wants to feel empathy for those in need. 

Politics and the English Language: Orwell gives the best tips on how to write well, with great context.

Pleasure Spots: Orwell talks about holidays. This is an insightful snippet of British culture, and how it has evolved.

All of the works I have suggested have major relevance today, even Pleasure Spots. The essay explains modern consumption habits and criticises mankind’s new methods of finding happiness.While I am not a political leader who uses Nineteen Eighty-Four as a bible, Orwell’s books have provided me with much guidance on not what to do. Moreover, he is more than his criticism of left-wing and right-wing politics: he teaches the importance of peace against power, freedom against slavery and love against hatred. It is no wonder why today’s writers still roar on about Orwellian warnings and why the world is not as bad as it might be. Seventy years on, we have Orwell to thank for that.

Top Ten Sporting Moments of 2019

Joe Hyland Deeson and Betty Barber
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Top Ten Sporting Moments of 2019

1st June: Liverpool become Champions of Europe

Unlike many of the events on this list, if you ask anyone where they were on 1st June, they probably won’t recall watching the abjectly dull match which brought an end to the 2018-2019 Champions League, with Liverpool goals at either end sandwiching long spells of Tottenham possession. However, it was nevertheless significant, not only for crowning Liverpool champions of Europe for the sixth time (double the victories of their rivals Manchester United), but for capping off a tournament dominated by some of the most memorable European club matches in recent history. Ajax’s remarkable run to the semi finals took them past Real Madrid and Juventus, where they were eliminated in unlikely fashion by Spurs, who themselves had beaten Manchester City on away goals in a thrilling second leg 4-3 loss at the Etihad. The Final struggled to live up to the excitement and intensity of the other matches of the competition, but Liverpool must be admired for their victory, even more so after they added the UEFA Super Cup and 2019 World Club Cup to their trophy cabinet.

11th June: Women’s World Cup 13-0 Record 

June saw the heaviest defeat in World Cup history as an unstoppable USA triumphed 13-0 in a “thumping” match against Thailand in the opening game in France. Goals came thick and fast for the best ranked team in the world, who scored, on average, every seven minutes. Alex Morgan scored five times for the Americans, bolstered by Rose Lavelle and Samantha Lewis, with six goals coming in a breathless closing sixteen minutes. This created an atmosphere charged with shock and awe in Reims. While hardly a surprise win for one of the best funded teams at the tournament, the manner of victory was astounding, and it is unlikely that it will be surpassed at a major international tournament in the future. 

1st July: Breakout star Coco Gauff at Wimbledon

Teenage dreams really can come true and did for 15 year old American Coco Gauff at Wimbledon. She broke history as the youngest athlete to qualify for the main draw and proved herself as the one-to-watch when she beat the world renowned Williams sister, Venus, in straight sets (6-4 6-4). Although she is recognised as the 68th best player in the world, this victory against Williams cemented her as a true contender, as she is the youngest player to win in the first round of the ladies’ singles since 1991. 

14th July & 25th August: Ben Stokes Magic

It would be difficult to recall English sport in the summer of 2019 without allocating significant time to the two legendary moments provided in successive months by Ben Stokes. The first was in July, when England hosted the World Cup. Requiring two sixes in the final over simply to level the Final, Stokes then led the charge in the Super Over as England scored 15, equalled by New Zealand, and the result was determined on the number of boundaries scored in the match. With the boundary comeback rule now abolished by the ICC in future events, this will never be repeated. And just as Stokes has provided one of the most memorable moments in recent international sport, he outdid even himself at the second ashes test a month later. England, bowled out for 67 in their first innings, achieved their highest winning total in history with a second innings score of 362-9 to level the series at 1-1. This was largely thanks to Stokes, who scored 135. Credit must also be given to the unlikely cameo played by Jack Leach, whose partnership with Stokes saw 76 runs scored – 1 by Leach, 75 by Stokes – both cementing their places as sporting legends.

6th August: The Time Trial to Change the History of the Transcontinental Race 

Are women as able as men? The age-old question answered was assertively by Fiona Kolbinger. The German Cancer Researcher is the first woman ever to win the Transcontinental Cycling Race. She stole the victory from Ben Davies by close to six hours, managing to ride across Europe in an awe-inspiring 10 days, 2 hours and 48 minutes. Thrashing a field of 224 men and 40 women, this athlete demonstrated that women are just as capable as men when given the right training, opening up the sport to more head-to-head intergender competition. 

