Saturday 19th July 2025
Blog Page 815

We were better off without Oxfeud

Alexander Curtis
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We were better off without Oxfeud

Oscar Wilde once wrote, “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” I think it is fair to say that these lines succinctly summarise the core issue with Oxfeud. In polite conversation, the hurtful and nasty is almost always absent. Reasonable disagreement is ideally addressed out in the open, in the spoken form, in person. After all, exactly how many of us can remember at least one keyboard rant of some description or another? Having anonymity (though probably only to some extent) in publishing our hurtful comments about others definitely doesn’t reduce the harm which is caused to their subjects upon reading them, and probably doesn’t reduce the likely regret that the author has for what was written all that much.

More fundamentally, how much time do we realistically have to spend on making petty negative judgements about our peers, never mind expressing them publicly in writing, online? Oxford is such a busy place, in which even the most efficient amongst us, in addition to the most ‘fulfilled’, regret not having pursued particular pathways and explored individual facets of being.

This eternal frustration is especially evident in the community of this University, where so many of us can be characterised at least somewhat by a palpable sense of ambition.

In view of this, it seems to be a great shame that any time at all is wasted by any of us on an endeavour as inherently unfavourable and unproductive as general nastiness. Yes, many of us are prone to needlessly speaking ill of others from time to time, myself included.

However, that doesn’t mean that we should be encouraging and facilitating bad behaviour, in either the active sense, or even in the passive. Indeed, it is very difficult to see what good can come to either individuals or society at any level through the enabling of such behaviour, which Oxfeud so obviously provided a medium for.

It is apparently rather clear why we should be pleased that Oxfeud has been taken down from Facebook. Upon examining the issues involved with the page, it is difficult to draw any conclusion other than that which states that its removal will make Oxford a less imperfect, happier, and all round more harmonious place.

All-weather warriors

The Secret College Footballer
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All-weather warriors

“But can they do it on a windy night in Stoke?” The perennial question is asked of Europe’s most luxurious of players. However, given that many of them ply their trade in our college football leagues, a more pertinent question might be whether they can do it on a grim afternoon in Oxford? Though it may not share Stoke’s renown for miserable weather, Oxford can occasionally conjure up a bad spell,which can present a whole different challenge for college footballers on top of the game itself. With little protection from the elements on open playing fields, players have no choice but to battle through the adversity. To borrow from theatrical terminology, the show must go on, and college football being the greatest show on earth, there isn’t a lot that can stop it.

This being Britain, sometimes it rains. Most of the time, the pitches can take it, but on the odd occasion we get a shower of biblical proportions, which even the obsessively manicured playing surfaces of the Premier League would struggle to withstand. Indeed, so-called professionals might call off the match in such circumstances, but college footballers are made of decidedly sterner stuff: Ryan Shawcross, eat your heart out. It’ll clear up in a minute, someone declares as you squint through the haze, trying to figure out which sodden silhouette is which. Spare a thought for the keeper, who has one hell of a job on his hands trying to see the ball, let alone catch it. The wisdom holds that wet conditions favour the attacker, but it’s difficult to string passes together when the ball, and the players, are skidding all over the place. As for defenders, slide tackles become more slide and less tackle when the surface is positively soaking.

When the final whistle has blown and you’ve trudged back into the changing rooms, the weather can really dampen the atmosphere, even if you managed to get a result. The captain’s joke about not needing to wash the kit this week falls on deaf ears as their teammates peel off their saturated shirts. The post-match beer doesn’t quite taste the same when infused with the rainwater dripping off your face. It hardly seems worth changing back into something dry, only for you to get drenched all over again on the walk home.

But same time next week? Oh, and the Cuppers game this weekend? Of course, rain or shine. These are no fair-weather footballers. This is college football. The only thing worse than having to play in abhorrent conditions is having to not play.

Players crave their weekly fix of football, and though they may end up getting beaten by their opponents, they certainly won’t countenance being beaten by the elements. College football can sometimes push players to the limits of human endurance, but they wouldn’t have it any other way.

The All Souls scholarship shows progress, but is a token gesture

Priya Vempali
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The All Souls scholarship shows progress, but is a token gesture

It’s hard to forget that the buildings in which you stand were built off the backs of racial subjugations and slavery. The endless portraits of white meant that occupy our colleges further emphasise that most blatant point – Oxford wasn’t made for people like me. And yet, every now and then, we hear stories such as the one coming out of All Souls College about its ‘heroic’ attempts to redress their slave-built legacy through an annual scholarship scheme, which would fund graduates from Caribbean countries to study at Oxford, in addition to providing a five-year grant for a higher education college in Barbados. Seems great, right? Indeed, it is a step in the right direction, but given all that needs to be done in order to make Oxford a truly diverse, egalitarian institution, this move is little more than a token gesture.

