Tuesday 22nd July 2025
Blog Page 725

Ice cream van escapes ban after University complaint

Jeremiah O'Mahony
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Ice cream van escapes ban after University complaint

Two ice cream van owners were let off with a final warning during their hearings at City Hall on Wednesday.

Michael Hall and Shakeel Iqbal were summoned to Town Hall after several infractions of the City Council’s conditions on trading consent. Hall had been previously been reported by the University.

Oxford University made two complaints about Hall’s van to the Council. The University said the van was parked on double yellow lines in Rose Lane near the Botanic Garden. Rose Lane is not one of Hall’s permitted locations under his consent.

Both times, the van was allegedly obstructing the footpath and road. The University said that the van was there for hours, while Hall’s consent only allows him to park in one place for twenty minutes.

The Council confirmed to the Oxford Mail that Hall had received a ticket for parking in that location.

A report for the meeting read: “If a consent holder fails to comply with any of the conditions attached to a street trading consent, the consent may be suspended for an indefinite period or revoked. The consent holder may also be prosecuted.”

In their separate meetings, Councillor Mary Clarkson told Hall and Iqbal that despite their infractions, they will be let off with a final warning.

“It is not in anyone’s interest to take your license away,” Clarkson told Iqbal. The ice cream men will be allowed to trade as before.

“Provided it is strictly in terms of your consent,” Clarkson said to Iqbal.

Iqbal told Cherwell that he was fined several times for selling on Parks Road near the University Parks. His customers were usually people on outings in the parks.

He expressed confusion as to where students were supposed to go for ice cream after a day in the park if not to his ice cream van.

He had previously received a ticket for selling on Parks Road, and was reported by a member of the public.

Iqbal told Cherwell that he was he was gladdened by the verdict, and that students will be able to find him in his usual, permitted, spots.

The University has not responded to Cherwell’s request for comment.

Oxford groups show solidarity with Jewish community after latest attack

Amelia Stewart
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Oxford groups show solidarity with Jewish community after latest attack

The Oxford Labour Muslim Network (OLMN) has condemned last week’s two “racist attacks” against Oxford’s Chabad Jewish Centre, “in the strongest possible terms.”

OLMN posted a scathing condemnation of the onslaughts on their Facebook page after the Oxford Jewish Student Centre suffered the second anti-Semitic attack on their premises in one week.

The post read: “An attack on one is an attack on all.”

The emergency services were called to the Chabad Jewish Centre after an unknown white substance was thrown over the bins last Wednesday, and another anti-Semitic note was found on the vehicle gate on 23rd May, the Jewish holiday of Shauvot.

The police cordoned off the street in fear of a chemical attack before they discovered the substance to be talcum powder.

The 24th May attack follows one four days earlier, when two offenders left anti-Semitic notes outside the Chabad Centre on Cowley Road before setting fire to the building at around 4am on 19th May. The fire burned out within a few minutes without causing any injuries or major damage to the property.

The police have not connected the two attacks.

OLMN said in their post: “There has been a surge of hate crime in Britain since Brexit, and in Europe since the Great Recession. In Europe, forces representing virulent anti-semitism and Islamophobia are marching hand-in-hand. Racists and fascists in this country are attacking synagogues and mosques in increasing number.

“The only way we oppose this is through unity and solidarity.”

The post commended Councillor Tom Hayes, whose St Clement’s ward includes the centre, for his “strong condemnation” of the attacks.

OMLN’s post concluded: “We call on the Oxford & District Labour Party to express a commitment to defend all of Oxford’s communities, and to begin urgent work on anti-racist organising.”

A spokesperson for OMLN told Cherwell: “A horrific racist anti-Semitic attack in our city must not pass without condemnation. Fascist and racist ideology and attacks affect the daily lives of Muslim, Jews and others on a daily basis across Europe.

“We in the OLMN felt it vital to make a public declaration of support and call to action. Progress will only be made through our collective voices and actions.

The spokesperson added: “We must not be complacent and we must also ensure that we as a society understand staying silent is not an option. We are devastated that this attack has taken place in our city and we will continue to stand in open solidarity with all communities.”