12th August: Nike Changes Maternity Policy

It may not be a sporting event, but it certainly was one of the most memorable moments of the year in sport: athletes Alysia Montano, Kara Goucher and Allyson Felix’s bravely calling out Nike for their inadequate maternity policies. These forced athletes back into training straight after giving birth and held back on sponsorship until the athletes returned to competition. The trio shared their stories individually, and as a result, have improved the rights for many athletes as major changes in Nike’s Maternity Policy have been made. Now, female athletes will not be “adversely impacted financially for pregnancy” for 18 months, which is 6 months more than the previous policy allowed for. This demonstrated how powerful sharing can be and implies that women are finally being taken more seriously in sport.  

2nd October: Dina Asher-Smith sets British Record

Although there were many issues surrounding attendance at the World Championships at Doha, there was a strong contingent of Union Jacks in the stadium to celebrate the first British Gold medal in sprinting since Linford Christie in 1993. In a British Record of 21.88 seconds, Asher-Smith was never in doubt. While many saw victory as a formality in the build-up to the race, this should not take away from this stellar achievement.


4th October: Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s new British Heptathlon Record 

In an excellent few days for British female athletes with double-barrelled surnames, Doha was stunned as the heptathlon was won by Katarina Johnson-Thompson who blew Belgian Nafissatou Thiam out of the water with a landslide victory of 204-points, the best in the sport since 1987. In her mission to beat her main competitor, she set four personal bests and managed to surpass household name Jessica Ennis-Hill’s 2012 British record of 6,955 for a total of 6,981, putting her sixth in the all-time Heptathlon records.

12th October: Kipchoge’s Marathon

Yes, it did not set an official record. Yes, it involved a team of runners working for around him. And no, it was not an open event using the standard rules. But Eliad Kipchoge’s remarkable marathon time of 1:59:40 remains the Roger Bannister moment of our generation. Working with a team including Team Sky’s Sir Dave Brailsford and with the backing of Britain’s richest person Jim Ratcliffe, Kipchoge ran through 26 miles and 385 yards of Vienna in a time many had long deemed impossible. An incredible feat of endurance, it set a standard of human performance that will be difficult to surpass. With every detail calculated, including the use of a revolutionary inverse running formation, this event set a notable record in what some would describe at the purest form of sport.

19th & 26th October: England Come Close in Japan

On successive Saturday mornings, the England men’s rugby team won stunning victories against Australia and New Zealand to make their first World Cup Final since 2007. Barely tested until the quarter final, The  Wallabies were ruthlessly dispatched by a score of 40-16, with England holding a commanding lead for much of the game. In a more than convincing attacking performance, it was the young back row pairing of Tom Curry and Sam Underhill who were given the most praise as fans began to dream that a team from the Northern Hemisphere could lift the World Cup for only the second time. This match’s elevation as one of the finest England performances in recent memory lasted just a week before it was completely overshadowed by victory against New Zealand. Simply for the iconic image of Owen Farrell smiling in the face of the Haka, let alone the stunning victory that followed, this game will live long in the memory. The All Black’s had not lost a World Cup match in 12 years before Eddie Jones’ side pulled off a classic underdog victory, leading from the second minute through a Manu Tuilagi try and taking them to the Final. It was not to be against a blistering South African side, but this remained a fine tournament for English rugby.

We recognise that these moments barely scratch the surface when it comes to the entire year of sport, however we feel that these events are significant not only in demonstrating athletic potential and excellence, but also in making the field of sport more accessible for future generations. Honourable mentions should also go to Australian batsman Steve Smith, for his impressive record over the course of the year, Tiger Woods, for winning his first major tournament in a decade, and swimmer Caeleb Dressel, who won a record eight medals at the World Aquatics Championships

A feast for the eyes: are we obsessed with photographing our meals?

Katie Schutte
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A feast for the eyes: are we obsessed with photographing our meals?