Ever since last June, when student protests brought to attention the college’s colonial legacy, eyes have been on All Souls to see how they would distinguish themselves from their humiliating title of ‘All Slaves College’. The college’s library, opened in 1751 and de- signed by the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, still bears the name of Christopher Codrington, a former fellow of the college and slave owner/sugar plantation magnate who gifted the college £10,000 in his will. For context, this sum would be worth around £1.5 million in today’s money. So for a college which is still benefitting from the financial rewards of the slave trade, it was necessary that they do something to abstract themselves from their colonial legacy by providing some (very visible) gesture to get the campaigners off their backs.

The scholarship provides them with the perfect solution: they get to retain the library’s name and its marble statue of Codrington, while seeming to acknowledge the bitter roots of their ever-increasing fortune.

As Shreya Lakhani of Common Ground notes, “the people we celebrate are reflections of our past but also expressions of our present day values.” All Souls’ failure to remove the Codrington statue and change the library’s name is indicative of an institution which defends its backwards customs and practices as a simple continuation of its tradition and heritage, all the while attempting to extricate itself from the growing controversy.

It is hard not to draw a parallel between this and the politically-charged debate around the Cecil Rhodes statue in Oriel College, which still remains after much public controversy. Rhodes, a British imperialist and architect of apartheid within the Cape Colony (now South Africa), created the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship programme which is awarded to full-time postgraduates of the University, although it was initially intended for “young colonists” to continue the British imperial legacy. Just like in the case of the Rhodes statue, arguments for the renaming of the Codrington library and the removal of the Codrington statue to a more suitable location (such as a museum) have been repeatedly shot down by critics who claim that this would be an erasure of history. Their arguments fail to see that the removal of a statue from a place of glorification and academic excellence to a more historically-sensitive setting is the least we can do to combat the institution’s colonial legacy, which to this day continues to make BME students highly uncomfortable.

The appalling lack of diversity within the University as a whole serves to emphasise the issue. Oxford needs to fundamentally address issues of racial diversity and academic white-washing. Although many colleges have great access schemes which aim to at- tract applicants from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, the University could be doing a lot more to tackle the racial diversification of the institution through changes to the admissions process (such as centralised, rather than college-based, undergraduate admissions).

Furthermore, certain curricular within the University need to be addressed for their lack of BME-inclusivitity – in particular the humanities need to seriously redress the balance when it comes to what they teach. Rather than having an almost entirely Eurocentric approach to history, for example, a greater focus on those countries which Britain has historically- subjugated would provide students with a more well-rounded understanding of both UK history and the wider world. Scholarship programmes make good newspaper titles, but actually attempting to diversify Oxford and its curricula is what will enable change.

I am not trying to say that we haven’t made any progress – things are much better than they were 30 years ago, and continue to improve daily. But as advocates for a more inclusive and equal university, we ought to be wary of simply commending colleges into complacency for their token gestures.

Moreover, we have to see universal policy change rather than individual recompenses from certain colleges, in order to create a culturally-sensitive and diverse student body within every part of this university. We need to con- tinue to scrutinise the institutions which, to this day, rest on their imperial legacies, because without being challenged, nothing will ever change.

Confessions of a Drama Queen 6: Things get worse, again

Katie Sayer
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Confessions of a Drama Queen 6: Things get worse, again

I write this diary, locked in my darkened bedroom, with only the torch light on my phone for company, and some Itsu that I had Deliverood to me to wane off the starvation.

In case it wasn’t obvious, I have had to go into hiding following the traumatic embarrassment of the Little Shop of Horrors read-through. So far this has mostly entailed asking my scout not to clean my room, only showering when I know all the scientists have already left for labs, and sitting with the curtains shut so that everybody thinks I’m out.

You see, I am currently dying of shame, at having been talent scouted to play… A CARNIVOROUS POT PLANT. Yes, dear reader. You heard me correctly. The face the producer spied across Cornmarket last week was not, as it transpires, the face she wanted to cast as Audrey, the young and enchanting female lead in her musical. Oh no. Her conception of my face as “just what I’ve been looking for” was based on the idea of me playing a venus fly trap from outer space, with a whopping zero lines and a cardboard box as a base.