In response to the attacks, co-director of Chabad of Oxford, Rabbi Eli Brackman, told Cherwell: “[Some] trickle down anti-Semitism […] may have fostered an environment that lingers today whereby elements of society feel it may be legitimate to go ahead and attack a Jewish centre as happened last weekend.

“A number of events have taken place to create a better understanding of what is acceptable and what is cloaked anti-Semitism and much confidence and trust has been restored.”

He maintained that “Jewish life at Oxford is vibrant and growing” and that “we have come a long way since the events of 2016 that shook the university Jewish student community.”

He called for “the urgent and complete implementation of the Chakrabarti report” in order to “to eradicate anti-Semitism and other forms of racism and hate from political discourse in the UK, student or otherwise.”

President of the University’s Jewish Society, Jacob Greenhouse, told Cherwell: “The anti-semitic incident which occurred last week shows that antisemitism still exists in the United Kingdom and we are relieved that nobody was hurt.

“The community remains ever vigilant.”

The Chabad of Oxford is the more religious of the two Jewish centres connected to the University. It offers students kosher food, prayer services and religious ceremonies, as well as hosting a guest lecturers.

1,000 out of the 12,000 students in Oxford are Jewish, and membership of Chabad of Oxford is over 500.

On their website, they say that they are mainly “dedicated to providing exciting and stimulating programs for Jewish students studying at Oxford and Brookes University, whatever their affiliation, so as to strengthen their attachment to their Jewish roots.”

An Jewish student at the University told Cherwell: “Whatever your stance on the recent actions of Israel’s government, the UK Jewish community should not suffer.

“Anti-semitism is not taken as seriously as other forms of discrimination in a left-wing institution.”

MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, Layla Moran, offered her solidarity to the Jewish community: “It is shocking and deeply distressing to hear reports of an attack on the Oxford Jewish Centre.

“I wholly condemn this attack; we cannot tolerate anti-Semitism of any kind in Oxford.”

Oxford city councillor for St Clement’s, Tom Hayes, said: “Oxford Chabad is a hub of Jewish life in the city and the people of St Clement’s are proud that the student centre has made its home here.

“We deplore every act of anti-Semitism and stand with our Jewish community.”

The investigating officer, Detective Sergeant George Atkinson, said: “Hate crimes are serious offences and something we will not tolerate in the Thames Valley.

“We are conducting a thorough investigation and have several lines of enquiry.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Police on 101.

Redemption for the Fallen Women

Catherine Cibulskis
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Redemption for the Fallen Women

The Magdalene Sisters – a film by Peter Mullan – follows the story of four fictional women who writhe against the fate of 30,000 real Irish women who were punished for their sexuality between the 18th and the late 20th century in The Magdalene Laundries, or Asylums, as they were often called. These institutions were sponsored and maintained by branches of the Catholic Church and known to, if not supported by, the state for over 200 years. The poignancy of the story has only been intensified by the recent events in the Republic of Ireland. Repelling the 8th is a momentous occasion for this country which has long struggled with its checkered past regarding women’s’ rights. Films such as The Magdalene Sisters celebrate the women for whom this shift of opinion came too late. 

Laundries, like those seen in this film, were originally designed for ‘fallen women’ who were forcibly imprisoned, maltreated and made to pay a life’s sentence of hard labour to wash away their supposed sins. The facilities were self-supporting, exploiting the unpaid and often mistreated women, whose hands would scrub and press and bleed to fund the laundry.  By the late 19th century, women were incarcerated for erotic behaviour, for being seduced or for having children out of wedlock, as is the case with Mullan’s characters. Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff) reveals to her family that a boy raped her at a wedding; she is seen as the criminal, not the victim. Rose (Dorothy Duffy) has given birth to an ‘illegitimate’ child which shames her silent, immovable parents. Bernadette (Nora-Jane Noone)’s only crime is her flirtatious nature; she is seen as morally corrupt, a danger to herself and others in her orphanage. Elements of the film may be sensationalized but the portrait of injustice it paints is very real and undeniably accurate. 