Gone are the days when grace was exchanged before eating a meal. Now, Instagramming our food has become the standard ritual, digitally feasting with our eyes before our forks. With over 216m posts under #foodporn, ranging from radiant acacia bowls to greasy pizzas (the world’s most Instagrammed meal), the internet has its fair share of the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to food.
Recently, the celebrity Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal criticised diners for photographing their meals before eating them, complaining the food would get cold. Unless his restaurant operates on a radical no-lights or candles-only system (which would certainly be one way to address climate change), then phone shutter speeds are usually 1/250th of a second, faster than a human blink… hardly long enough to leave the food stone cold. But perhaps Heston has a point. Is our culture so obsessed with appearances that even food is a visual experience rather than one of taste or smell?
Let’s be honest: for some, it’s an opportunity to show off. Do we really care if you’re having an avocado toast after a post-morning run? Food has become glamourized, a status symbol that feeds into our consumer society and fuels our lifestyle aspirations as we associate particular foods with certain values or habits. Some restaurant chains have even banned customers from taking photos of their food, arguing it distracts them from their experience, both of the food eaten and the people they are with. Look at it from their perspective: why are customers checking their phones every five minutes to see how many people approve of their meal, when their gratification is on the plate right in front of them?
And yet, is it not an experience you are documenting, rather than food alone? A photo tells a story in a thousand words: who you ate with, where you ate, the cultural aspect. Food is integral to everyone’s life, a universal experience inherently communal, so should people like Heston really be criticising those that celebrate and share it? Besides, it’s basically free advertisement for restaurants and food brands alike by encouraging others to purchase the products too.
There are plenty of tips online for photographing food: deep bowls block lighting, plates with wide rims are distracting, neutral backgrounds are best, it goes on…
But what matters is the motivation behind the photograph. It is merely to brag, or to celebrate an experience with friends and family, to share recipes that inspire others, or to make a memory tangible and permanent?

Review: Dans le Noir

Simone Fraser
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Review: Dans le Noir

Have you ever seen About Time? It’s not a requirement to read this article, but if you happen to have watched arguably the greatest rom-com of the past decade then ‘Dans Le Noir’, the restaurant where I spent a unique evening last week, will have an extra layer of intrigue. In one of the first scenes of the movie, the protagonist is roped into going to a special restaurant with his friend, where he meets and falls in love with his future wife. That restaurant, though, is not your ordinary London eatery. Dans Le Noir is, as the name may suggest, entirely, completely pitch black.

When I say the restaurant is pitch black, I mean it. There is no chink of light, no vague silhouette – you cannot see anything at all. In order for the restaurant to function, Dans Le Noir chooses to employ blind waiters, which, according to its website, aims to invoke “a moment of positive empathy that breaks our preconceived ideas of disability”. I was led to the table completely helpless, one hand on the shoulder of our waiter, with my friend’s hand on mine, trying not to trip over my own feet or bump into any of the other guests. As in About Time, you’re seated on a long table with other guests, but other than a parting “enjoy your evening” to the lone woman to the right of me, we didn’t engage in any chit-chat with other people, partly because it’s hard to actually know how far away they are.

The experience of eating in darkness had benefits and downsides. Something that neither I nor my friend had expected was the sense of panic you get when first seated. Being unable to see anything at all is a scary sensation, even when you’re prepared for and expecting it, and although it passed after a minute (I would recommend closing your eyes to acclimatize), it did make us both a little apprehensive for the first few minutes about how much we would enjoy the experience. It’s pretty hard to eat like you normally would in the restaurant, and both of us gave up on cutlery after a few minutes, reverting to using our hands. Not necessarily the most dignified meal I’ve ever had, but it was pretty good fun.

That said, eating in the dark allowed me and my companion to have a more intimate and honest conversation than is always possible in the harsh light of day. Once we’d both relaxed, the blackness allowed us both to feel comfortable in a way that’s not always the case in a public restaurant, where it’s easy to feel strangely observed or awkward. It might have been the ‘surprise cocktail’ (which tasted a lot like slightly jazzed up vodka and orange juice), but I found myself discussing more personal topics than I think I’d have felt comfortable doing in an average setting.

The meal was, if nothing else, surprising. Instead of choosing your food, you’re instead given a tasting menu, told to pick the number of courses, one of three menus – red (meat), blue (fish), or green (vegan/vegetarian), and inform your waiter of any dietary requirements. With no way of seeing what you’re getting, you have to put complete trust in your chef and simply tuck in, with no knowledge of what it is you’re about to taste. We opted for three courses, both slightly apprehensive of what we were letting ourselves into, but we shouldn’t have been worried. Although I can’t fully disclose the secret of what we actually ate (which is revealed to you at the end of the experience), it featured a range of ingredients, from perfectly cooked lamb to possibly the best sticky-toffee-style cake I have ever tasted. Even my friend, who can be quite picky, was completely satisfied with his meal. It’s clear that the restaurant does not just rely on the gimmick of eating in the dark, but puts effort into creating a delicious culinary experience, too. I did feel, though, that the inability to see the food, whilst providing a fun novelty experience, removed a layer of pleasure that comes from seeing food of such high quality.