As if to add further insult to injury, I have been rejected by the props team for Sweet Charity, on the basis that “I like charity shopping” doesn’t form a strong enough application. Apparently people actually want to work back- stage. Who knew?

These times we live in are dark, mostly because if I turn the light on then people might know that I’m in. I have only one hope left for my stage career, and that is that the tragedy of my life can at least be turned into a stand-up routine.

Consequently, I’ve booked an audition for The Oxford Revue next Tuesday. It can’t be that hard to be a female comedian. I’m sure the industry is really very evenly gendered. Wish me luck!

Under Milk Wood preview – ‘Creative and interesting but overly dramatic’

Zad El Bacha
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Under Milk Wood preview – ‘Creative and interesting but overly dramatic’

When I first arrived to Brasenose chapel to watch the technical rehearsal of Under Milk Wood, I glimpsed a solemn looking woman, in a solemn looking white dress, standing at the entrance. I quickly closed the door, thinking I must have stumbled upon a church service. I hadn’t. The moment I realised it was a play was hilarious and confusing, two excellent qualities that Under Milk Wood definitely has. Its strength – as well as its greatest weaknesses – lies in this absurd solemnity, amplified by the grand appearance of the chapel in which it is performed.

The performance is a bit disorienting, in a way that can be exploited for artistic impact. I was only shown a few scenes, since I dared not enter for a while, and they were enough to suggest that the production would make exciting use of the space. The audience stands or sits in the pews, like they would if they were attending a service. The play happens in different parts of the chapel, with actors springing out of the crowd with their daily woes, or getting married on the platform on the second floor, or having fights in the doorway and by the altar.

This means that an audience member, in any given position, will have limited visibility of the show. This staging emphasises the fragmented nature of the plot: the story of a whole Welsh village, the lives of everyone who inhabits it. If you lived in a village, surely you wouldn’t get a full view of all your neighbour’s lives, and the play replicates this perfectly.

I was impressed with the creative naturalism of the staging, and disappointed that it was undermined by an over-dramatic, staged kind of acting. Everyone speaks as if they are reciting a solemn Shakespeare monologue, loudly, grandly declaring the minutiae of their lives. This could make it difficult to distinguish the characters from each other, and makes it hard to emphasise with them on a human level.

It does however make for some brilliant humour, and I can say I experienced a moment of most delightful comedy when one of the characters grandly spoke to two men about them blowing their nose. I appreciated the deliberate nature of this solemnity, shown in the excellent consistency of all the actors in maintaining the tone, and in the simple and solemn period costumes. At times it was indeed effective, both for humour and for impressiveness. But often it felt distant and hollow, and left the viewer yearning for a greater variety of tones, which can better express the intimate moments of the character’s lives, as well as highlight the grandness when it is necessary. But the play may indeed have grown in humanity when watched in its entirety.

Overall, this is a creative and interesting production. It’s let down by an overly dramatic attitude which does not allow the actors to engage with the text on a more human level, but  it experiments with conceptual and staging ideas in ways that deserve much praise.

Oxford 54th in university league table… for ethical performance

Henry Straughan
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Oxford 54th in university league table… for ethical performance

Oxford has performed poorly in a league table that ranks universities on their ethical and environmental performance.

‘The People & Planet University League Table’ uses a range of measures to rank universities, including: ethical investment, carbon reduction, workers rights, waste and recycling, energy sources, and education for sustainable development.

Oxford came 54th out of 154 UK universities, up from 115th in 2015. It performed particularly badly on measures of carbon reduction, workers rights, education on sustainable development, and its ethical investment policy.

The table comes a week after a Guardian report showed that Oxford and many of its colleges have secretly invested tens of millions of pounds in offshore funds supporting the gas and coal industry.

Cambridge, which was also implicated in the Guardian report, came below Oxford at 58, an improvement from 113th two years ago. Oxford Climate Justice Campaign told Cherwell: “In a world facing climate catastrophe, an institution like Oxford must prove its commitment to preserving the future in order to remain relevant.

“The assessment released this week by People and Planet may be one of the only university ranking systems that matters much in the near future.

“It certainly will be one of the only measures that will matter to future students of Oxford, if Oxford survives the economic and geological crisis it is helping to create.

“We are grateful for the thorough analysis, and we hope Oxford leadership accesses and reads the report in full.”

The Climate Justice Campaign highlighted three areas where Oxford underperformed compared to other universities and called on the University to improve its commitment to environmental practices. A spokesperson told Cherwell: “Oxford needs to commit to a comprehensive… ethical investment strategy by divesting from all fossil fuels in its direct and indirect investments.

