The College Record 2022

Credit: John Cairns
A YEAR IN THE JCR
James McGhee
JCR President
President James McGhee;
Vice President Jazzi Nieradzik-Burbeck
Looking back on the past year in the JCR, I cannot help
but feel that it has been a year defined by transition; the
many changing perspectives and impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic, along with a return to a sense of normality within
a College community that has been fundamentally altered
by our collective experiences of the pandemic.
Michaelmas Term started, however, not with a whimper,
but with perhaps a rather large bang. After a summer spent devising a multitude of
contingency scenarios, seeing a Fresher’s week run as before the pandemic felt,
frankly, surreal. Reflecting back on the term now over a year later, I think it’s easy
to forget how strange, and for some, deeply anxious, it felt to eat in Hall normally
together, to socialise with few restrictions, and to take part in that wider, more
intangible ‘Oxford Experience’. Hence, in planning for the Fresher’s, we tried to
take this into account and to ensure as many people as possible felt integrated
within the College community: we increased the number of no alcohol and ‘relaxed’
events within the schedule, as well as organising, along with College, a separate
‘Re-Fresher’s’ timetable for the returning years. Perhaps as an indication of success,
I remember a second-year remarking to me a few weeks into the term: ‘so this is
what Queen’s is actually like’.
Reports and College Activities
The term also saw a number of new and continued initiatives by the JCR committee.
Alongside the College, we introduced successful proposals to Governing Body to
introduce halal meat as a dietary option for every meal, as well as ensure the flying of
the intersex-inclusive progress flag during LGBTQ+ History Month and Pride Month.
Michaelmas also saw the organisation of Confluence@Queens events by the Minority
Ethnicities reps, including what is hoped to be an annual formal dinner. Furthermore,
despite the lack of Beer Cellar, the committee somehow managed to organise more
social events than we have had in a normal term!
The end of Michaelmas and the beginning of Hilary were however marked by the
initial Omicron wave. Despite initial fears, the effect on the life of the College was
luckily minimal. Perhaps, however, how most people will remember the term is by
the re-opening of the Beer Cellar (after being asked by various JCR members at
least daily for the prior term and a half!). Beer Cellar saw not only the return of its
much-loved bops, but also the return of fifth-week blues as well as a new open mic
event and quiz night.
College Record 2022 | The Queen’s College 59