Mullan’s film is raw, harrowing and at times blackly comic. Father Fitzroy, one of the men entrusted with the spiritual care of the laundry, is seen sexually abusing one of its most vulnerable captives, Crispina. As he delivers a special annual service, Father Fitzroy is overcome by a need to scratch and scrape at his skin and strip in front of the congregation. Margaret has seen fit to punish him for his abuse of power, laying nettles in his vestments to make him feel how they have been humiliated day after day. Yet, the scene turns from comical to sinister when Crispina cannot stop repeating the refrain ‘you are not a man of God’. Her cry echoes again and again to an uncomfortable pitch, reverberating words which remind us of the painful reality of what can happen when those in power misuse that power to subdue others.

After this incident, Crispina is dragged from the laundry and locked away in a mental asylum. Her real name, Harriet, was stripped from her by the Sisters, like her dignity and eventually, her sanity. Mullan’s jarring image of the slow, degrading decline of Crispina becomes a haunting symbol of the brutalisation of female sexuality, of how real women suffered and still suffer today. Yet, while three of Mullan’s protagonists escape the drudgery and violence of the laundry in the film, this was not the case for thousands of women across Ireland and other parts of the world. The last Magdalene asylum, we are told at the end of the film, did not close until 1996.

On Saturday 26th May 2018, Ireland voted to repeal the 8th, an amendment which made it illegal for any woman to have an abortion. It has taken to this day for Irish women to be granted autonomy over their own bodies and many women, like Mullan’s characters, have felt imprisoned, waiting indefinitely, working tirelessly for something to change. A few days ago, something finally did. 

In the UK, women were first given the vote 100 years ago, and yet our sexuality is still assaulted, threatened by individuals, organisations, and industries. This year has seen women across the world standing up once again to say ‘No Means No’, to say ‘MeToo’, to repeal the 8th. Like Crispina, our voices resound, shouting for equal pay, for equal opportunity, clamouring against the kinds of abuse exposed by The Magdalene Sisters.

A Doll’s House preview – ‘a beautiful play to watch’

Molly Innes
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A Doll’s House preview – ‘a beautiful play to watch’

Following from the success of Hilary 2018’s Labyrinth is no easy task, yet Sour Peach Productions look set to do just that, and more. This version of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House combines an intimate cast, toxic relationships and powerful dialogue in its magnification a society on the cusp of a sexual revolution.

The play has been taken out of its original 19th century context and put into the early 1960s. It is far enough away from the audience to retain the element of ‘period’, but close enough to be related to the present day. Director Olivia White emphasised how, when Ibsen is taken from the 19th century context, we view the problems contested in Ibsen’s plays differently, hence why the 1960s setting is so crucial. It means that there is a sense of detachment for some members of the audience, but not a detachment from our parents, or even grandparents. It is still personal.

The emphasis on relationships has been worked on extensively. The cast work together naturally and respond to each other’s detailed movements, from a sharp intake of breath to the movement on stage. The level of respect the actors have for each other is obvious, and beautiful to watch.

It is an inherently feminist play. Ibsen grounded himself in humanitarian issues. It will be exciting to see the production’s full handling of this. There will be ‘beautiful’ costumes, intricate lighting, and a live band performing Sarah Spencer’s original songs for the performance. The play will open with pink toned lighting, appropriately ‘rose tinted’, which will become harsher as the play reaches its climax. It will be a spectrum of sickliness.

There is an underlying sense of panic, and all characters handle this exceptionally. Ceidra Murphy’s Nora and Staś Butler’s Dr Rank transmit this well. Murphy’s quick reactions are slick. Palpable emotion runs throughout the scene I was shown, with the line: ‘I need you to do something for me’ symbolic of the power dynamics that underpin the play.

Panic mingles with fear in Susannah Townsend’s performance as Christine. The range of emotion that she shows is evocative of a woman with nothing left to lose. The accompanying music in the scene I saw complimented Townsend’s use of voice, giving the sense of layered emotions. Whilst the music emphasises the emotion of the scene, both Townsend, and Flinn Andreae as Krogstad, held themselves in a manner of fluctuating emotion that was as vivid as the music that runs throughout.

The role of Torvald is performed by James Akka. His performance is being kept under wraps so unfortunately, he wasn’t there for the preview, though you should expect great things. Whilst Torvald is a ‘misogynistic, repulsive man’, White emphasised how she didn’t want the play to be about the binary of good versus bad.

