University College Oxford Record 2020

take the homeless and the rough sleepers off
the streets and into safe, secure accommodation
to self-isolate. And we were, I am proud to say,
there when they needed us. We took a step in
faith to give them our accommodation, to do so
pro bono and seek for nothing in return but the
knowledge that we acted for the common good.
Yet in many ways it is easy to rise to the
challenge of a national crisis; ways and means
are found which, in easier times, might not be
considered quite “appropriate”. It is our same Univ
purpose which commits us to seeking achievable
and enduring solutions to homelessness through
our support to Oxfordshire Homeless Movement
and the City Council. Securing lasting social
change in Oxford is going to be the real challenge
we face, but if the pandemic teaches us anything,
it is that doing nothing is no longer an option.
We have a part to play in these lasting solutions;
our collective brilliance can drive change with,
and on behalf of, those who cannot drive it alone,
and if we can do it, we should do it. Last year
I spoke in the Record about growing our social
impact through education; this year we have done
just that, in ways I hadn’t entirely conceived of at
the time. And next year? Next year I expect that
Univ will continue to be at the forefront of social
impact, in a considered, mature and collegiate
way, addressing the inequalities which blight all
our lives.
Change is all around us. We must recognise
that it can be a terrible burden on some, but it
is also an exciting, embracing time to commit
to re-setting those things in society that we can
change while never taking our eye off the things
that we, as yet, can’t; don’t worry about them,
their time will come. Among all the challenges of
COVID-19, all the headaches, heartache and fear
that the future holds, all that is good about Univ
stands poised to make the difference at all levels,
change that our students want, our staff want and
we owe to our society. Strange as it may sound
in the midst of a global crisis, I cannot think that
there was ever a better time to be in Oxford or
ever a better time to be Univ.
ANGELA UNSWORTH MBE
42 University College Record | October 2020