Overall, Dans Le Noir was a meal like I’ve never had before, and I’m very glad that I had the experience. That being said, I don’t think I’d go again: although I could just about justify spending a scary amount of money as a celebration of my friend’s 21st birthday, you could, it has to be admitted, probably get food that was just as good for about half the price. You are paying extra for the experience of eating in the dark, ultimately a novelty rather than something that truly improved the experience. I would encourage you all to go with an open mind, and the realization that eating in the dark is an entirely different experience to what you might have imagined.

Kate Tempest: the protest voice of a generation

Max Spokes
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Kate Tempest: the protest voice of a generation

“The whole thing’s becoming/Such a bumbling farce/Was that a pivotal historical moment/We just went stumbling past?”

Not enough people have heard of Kate Tempest. These words come from the final track, ‘People’s Faces’, in her latest album released in 2019, The Book of Traps and Lessons. After a difficult year, rounding off an even harder decade for so many people in our country and around the world, Tempest deserves to be listened to.

On Twitter (the glorious yet grizzly child of the 2010s) I read a Tweet about how ‘boomers’ criticise today’s music, accusing it of all being the same, about sex, money or drugs. Yet when Stormzy commented on the prevalence of racism in the UK, in the words of Tempest herself, this same generation got their ‘hackles up’ and attacked him rather than listen to what he was trying to say.

Despite the opinions held by older generations, there are plenty of artists nowadays who both through their music and their actions make statements about the many flaws, faults and fracture-lines of modern society, and Tempest is surely one of the most underrated. In 2016, the spoken-word artist and poet released an album entitled Let Them Eat Chaos which was nominated for a Mercury Prize the following year.

“Europe is Lost, America lost, London lost,” Tempest warns, before continuing later in the same song, “The water level’s rising! The water level’s rising! The animals, the elephants, the polar bears are dying! Stop crying, start buying, but what about the oil spill? Shh, no one likes a party pooping spoil sport.” In this song, ‘Europe is Lost’, as in so many of her others, Tempest tackles not the specifics, but the broader shifts and worrying patterns that she witnesses in the world. Consumerism, materialism, the climate crisis, political lies, hypocrisy, and inequality; these issues and many more are tackled head on by the artist, producing some of the most powerful and provocative music I’ve ever listened to.

For those entering 2020 wishing they knew more about what’s going on in the world, my advice would be to take the time to listen to Kate Tempest. Whilst the 24-hour news agenda constantly flows, trends on Twitter come and go, and breaking news alerts pop up on your screen, away from all of this is Tempest. Her lyrics and activism focus on the bigger picture that is too often missed in this day and age. My second piece of advice would be to listen to The Book of Traps and Lessons from start to finish and in order; Tempest’s work is so engaging, so demanding, that it deserves your full attention. Listen to it on a long train journey, in the bath, or before bed.

In a crowded market in a crowded world, Tempest is truly unique; her style is a gripping fusion of spoken-word, poetry and rap, her voice seemingly so close to the microphone that you hear the inflections of pain, anger, sorrow and hope in every line. ‘Hold Your Own’, the seventh track on the album, is perhaps the most powerful four minutes of music I have ever listened to:

Tempest begins, “But/When time pulls lives apart – hold your own/When everything is fluid and nothing can be known with/Any certainty/Hold Your Own.”

“Nothing you can buy will ever make you more whole/This whole thing thrives on us feeling always incomplete.”

Some music uplifts you, sometimes it merely compounds your misery; yet The Book of Traps and Lessons forces you to follow every line – listening to Tempest is not a passive experience, rather, it is an active provocation of your emotions and intellect. Further, Tempest encourages you to stop and reflect; “I know the days are reeling past in such squealing blasts/But stop for breath and you will know it’s yours.” Her music (as well as her collections of poetry) resoundingly resonates with those issues which society in 2020 has inherited from our failures to learn from previous decades.

In ‘Brown Eyed Man’ Tempest laments, “I’m a child of the Gimme-More nation/When they want something they launch an occupation.”

We can all learn a lot from what Tempest has to say, least of all our leaders, and with the looming turmoil and conflict that threatens to bring only more suffering to the Middle East, they could benefit from listening to these words from ‘Lessons’:

“You would think/That over time/Our lessons would be learned/But time and time again we find/Our lessons have/Returned.”

I suppose the appeal of Tempest to me (a listener who usually leans towards old and slow music, think The Carpenters) is that in an odd sort of way, her music provides the perfect justification for my degree – history and politics. She comments on and warns us about falling for the same traps today because we failed to learn our lessons when we encountered them yesterday.

