University College Oxford Record 2020

JUNIOR
COMMON
ROOM
This past year has been a wonderful
year for the Junior Common Room,
albeit in the face of often strange and
exceptional circumstances. As we end our
Trinity Term physically apart, I think it would be
fair to say the undergraduate community at Univ
remains incredibly close. Despite these setbacks,
the JCR has been able to achieve many fantastic
things and adapt successfully to these new and
changed times due to the dedication of each and
every member of committee.
At the start of Michaelmas, the JCR ran
numerous Welcome Week events. This was one
of our most successful yet. The next generations
of Univ Students have settled in well and become
an integral part of our community. This term
also saw the JCR committee working closely
with the College to develop new approaches
in combatting the climate crisis, by reducing
our carbon footprint and continuing to make
positive-green investments. One outcome of
these discussions was the Domestic Bursary
committing to phasing out plastic waste from
the buttery. This was a significant achievement
for the JCR Committee, since this was something,
we had raised with College staff and supported
them to do. Indeed, this year has seen the JCR
gain a greater appreciation for the role it can play
in enabling positive change both in the College
and beyond.
The JCR has also enjoyed enhanced facilities in
the last year, with the opening of a new gym facility
under the Master’s Lodgings. We hope this brings
the JCR continued sporting success. Through
reforms to the Turquoise Fund, pioneered by
our Vice-President, Emilie Olufsen, more Univites
have been able to pursue their interests in extracurricular
activities, such as drama and music,
since the new fund is now available for all extracurricular
activities.
In response to the global COVID-19
pandemic, in our final term, the JCR moved
online. Our committee and students made a
tremendous success of this, hosting virtual open
mic nights and going ahead successfully with our
JCR elections via video conference. Moreover,
despite our physical distance the JCR Committee
remained incredibly busy representing the
interests of our peers to the College, working
together to ensure students could make the
most of these new circumstances.
The JCR also came together in Trinity in
response to our shared horror at the killing of
George Floyd in Minneapolis, raising over £1,000
through both JCR and individual donations for
charities working to support the Black Lives
Matter Movement. These events prompted
discussion in the JCR about how as a community
we could be more actively anti-racist and indeed
we have formed a JCR Anti-Racism working
group, as well as professionalising our equality
training in Welcome Week, increasing the
number of BAME reps to the JCR committee and
continuing to work with College in their efforts
to ensure Univ is a welcoming and tolerant
community for all.
I know our next President, Dag Yosief, will
continue the work of our committee, by thinking
of the role our JCR can play both within the
College and beyond. I wish him every success!
EUAN D HUEY
President, Junior Common Room
54 University College Record | October 2020