A Doll’s House will take your expectations of society, revolution, and love and challenge your preconceptions. The 1960s setting revitalises the play, and facilitates the presentation of characters’ perplexity both inside and outside the home.

Merton bans trashing over fears of ‘elitism’

Isabel Morris
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Merton bans trashing over fears of ‘elitism’

Merton College has banned trashing within 100 yards of college premises and threatened students with disciplinary action.

In an email sent to students in early May, Merton’s Junior Dean for Discipline, Rebecca Beattie, said: “Trashing is not allowed anywhere on Merton College premises and will face disciplinary action. 

Given Merton’s proximity to Exam Schools, the ban effectively extends to all city-centre trashings.

“While Oxford is often loath to give up its many incomprehensible and mysterious traditions, trashing is not a tradition of which the University is particularly proud. 

“The University acknowledges that trashing represents the very worst of the stereotypes with which Oxford can sometimes be associated, including elitism, ostentation, and lavishness.”

The Junior Dean asked students to consider how many people in the UK are either homeless or struggle to live above the poverty line, as well as the fact that the University spends more than £25,000 per year on security and cleaning up after trashing, as revealed by Cherwell this month.

Beattie continued: “How do you think these [struggling] residents of our city feel upon seeing students doused in champagne and foodstuffs during the exam season?

“How many of us would instead like to see that [money] used to improve facilities and services?

“It is also worth bearing in mind that trashing has disciplinary consequences at a university level and, due to all of the above considerations, is against the University’s Code of Conduct.

“With all of these considerations in mind we sincerely hope that students of Merton College set an example by not perpetuating this outdated tradition and by celebrating the end of exams in more appropriate ways.”

In an email sent this week, seen by Cherwell, the Junior Dean reiterated the College’s condemnation of trashing. Beattie stated that by participating in trashing, students were “participating in an outdated tradition characterised by waste, elitism, and obnoxiousness,” “causing a lot of mess,” and “being disruptive to those in the vicinity.”

Beattie added: “Any member of Merton caught trashing in College, caught trashing within 100 yards of College, caught causing litter in or near College because of having been trashed, or caught acting as an obstacle at entrances or on nearby footpaths because of trashing-related activities will face immediate punishment.”

Trashing can lead to disciplinary action and fines of up to £300 according to University regulations. 

Earlier this term, the University launched its ‘What a Waste’ campaign to discourage students from participating in trashings – but the practice has continued throughout the term.

Merton did not respond to Cherwell‘s request for comment.

Students grill Russian ambassador on LGBTQ+ rights record

Jack Hunter
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Students grill Russian ambassador on LGBTQ+ rights record

Angered students confronted the Russian ambassador to the UK on Tuesday, as the Oxford Union faced criticism for hosting him during Oxford Pride week.

Alexander Yakovenko was forced to defend Russia’s record on LGBTQ+ rights, as students questioned him on the Russian state’s reported torture of gay men in Chechnya.

The ambassador provoked widespread criticism when he denied there it was an issue, claiming: “It’s difficult to say if there are any gay people in Chechnya”.

During his speech, Yakovenko spoke of his national pride, showing a four minute film displaying some of the highlights of the country – complete with orchestral soundtrack and English voiceover – and ending with a Russia-themed quiz.

Russia goodie bags were awarded to the winners, and to Union president Gui Cavalcanti.

However, when the question and answer session began, he was confronted by several members over Russia’s treatment of LGBTQ+ communities in Chechnya, where authorities have reportedly round up and tortured more than 100 gay men. The Kremlin has denied the allegations.

Keir Mather, a History and Politics student at Wadham, said: “Ambassador, I’m a gay man. And if I lived in Chechnya over the last year I would have run the risk of being imprisoned, and tortured, and possibly killed by either my family or the state.

“On behalf of all the LGBT Chechnyan people who will not have an opportunity to ask a question because they’re voiceless, I’d like ask you why nobody who’s perpetrated these crimes or has condoned them has been brought to justice, or faced any sort of criminal action, and also I’d like to ask you when the LGBTQ+ community in Russian will have their rights not only has citizens but as human beings.”