As we start a new decade that began with Twitter falling into a meltdown about #WW3 in just three days, Traps and Lessons reminds us of the importance of preventing ourselves, when interacting with society, from being dragged into the suffocating centrifuge of 24-hour news and media storms in teacups. Whilst there are a multitude of artists providing important contributions to political and social debates within society, no one strikes an arrow to the core of the message quite like Tempest, and so it is appropriate to end with words from the same track with which I began, ‘People’s Faces’.

“But it’s hard to accept that we’re all one and the/Same flesh/Given the rampant divisions between oppressor/And oppressed/But we are though/More empathy/Less greed/More respect.”

Extinction Rebellion protest at farming conference in Exam Schools

Felix O'Mahony
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Extinction Rebellion protest at farming conference in Exam Schools

Extinction Rebellion has taken up a picket outside Oxford’s Examination Schools this month to protest the Oxford Farming Conference. Environmentalists gathered outside the building on the High Street to express their concerns over the sponsors of the conference, which included a number of agrochemical companies.

The climate group also criticised Sainsbury’s and M&S for their sponsorship of the event, claiming the two retailers’ focus on profit margin and maximising sales would inevitably have a negative impact on the wellbeing of farmers, ecosystems and the public.

Jane King, arts coordinator of Extinction Rebellion, said: “The Oxford Farming Conference has been running since 1936 but today it seems to be less about farming and more about the interests of the UK’s multi-billion pound industries that control farming and therefore the land. Nature is our life support system. Restoring our ecosystems is the best chance we have of dealing with the Climate Emergency. Restoring nature and our natural carbon sinks (e.g. soil, woodlands, wetlands, grasslands, moorlands, peatlands and oceans) to capture carbon from the atmosphere, is at this time the only feasible solution to avoid climate catastrophe. No man-made means of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is currently working at sufficient scale.”

Protestors gathered outside the Examination Schools, on the High Street, carrying a number of placards which read “Save Our Soil”, “Bring Back Real Farming”, and “DEFRA [Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] Do Your Job”. In another protest later in the day, activists posed reading a number of spoof newspapers titled after existing newspapers, such as “the Daily Denial” or “Evading Standards”.

A spokesperson for the Oxford Farming Conference told Cherwell: “OFC is a science-based conference which is put together by 10 volunteer directors who share the concerns highlighted by Extinction Rebellion (XR) about the climate crisis and the need for global agriculture to become truly sustainable and to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.  

The purpose of OFC is to challenge entrenched views and provide a forum for discussion on new ways forward for agriculture. There is no question that some past government policies, many of which focused on food production alone, have come at environmental cost. Intense retail competition has delivered low food prices which fail to reflect the true cost of food production.

“We agree with XR that there is an urgent need for farming to change globally. Farmers in the UK are adapting faster than many other countries and are aware that they are part of the problem, but increasingly that they are an important part of the solution. 

In its long history, OFC has always discussed and evaluated the challenges of the day with a clear and open mind. The challenges have changed radically over the years – from food rationing to butter mountain; taking land out of production for wildlife to food affordability.

“This year the conference, which took place last week, focused specifically on healthy food and a healthy natural environment. 

“There was great engagement between the delegates attending the OFC, and recognition that the concerns raised by XR were shared by conference delegates.”

While Extinction Rebellion did not express any anger with the University for their hosting of the conference, they did question whether the high venue rental costs at the Examination Schools forced the conference to be unselective about the industry of the event’s sponsorship. Speaking to Cherwell, Till Weidner, who planned the event, said: “We wonder whether it is in the interest of the university to charge venue and catering costs which necessitate such [agrochemical and commercial] sponsoring.”

Extinction Rebellion are an international environmentalist group. They have become well known through their acts of “civil disobedience”, which involve nonviolent acts in contravention of laws to protest government inaction over climate change. In Oxford, the group have previously held events to raise public awareness of the scale of the climate crisis. The group have now aligned themselves with the “Oxford Real Farming Conference”, a conference established in response to the industrialised and globalised outlook of the OFC. The conference is hosted at the same time as the OFC, a few kilometres away in Oxford’s Town Hall.

A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s told Cherwell: “Sainsbury’s has been making changes to our sourcing to adapt to climate-friendly farming. We have been the market leader on vegan and vegetarian products for many years and our high welfare, integrated beef and dairy strategy is significantly reducing carbon emissions. We are also committed to be 100% ASC and MSC assured by the end of the year.”

in Full: Oxford University announces new BAME data

Molly Innes
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in Full: Oxford University announces new BAME data

Oxford University have announced their 2019 BAME undergraduate intake statistics. The 2019 intake of students from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds was more than 22%’ coming in at 560 students overall.

