MCR Report

This academic year has been – without doubt – a strange one. We began our year with an incredibly successful Freshers’ week, and throughout Michaelmas and Hilary the MCR was a truly thriving social community, featuring an incredible calendar of events: bops, karaoke, beer pong, film nights, ice-skating, paint nights (a personal favourite), as well as hugely successful intercollegiate exchange dinners and wine & cheese evenings.

In Michaelmas 2019, we saw the exciting creation of a new MCR inter-collegiate football team, with the MCRs of Somerville, Pembroke and Queen’s coming together to take part in Cuppers, making the Cuppers quarter finals and holding their own in Division 2. We are looking forward to their continued success! In spite of the uncooperative weather, many MCR members also rowed, and refused to let their spirits (or their blades!) be dampened by the cancellation of all three Oxford rowing regattas.

Trinity term saw lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic physically separate many of our MCR members both from our college and from their families and friends. Our wonderful MCR committee have done an incredible job of keeping the Somerville community thriving and together virtually. Our brilliant new Social Secretaries, Karolina, Raphael and Claire, have put together an entertaining and engaging calendar of online activities such as a book club, games nights, and pub quizzes, and our new President, Ashrakat, has hosted a new academic seminar series looking at the work of our peers. The incredible diversity of brilliant events is truly a testament to the hard work of the entire MCR committee. Our members have also found other ways to support each other and the wider community during lockdown. The newly formed football team took the opportunity to collaborate with their JCR counterparts and raised over £2,000 for the charity Refuge by running the distance of Land’s End to John O’Groats.

The MCR has also worked to provide support to our members in this difficult time, and our Welfare Officers, Bahar, Ondine and Gaurav, have offered virtual welfare teas, featuring notso-virtual delivery treats for our members who remained in Oxford, open hours, as well as working with MCR Peer Supporter, Martin, and the chapel.

As well as the pandemic, 2020 has been a key moment for the Black Lives Matter movement, which the MCR community is proud to stand with. The MCR continues to strive to be a welcoming place for people from all backgrounds. We are working to support the protests and conversations sparked in response to widespread racial injustices and police brutality here and abroad with the support of our Minority Ethnic Groups Rep, Gabriella.

In summary, whilst this year has seen unprecedented global events, it has also been characterised by the true MCR community spirit: coming together to enjoy all of what Oxford has to offer, broadening horizons and supporting each other. On behalf of the MCR we wish the best of luck to all of our leavers and we are very much looking forward to seeing everyone again when it is safe to do so.

ANDREW WOOD, MCR President