His speech was met with an extended round of applause.

The ambassador replied: “That is exactly what we’ve discussed with Elton John. He had a conversation with President Putin about this before. And later on, there were a lot of publications in Britain about the gay rights, and all this. By the way I have a lot of friends who are gays [sic]. I have no problem with that.”

He added: “If you live in Russia and you are gay, or in the so-called minority communities, you have all the rights the same as the others.”

Another student asked Yakovenko if he agreed with claims made by Chechnya’s leader that the region does not have any gay people.

“Well, I don’t know,” Yakovenko said. “It’s difficult to say if there are any gay people in Chechnya.”

He added: “Probably the numbers of gays, [sic] they are not as high as in Europe. That’s why it’s a different issue”, before claiming nobody had complained about the treatment of gay minorities.

The Union President, Gui Cavalcanti, asked him if people were too afraid to speak out.

“No, no, no. Nobody’s afraid. We have so many gays [sic] for example if you go to Moscow. You have the gay sport, it’s just a normal way of life.

“It’s not something that’s a real problem in my country.”

After the event, Mather wrote on Facebook: “Just had the chance to take the Russian Ambassador to the UK to task over the purge of gay people in Chechnya, asking him why no one who perpetrated or condoned these actions has been held responsible and when the LGBT+ community in Russia will have equal rights as citizens and human beings. His response was beyond appalling. I’m still sat in the chamber and am fucking shook.”

He added: “The lies, obfuscation, and complete lack of moral dignity displayed here tonight is appalling, but not surprising. The fact he’s been hosted during the same week as Oxford Pride is ridiculous.”

A Union spokesperson told Cherwell: “Regarding the timings and dates for our speaker events, we are usually restricted by our guest speakers’ availability in trying to find a mutually suitable date, given their incredibly busy schedule. It is unfortunate that many have found the invitation of the Russian Ambassador ‘hugely insensitive’.”

Oxford’s access problem runs deeper than statistics alone

Florence Ward
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Oxford’s access problem runs deeper than statistics alone

Since the release of the first-ever undergraduate admissions report on Wednesday, Oxford has dominated headlines.

Statistics have been shouted left, right, and centre, competitively more shocking than the last time Oxford’s access was reported on, in David Lammy MP’s investigation last October. It’s easy to see why the media laps up this data: translating the access problem into numbers makes it digestible, when the reality is far from this. The reason for Oxford’s poor social diversity is not solely the admissions departments’ misguided priorities, nor a lack of applications from underrepresented backgrounds. We need not reject the data that this report has unearthed, but we cannot talk about it productively without acknowledging that Oxford’s access problem is the product of hundreds of different factors, and stretches back hundreds of years to the University’s conception.

The problem with statistics is that, in their wake, blame is tossed from one party to another. Emails I received from vice chancellor Louise Richardson and the English Faculty prior to the release of the data were desperate attempts at damage control, pinpointing positive trends without much acknowledgement of the issues the report highlighted. Media coverage over the past few days has exposed the negative ones whilst similarly skirting over the improvements the University has made. The proportion of students identifying as Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) has risen from 13.9% to 17.9%. Oxford admits more Westminster pupils than black students. It’s unsurprising that the statistics begin to feel meaningless when caught in the midst of this tug-of-war that, ultimately, will only continue to deter applicants from feeling like Oxford is a place for them.

The University will argue that the media focuses on the wrong aspects of this report, as Prof. Richardson implied when she noted pointedly her email that the work of the access team “does not get the recognition it deserves when Oxford’s admissions are discussed in public”, but they are similarly guilty of using these statistics as a mask. The data proving that students from underrepresented backgrounds apply to oversubscribed courses provides a convenient excuse, without shedding any light on why this might be.

Presenting Oxford’s social inequality as a number gives the false impression that, like a GCSE Maths problem, it can be solved through a bit of adding and subtracting. You can’t just double spending on Uniq and take away some places from independent schools and expect the answer to be social diversity. It doesn’t add up, because you can’t use money to solve a problem that is fundamentally cultural.