The previous year’s statistic was 18%. The University has been making big steps forward in it’s access initiatives: Opportunity Oxford and Foundation Oxford were announced last year, following the success of Lady Margaret Hall’s pioneering foundation year scheme.

The news comes “alongside a steady increase in the number of students choosing the University choosing from under-represented backgrounds”, according to the university. Professor Martin Williams, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education at Oxford University said: “It has been a busy 12 months at Oxford, and I am thrilled to share that our efforts to widen access and build a University environment where talented students from every background and region, are welcome and would want to be here, are moving in the right direction.

“These developments are testament to the individuals working towards and driving our access agenda day to day. Our access and outreach teams work with schools, families and communities to reach students and provide opportunities for them to decide for themselves based on facts and what we have to offer them – not hear say, or long-held perceptions, whether Oxford is the place for them.”

Last week, the University announced the Oxford–Arlan Hamilton and Earline Butler Sims Scholarship – its “first dedicated, fully funded scholarship at undergraduate level for black British students from disadvantaged backgrounds, provided by the international tech entrepreneur Arlan Hamilton.”

A full breakdown of the BAME 2019 statistics shows that the increase in Pakistani & Bangladeshi students has also risen by 0.5% – as the African and Caribbean admissions have also increased by 0.5% from 1.6% in 2018 to 2.1% in 2019 – increasing from 2.6% to 3.1%.

The Pakistani and Bangladeshi statistic is included also in the Asian student statistic, with admissions increasing from 8.3% to 9.6%. Admissions for students from Mixed Heritage backgrounds grew by 1.6% from 6.5% to 8.1%. The university has alluded to future postgraduate access work: “As well as continued efforts to sustain an inclusive undergraduate student body, specific attention will be given to ensuring that the University environment is as inclusive as it can be, from the curriculum studied to the behaviours observed.

“Work will also focus on postgraduate admissions, and expanding the University’s offering for students who have been through the care system.” This comes after the first postgraduate Oxford summer school pilot last year, UNIQ+, where “33 students from 23 different universities around the country arriving for the immersive six-week-long DPhil (PhD) experience.”

Professor Williams added: “Truly being an inclusive institution is about more than just talking about access and attracting students from less traditional backgrounds. All students need to feel and trust that Oxford is somewhere they feel welcome, valued and respected, and that their wellbeing matters to the University.

“I am proud to be a part of this exceptional University community, and over the next 12 months I look forward to sharing more about our work to take Oxford University to the next level.”

Access data analysis

It has been a big week for Oxford admissions data. The data released for BAME admissions in 2019 reveals some big jumps overall: from 18% of the admitted students being from BAME backgrounds in the 2018/19 cycle, to 22% in the 2019/20 cycle.

The University led its press release with the title: “More Black British students than ever choosing Oxford.”

This is correct; in 2018 there were 65 students from African and Caribbean backgrounds admitted, in 2019 there were 80. For the 2018 cycle – based off the data given in the May 2019 access report – Oxford received 424 applications from students with Black African or Black Caribbean heritage, made offers to 86 and admitted 65.

In the same year 9,048 white students applied to Oxford, 2,305 were made offers and 2,045 were admitted. Looking at the data, 20.3% of black students who applied were made an offer; 25.5% of white students were made an offer.

In 2018 1,687 Asian students applied to Oxford, 249 made offers and 208 admitted. This means that 14.7% of Asian students who applied in that cycle were made an offer. This is significantly lower than the percentages for the other groups the University breaks race down into.

The University includes Bangladeshi and Pakistani students within their statistics for Asian students: “Within the British Asian group, Bangladeshi and Pakistani students are considered under-represented at highly selective universities, hence their inclusion as a separate group at University level in [the admissions] report.”

Of the 443 Bangladeshi and Pakistani students who applied to Oxford in 2018, 52 were made offers – this means that 11.7% of these students who applied were made an offer, again this is significantly lower than other groups.

For Mixed Heritage students in the same admissions cycle: 816 applied, 191 were made offers and 162 admitted. Therefore, 23.4% of Mixed Heritage students were made an offer.

We include this data analysis here as, whilst we wait for the full breakdown in the admissions report for 2018/19, it shows that whilst the University is correct in stating ‘More Black British students than ever choosing Oxford’, that many BME students are choosing to apply to Oxford, but their chances of being made an offer are still significantly lower than White British students, again – based on the 2018 admissions data.

Elsewhere in access news, the University has announced that 69% of the students made offers to study at Oxford in the 2019/20 cycle were made to students from UK state schools.