“It should look to one of its own departments – the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment – for new sustainable investment opportunities.

“Oxford must actively encourage education for sustainable development in all of its departments, not just those specializing in environmental concerns.

“The future of our globe and the responsibility of global citizenship should be a task of concern for every mind entering the walls of this institution.

“Oxford must hire sufficient human resources to see its sustainability goals through.

“Perhaps, if Oxford is unwilling to cut ties with its major donors from the fossil fuel industry, then it could redirect some of the funding from Shell and BP to hire enough experts and sustainability scholars to help us compete in next year’s university sustainability report.”

As a whole, universities performed better than a decade ago when the league table was first published. In 2007 only five universities were recycling more than half their waste. The number is now 85. Manchester Metropolitan University topped this year’s table, ahead of Gloucester and Nottingham Trent. LSE came top out of Russell Group universities.

Five minutes with: Lucy Hayes

Cherwell Stage
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Five minutes with: Lucy Hayes

Could you tell us a bit about how you got involved with drama at Oxford?
I was trying to convince my friend to produce a play for me, so I took her to an OUDS producing workshop. From that, I was asked to produce a show at the Playhouse. I had no idea what a producer really did, but I knew I’d be stupid not to.

What’s your happiest memory of Oxford drama?
They’ve all been pretty happy! I actually don’t think I have any bad memories of doing drama at Oxford at all.

Have you ever had any complete production nightmares?
I did turn up to the get-in of my first show at the Burton Taylor Studio thinking that I could, with no experience, rig, focus, and program all of the lights myself, and very quickly realised I was out of my depth. Luckily, we managed to get someone else in within an hour who actually knew what they were doing so it was all fine.

What’s your favourite play?
I’m very indecisive, but maybe Michael Frayn’s Noises Off. Or maybe King Lear.

How would you want to stage it in Oxford?
I don’t think I could ever stage either of them! I feel they should stay sacred.

Who is your hero in the theatre world?
Probably my dad: he built a theatre from scratch, which is now a really successful and incredibly unique venue. He’s a bit of a maverick, and he never takes no for an answer. The council tried to shut him down on his opening night, and he told them they should come back in the morning, because there wasn’t any way they were stopping him from opening his show. He’s taught me most of what I know about theatre, and I aspire to be that audacious one day.

Do you have any advice for freshers who might want to get involved with drama?
If you’re an actor, just keep auditioning, and if you do, you will get cast in something. If you want to be involved but aren’t sure how, try anything! Respond to a TAFF call, or email the producer of a project you like the sound of. It’s scary, but people love it when people but themselves out there, and it will get you far.

Are you working on any exciting projects at the moment?
I’m directing my last show, Hedda, at the Oxford Playhouse in 6th week of Hilary term. It’s a modern adaptation of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler by Lucy Kirkwood, stripping the play of the polite society of Victorian bourgeoisie and plunging it into to a world of crisis and Oxford academics. Next year is the centenary of female suffrage, so it’s the perfect time to stage it – the question of how far society has truly come in creating space for women is more important than ever! We are really excited to be part of the Playhouse’s VOTE season, celebrating female-driven narratives for this anniversary.

Hooliganism overshadows Oxford’s win over Brookes

Matthew Roller
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Hooliganism overshadows Oxford’s win over Brookes

Several fans were ejected following a post-match brawl in the Blues’ 1-0 win over Oxford Brookes last night.

Jack Witt’s goal after 75 minutes gave the home side the lead, before a pitch-side spat descended into carnage which the stewarding team struggled to contain.

During the first half, a group of Brookes fans were heard singing mysogynistic and sexist chants. Home fans claimed to have heard a version of Artful Dodger’s ‘Re-Rewind’ with the altered lyrics of: “Three, two, one, if a girl says no, molest her”.

And after a swarm of attacks from the hosts in the second half, which saw Dom Thelen and Mohamed Eghleilib come close, Witt curled one in from the edge of the box, and chaos ensued.

Following wild celebrations, a dark blue smoke grenade was thrown onto the pitch, and Brookes’ travelling contingent became increasingly vocal.

After a spat between the unsegregated fans standing pitchside, Brookes students spilled out of the small stand and moved forwards. Several punches were thrown by both sets of supporters as the fight spilled onto the Iffley Road pitch, as the small team of security struggled to contain the brawl.