To an extent, we are all responsible – the idealisation of Oxford is an entrenched part of our national culture. Just look at Harry Potter – revealed the nation’s favourite book character by a survey on Amazon last year – which, inspired by Oxford’s dreaming spires, is essentially a fetishisation of the private school system, complete with houses, mottos and gowns. We simply can’t resist this fixation on Oxford as a place of alluring exclusivity – an obsession that is only intensified by Oxford’s portrayal in the media. Until this perception is erased, the University will continue to struggle to attract students from underrepresented backgrounds and admissions departments’ decisions will continue to be coloured by an in ated sense of self-importance.

We need to change the way we think and talk about Oxford, and stop reveling in its irresistible controversy. Oxford’s social inequality is a cultural issue, and requires a cultural shift in the way we approach it.

Hereafter preview – ‘an ostensible exploration of future technology that shines a light inwards, rather than forwards’

Alexander Rugman
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Hereafter preview – ‘an ostensible exploration of future technology that shines a light inwards, rather than forwards’

Plays about reality, and the role of technology in defining it, are enjoying something of a vogue in Oxford at the moment. 2016 saw an adaptation of The Nether at the Oxford Playhouse by Knotworks Theatre. Jennifer Haley’s thought-provoking piece on the ethics of virtual reality was followed last summer by Poltergeist’s Garden at The North Wall. Fittingly, then, the North Wall’s next student occupants are Lysis Productions, who are presenting Chloe Taylor’s debut play Hereafter this 6th Week.

The play follows Eva, a woman grieving over the tragic death of her husband in a chillingly ambiguous distant future and her experience of bereavement therapy using VR. This is a play that is ostensibly perhaps about the controversial role that VR technology might play in our future, here shown with regards to revitalising the dead. But as Taylor (the writer-director of the piece) tells me, this was not a play that emerged from any fears or abounding curiosity about the specifics of technology. It’s a piece that instead is about loss, and grief, and coping mechanisms, with the technological aspects providing a fascinating lens through which to explore this.

I was shown two scenes, the first a delightfully disjointed two-hander between Eva (Martha Harlan) and her boss (Lucy Miles) as the prospect of VR therapy is introduced to the former. Harlan is excellent; there’s a brittleness to the physicality of this portrayal which ramps up the tension without any dialogue needed. She instantly feels like the only sane person in the room, which provides a nice counterpoint for the menacing, understatedly comic aspect Miles brings to her character. Eva’s bewilderment at her boss’s approach to her grief throws up some nice ripostes in the dialogue and provides an arena for the inevitable clash between the corporate and human experiences of loss.

The piece really came into its own in the second scene I was shown, an emotionally-charged conversation at the kitchen table between Eva, her brother (Chris Dodsworth) and her late husband (Lee Simmonds). The unspoken weighed heavily without becoming oppressive, and all three actors shone. Harlan’s guilt-driven monologue sat at the kitchen table was a tantalising mixture of compelling and heartbreaking, whilst Dodsworth managed to find real depth as ‘Brother’ struggled to find the words to express his own grief. There was a real rapport between the siblings which, as ever, suggests assiduous character work has been done in the rehearsal room. Special mention must go to Simmonds for holding the scene together; his slight and bird-like physicality fantastically conveyed his virtual presence and his facial expressions managed to walk the line between sadness and despair without seeping into melodrama. The dynamics Taylor has fostered in the scene allowed for some poignant exchanges of quick witted dialogue epitomised as Eva hopes that one day “I wouldn’t have to keep wondering where you are”.

This looks to be a really exciting piece of new writing and Taylor has expertly used an ostensible exploration of future technology to shine a light inwards, rather than forwards. A play that’s both intelligent and profound, this is not one to miss.

Oxford station to shut for two weeks

Cherwell News
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Oxford station to shut for two weeks

No trains will run in or out of Oxford railway station for more than two weeks in July due to maintenance work.

Engineers will replace track, signalling and cables.

There will be disruption from 29th June to 29th July, and no trains will use the station between 6th July and 23rd July.

Work will take place “around the clock” and has been “carefully planned” to minimise disruption to passengers, Network Rail said.