We cannot expect a full breakdown of all this data to be released until the 2021 Annual Admissions Statistical Report. However, the fact that this is the largest increase Oxford has ever had shows real progress, but the data on POLAR/ACORN will be more revealing of the socio-economic backgrounds of students from the aforementioned state school statistics.

Magdalen and Worcester announce access progress

Felix O'Mahony
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Magdalen and Worcester announce access progress

Both Magdalen College and Worcester College have announced marked improvements in the number of offers made and places taken up by students from underrepresented groups at the university.

Magdalen announced that 31.5% of UK-domiciled students who took up places in 2019 were black and minority ethnic (BME). The data represents a threefold increase of BME intake at the college compared to the 2016-18 entrance cycles. Magdalen’s 10.8% BME access had made it the worst college in Oxford for BME access, and 2.2% lower than Worcester, which had the second-lowest BME intake over the same period.

While Worcester did not release statistics on the ethnic background of offers made in 2020, the College published a report detailing an extensive review of its attitude to ‘far access’ for this admissions cycle. Tutors were instructed to critically evaluate expectations made of students from differing socio-economic backgrounds.

The apparent results of the changes have been dramatic: the percentage of offers made to state-school candidates jumped almost 20% to 83% when compared to data on offers made between 2016 and 2018. The figure also compares favourably to the university average of 69%. Further, the number of offers made to applicants from ACORN categories 4 and 5, and POLAR quintiles 1 and 2 (both measures of socio-economic inequality) rose by 9 and 6% respectively.

Magdalen also saw the proportion of state-school students joining the college in 2019 rise by 8.8% to 59.2%. The number remains significantly lower than the University’s average but remains a significant improvement over previous years.

Historically, Magdalen has been singled out for a perceived bias in its applications process. As recently as this month, the Telegraph published a report which showed that almost 10% of students accepted were students from just two elite private schools: Eton and Westminster.
Further, the data released by Magdalen relates to one year of admissions. As such, the 20% rise in BME undergraduates admitted relates to approximately 15 students.

In a statement released to Cherwell, Magdalen said: “Across 2018-2019 the outreach and access team at Magdalen was expanded and now consists of two full-time Outreach and Access Officers, Dr Ed Dodson and Olivia Webster, and two Fellows – an Access Fellow (Professor Robin Cleveland) and a Widening Participation Fellow (Professor Alexy Karenowska). These changes have resulted in a huge expansion and enhancement of outreach activity, and we are seeing very encouraging changes in admissions data.

“In 2019 we ran over 100 outreach events involving over 4,000 participants from state schools across the UK. In addition to this, over 6,000 prospective students, teachers, and parents visited our Open Days. The majority of our outreach events involve school groups visiting Magdalen or one of our outreach officers visiting a school. These events provide prospective students and teachers with a chance to meet Magdalen academics and student ambassadors, and to learn about Oxford and its admissions process. 2019 also saw the launch of a number of major new projects and partnerships, including a Law at Magdalen residential, a Target Oxbridge residential, a South Yorkshire roadshow, an online ‘chat with a Magdalen student’ platform, and a residential mentoring programme for BAME leaders.

“2020 will see continued expansion of our outreach activity, as well as the launch of new projects. For instance, in January 2020 we are launching a series of events in partnership with the Oxfordshire Virtual School for Looked After Children and Care Leavers. In February 2020 we will be launching a major three-year partnership with the charity The Access Project and Ashfield School in Nottinghamshire. 2020 will also see us increase our commitment to UNIQ, the University’s flagship outreach programme, from one week to at least two weeks of residential activity per year.”

White Rabbit accused of xenophobia

Sam Jones
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White Rabbit accused of xenophobia

A Welsh student studying at Oxford has accused staff at the White Rabbit of xenophobia.

The student alleges that staff refused to serve him after they deemed his ID (a Welsh provisional drivers license) to be fake.

Since the Welsh language is an official language of Wales, Welsh driving licenses are bilingual. Staff allegedly took an ‘LD’ symbol on the driving license to be a sign of its inauthenticity, refusing to accept that ‘D’ stood for ‘dysgwr,’ meaning learner in Welsh.

Bar staff initially refused to serve him, using an article from WalesOnline to ‘prove’ that the student’s ID was fake, though the student later read the article and found it was not suggestive of his ID being fake.

the student spoke to the general manager and explained the situation. According to the student, “The general manager didn’t seem to believe that the Welsh writing on my card was genuinely a language; he had me translate it for him and refused to take me seriously even after I had translated every word.”