Once the incident had calmed down, a handful of fans were ejected from the ground, while stewards separated the two sets of supporters.

On the pitch, Oxford did not let the trouble get to them, as Sam Hale and Alex Urwin continued to fend off an aerial bombardment from Brookes.

An Oxford Brookes spokesperson told Cherwell the university was “aware of reported issues surrounding the annual football matches which took place on Friday.

“Oxford Brookes takes the reported issues very seriously and will be working with the University of Oxford and those involved in organising the event to investigate what took place.

“The University has a clear Code of Conduct and appropriate action will be taken against any students found to have acted inappropriately.”

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

Injuries overshadow Men’s Blues victory

Matthew Roller
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Injuries overshadow Men’s Blues victory

Injuries to Kieran Ball and debutant Dominic Waldouck marred a fifth successive victory for Oxford’s Men’s Blues on Wednesday.

The Blues ran in seven tries in a scintillating performance to continue a fantastic run of form with a 45-19 win against Major Stanley’s XV.

But the win was overshadowed by a pair of blows to players that Oxford consider key to their Varsity success on 7 December.

Waldouck, making his first Blues start after an injury-riddled term, went off just eighteen minutes into the game looking dazed, with a suspected concussion.

The centre’s first game for Oxford had been hotly anticipated: he signed a contract with Newcastle last April which allowed him to combine playing for the Premiership side with his Masters degree, and had been frustrated by niggles throughout the season to date.

The 30-year-old, who is likely to line up alongside Canada international Dan Moor in the centres at Twickenham, is no stranger to the big stage, having come off the bench in
Wasps’ 2007 Heineken Cup final win against Leicester.

He started in the Premiership final a year later, and his impressive form was rewarded with
a place on the England tour to New Zealand – although he didn’t make an appearance.

Since then, his career has fallen away somewhat, but he will be hoping that his injury does not prove too serious and that he can make a return shortly.

Ball, however, will be fearing the worst after being stretchered off just before half-time.

Cherwell understands he was taken to hospital on Wednesday evening for a scan.

The prop, who started in last year’s narrow defeat against Cambridge, has been an integral part of the Blues’ success this year, and it would be a huge blow on both a personal and a
team level if he were to miss out on Varsity.

On the night, Oxford were comfortable winners against the visiting side, with tries from Dan Barley (two), Hugo McPherson, Will Wilson, Alex Hogg, Ed Elvin and Tom Stileman
securing a routine victory.

Blues ensure league survival with Bristol victory

Pat Metcalfe-Jones
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Blues ensure league survival with Bristol victory

Oxford’s Women’s Blues secured their Bucs Premier South status for next season on Wednesday night, scraping past a strong Bristol side 22-14.

After winning 10-7 against the same opposition in October, the Dark Blues kicked off under the floodlights at Iffley Stadium in front of a sizeable home crowd quietly confident of a victory.

The match was hotly contested from the start, since the sides were fairly well matched, but Oxford prevailed to secure a third win in five Bucs games this season.

After starting on the front foot, some nimble footwork allowed Oxford full-back Sophie Trott to burst through Bristol’s defensive line and run in the first try of the match under the posts.

But Bristol responded with intent, scoring a converted try to move into the lead. An  excellent run down the touchline by Oxford’s Helen Potts gave the home side their second try, but Bristol responded again shortly after to open up a 14-10 lead at halftime.

After a rousing team talk from the coaches, the Oxford side brought a new intensity to the second half, putting in some strong tackles and driving the visiting scrum backwards from the outset.

Laura Simpson consistently broke through Bristol’s defensive line, while prop Hester Odgers put in some crunching tackles as the forwards held firm.

The Blues scored twice more, with one try from winger Alice Mingay shooting around the outside of the Bristol defence and another from the excellent Johanna Dombrowski, who plowed straight through several Bristol players to reach the tryline.

The Oxford team managed to defend their lead for the remainder of the match, despite Bristol spending the final few minutes in the Oxford 22, before a sneaky turnover allowed Trott to kick the ball out of play and secure the points.

The win was an important one for Oxford, who secured their place in the Bucs Premier South for next season. As things currently stand, the Blues sit fourth in the league, putting them in contention for the Bucs Cup play-off later in the season.

It also continues the Dark Blues’ preparations ahead of December’s Varsity Match, where they will look to secure a second consecutive win at Twickenham.

Their opponents, Cambridge, have racked up an impressive 366 points in their past five games, conceding only seven, but Oxford will take confidence from last year’s gritty display and their own strong form.

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