A spokesperson said the work “will allow trains to run faster and more effectively through Oxford, reducing congestion and speeding up journey times.”

All mainline services run by Great Western Rail (GWR) and Chiltern Rail into Oxford between Didcot Parkway, Oxford Parkway, Banbury and Moreton-in-Marsh will be affected, with bus replacement services operating at all stations instead.

The station building itself will remain open during the works.

St Hugh’s JCR severs ties with zine after graffiti uproar

Greg Ritchie
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St Hugh’s JCR severs ties with zine after graffiti uproar

St Hugh’s College JCR has passed a motion to condemn and remove funding for the arts zine Gold of Fuck, after graffiti was found with its name on Iffley Road.

Earlier this term, the JCR had approved a motion to provide £200 towards the printing and launch of the publication.

However, after the words “Gold of Fuck” were found written in large letters at two points on the perimeter fence of Oxford University Sports Centre on Iffley Road, the JCR voted to “condemn the criminal and antisocial behaviour associated with the ‘Gold of Fuck’ magazine collective” and “withdraw support for and sever JCR ties with the ‘Gold of Fuck’ magazine”.

The motion noted that a “name as unusual as ‘Gold of Fuck’ can be rationally connected to the magazine and its associated group, known to sell art and poetry in the area…”

“No matter the cause, the JCR should not associate itself with or be seen to support criminal or antisocial behaviour.”

The motion also stated that one section of the graffiti faces directly opposite the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies.

A second motion, which would see the JCR automatically refuse any further motions asking for funding or support for the ‘Gold of Fuck’ zine as a matter of policy, received a majority of votes in favour, but failed to achieve the super-majority it needed to pass.

A co-founder of the zine and St Hugh’s undergraduate student, Zain Baweja, described the behaviour of the college JCR executive committee as “underhand” and “undemocratic”, according to The Oxford Student.

However, Cherwell understands that several members of the collective were in attendance at Sunday’s JCR meeting. Several members shared frustrations that the graffiti had been produced, denying it had any association with the group before expressing support for the JCR motion.

Both motions were proposed by JCR President Alex Yeandle, with the unanimous backing of the JCR Executive Committee. The Committee were alerted to the graffiti after photos from Iffley Road were placed anonymously in the JCR President’s pigeon hole.

The pictures were accompanied by the words: “‘Gold of Fuck’ graffiti – did the JCR fund this?”

Cherwell understands the executive initially plan to ask members to withdraw the £200 apportioned to Gold of Fuck as this had not already been paid. This plan was dropped following an intervention from the JCR’s Independent Chair.

The motion to sever JCR association with and support of ‘Gold of Fuck’ received 53 votes in favour and 21 against, with 3 abstentions. The motion to amend the policy book only passed by a margin of 5 votes, failing to reach a super-majority.

On the Facebook page of its launch event, ‘Gold of Fuck’ advertises itself as a “new, independent art collective based in Oxford. We prioritise the creation of the unrefined, the uncensored and unstable.”

“‘Urgency’ is at the center of the collective. Gold of Fuck celebrates what can be made in the liminal spaces between creative pressure and creative freedom; ‘making’ as a means to deny our propensity to be passive to time.”

JCR president, Alex Yeandle, told Cherwell: “Upon receiving information about the vandalism, the Executive Committee made the decision to consult members of the JCR about how to act, through the proposal of a motion. The graffiti features the name ‘Gold of Fuck’, and is located on two places on Iffley Road.

“As an Oxford College JCR Executive Committee we understand and respect the community in which we live, hence why we cannot risk being associated with this criminal act.

“There is nothing undemocratic about the process the Executive Committee has followed. As a representative Executive Committee, we serve at the pleasure of the members of the JCR meaning that, if in doubt, the right thing to do is to always seek the approval of our members.

“The Executive Committee proposed a motion, for which members have full autonomy to support or to vote against.”

He added: “In light of accusations of ‘undemocratic’ or ‘underhanded’ behaviour, we would like to emphasise two points. Firstly, the JCR has democratically voted to overwhelmingly support the first part of our motion.

“Secondly, after deliberation and debate about the policy motion, the JCR has given us instructions to follow.

This is democracy in action.”

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