The White Rabbit’s general manager eventually agreed to serve him, and another Welsh friend whose license had been deemed fake. However, the manager allegedly said, “that he “hopes [we’re] actually 18” yet again implying that our IDs are ingenuine.”

The student said: “I was extremely disappointed by the way my friend and I were treated at the White Rabbit. It was humiliating to have to try and prove that Welsh, my native language, is real and that it is used in an official capacity. It was distressing to not only not be taken seriously when I had done my best to explain my point of view, but also to be publicly patronised as if I was a child with a fragile ego.”

Responding to the accusations, the White Rabbit said: “The White Rabbit is an independent family-run pub in Oxford city centre and attracts a wide age range of people for our award-winning pizza and beers. As such we have to be really careful about underage drinkers and our bar staff take this very seriously as the consequences for a small business as ours could be existential. During our busiest times we ask our managers to make quick decisions about who to serve or not and we specifically train them to err on the side of caution.”

The White Rabbit did not explicitly deny the xenophobia accusations, simply saying their general manager “spoke to them, listened to their explanations and to those of the duty manager, and told them that on this occasion we would be happy to serve them. The group of students then decided to leave the bar regardless.  “If we offended this group of students we would be very happy to apologise to them and would love to sit down with them to create a positive relationship going forward.”

Centrepiece of Council’s homelessness strategy opens on Floyds Row

Sam Jones
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Centrepiece of Council’s homelessness strategy opens on Floyds Row

A new £1.9m homeless shelter has been opened on Floyds Row, becoming the centre of Oxford City Council’s plans to assist people experiencing homelessness across Oxfordshire.

The Council has converted the former job centre at 1 Floyds Row into a new assessment centre and shelter, receiving £727,000 in government funding to help temporarily house 56 homeless people, though only 30 will move in immediately.

Floyds Row will aim to accelerate the process of getting people off the streets and into sustainable housing by offering improved assessment, and accommodation and support services. Drug, alcohol and medical support will be available onsite.

The homeless charity St Mungo’s is running the new facility on behalf of the Council. Services that are being provided include the winter shelter, the Somewhere Safe to Stay service and Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) beds.

Somewhere Safe to Stay started last year as a service for the newly homeless and those at risk of homelessness, providing an assessment that identifies suitable housing and links with other support to prevent long-term homelessness. 20 beds for this service will be provided in Floyds Row.

Linda Smith, the Deputy Leader of the Council and cabinet member for leisure and housing, said: “The transformation of services for people experiencing rough sleeping in Oxfordshire is already underway through our work to deliver a countywide homelessness strategy and the opening of Somewhere Safe to Stay and a winterlong shelter. 

“The opening of Floyds Row is a fundamental change to the front end of homelessness services and it will be a catalyst for change across the wider system. I’m proud we’re delivering on our commitment to provide more and better support to people experiencing rough sleeping. 

“Nobody should have to sleep rough in Oxford and thanks to the hard work and commitment of our staff and all our partners we’ll have the best chance of achieving this ambition once Floyds Row is fully open in April.” 

From its opening, Floyds Row will provide 16 winter shelter places, running until March before they are provided again from October. Extra beds will be made available if the Met Office forecast the overnight temperature to drop to zero degrees or below.

A further 20 beds will be provided for people assessed by Somewhere Safe to Stay and need more time before they move on to other accommodation. Floyds Row join Matilda House and O’Hanlon House in providing facilities for those seeking long-term shelter.

The chief executive of St Mungo’s, Howard Sinclair, said: “Our thanks to everyone who has worked so hard together to reach this point where we can offer such excellent, safe and comfortable shelter to people coming in from rough sleeping on the streets. Once people are here, then it’s the opportunity for staff to talk individually about what they want long term and the options available. We hope this service, and the support St Mungo’s will provide, will help people to begin to rebuild their lives and leave homelessness behind.”

St Mungo’s will continue to run Floyds Row year-round. The London based charity was established in 1969. Its 17 outreach teams provide a bed and support to over 2,850 people every night.

Around Floyds Row, the Council has been developing a broader countywide homelessness strategy, with Oxfordshire’s 5 other councils and NHS partners. Their long-term goal is to create an effective system that focuses on prevention, early intervention, and moving people on from homelessness.

Before the opening of Floyds Row, the Council had been operating temporary measures to help assist the homeless running through Simon House, on Paradise Street, which provided interim services such as the winterlong shelter and intensive assessment. 

Until its demolition in August 2018, Lucy Faithfull House was used by the Council to address homelessness, providing up to 62 beds. The site is now being redeveloped into a new block of 36 flats, 15 of which will be used for social housing.

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