Equality

In accordance with its specific duties under the Equality Act 2010, the College has adopted the following two Equality objectives for the years 2012-13 to 2015-16, and reports below on progress in achieving them:

1.    To develop further Magdalen’s outreach and access work.

2.    To improve the College’s processes for the collection and analysis of Equal Opportunities data on students and staff.

The College’s Equality work covers a much wider range than that referred to in these objectives, and further information about the extent of this follows.

Objective 1:

In respect of the College’s first objective, there has been a transformation in the range and scale of outreach and access activity by the College.

Outreach encompasses widening access, widening participation, and student recruitment. Under the University’s regionalisation scheme, Magdalen is linked with the local authorities of Barnsley, Brent, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Rotherham, Sheffield, and Westminster. For further information on the scheme, see http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/open-days-outreach/events-students-teachers/resources-teachers/link-colleges.

In 2012 the College appointed its first full-time Outreach Officer. The year 2012-13 saw a substantial increase in outreach activities, with 42 Outreach Officer-led events, involving 64 different schools and over 1,250 students. A Student Ambassador scheme was created to provide visiting school pupils with the opportunity to engage with current students, and a Student Ambassador Roadshow took place in South Yorkshire. A termly newsletter was developed to inform link schools of outreach events and opportunities at Magdalen and Oxford, and in January 2013 a Magdalen Outreach Twitter feed, @MagdOutreach, was set up to enable communication with link schools and interested students to take place in a less formal setting. Cooperation was established with Cambridge College Outreach and Schools Liaison Officers with responsibility for the same link regions as Magdalen, leading to events in Brent and Westminster. Magdalen also became an active supporter of the Pathways Programme, a cross-college initiative, with support from the Sutton Trust, which works with non-selective state school pupils in Years 10 to 13 and aims to raise aspirations for, and encourage applications to, Oxford. In 2013-14, all of the previous year’s initiatives were continued and developed. The College also contributed to the University’s Women in Science days, was represented at evening events in link regions aimed at women in STEM and Oxbridge, and began to build a strong relationship with education charity IntoUniversity, which works with schools in many areas of low progression that have a high concentration of BME students. In 2014-15, besides building on the work of the previous two years, the College saw its first Outreach Fellow take up office, with responsibility for oversight of the College’s outreach work, and there has been greater coordination of outreach activity between the numerous members of College involved in this work, including the JCR and MCR committee members with responsibility for access. Further development of Magdalen’s outreach initiatives is also a key part of the College’s Strategic Plan for 2015-20, which was agreed this year. Additional activities in 2015-16 included a ‘Target Schools Thursdays’ initiative run by Magdalen, which proved very popular in the College’s link local authorities of Brent and Westminster, and two events co-hosted on behalf of the Brilliant Club, an educational charity that works to increase the number of pupils from under-represented backgrounds progressing to highly selective universities.

Objective 2:

In respect of the College’s second objective, the processes for the collection and analysis of Equal Opportunities data on students and staff have been considerably improved. The data on students are considered annually by the Academic Policy Committee, and the data on staff by the Human Resources Committee.

The bulk of the data available to the Academic Policy Committee is provided by the University’s Student Data Management and Analysis team, and some of the data are available on the University website. The Academic Policy Committee did not note any concerning trends in the data on protected characteristics for current students in the years 2012-13, 2013-14, or 2014-15 (though there was a slight fall in the percentage of female students in 2015-16), and consistently felt that the College should continue to further its efforts to attract high-quality applicants from as wide a range of backgrounds as possible. In respect of Final Examination Results, in 2013 the percentages of Magdalen’s female and male students achieving Firsts were 21% and 49% respectively (for the University as a whole, 26% and 34% respectively); however, they were very close in 2014 (women 31%; men 34%; University – 27% and 35% respectively) and 2015 (women 44%; men 45%; University – 25% and 36% respectively), the latter year, which comprised 60 students from UK state schools, 33 students from UK independent schools, and 21 students from overseas schools, seeing the second-best Finals performance of any Magdalen cohort.

Information about the College’s provision of support for disabled applicants and students is given below.

In respect of Equality data on staff, the Human Resources Committee has considered both recruitment data and data on current employees. The recruitment data were gathered on 24 academic and non-academic posts in 2012, 27 in 2013, and 25 in 2014. The Committee has noted that the completeness of the information available to it is very much dependent on the proportion of applicants who submit the anonymous forms, and the proportions of those doing so in 2014 were scrutinized in 2015 with a view to establishing whether more complete and useful data might become available in 2016. Most of the posts considered are non-academic rather than academic: the majority of the College’s senior academic appointments are made jointly with the University. The University has gathered and published monitoring and statistical data and other Equality information in a series of reports.

These reports incorporate data on members of the College’s academic staff who hold a joint appointment with the University.

In 2014-15, up-to-date Equality data were gathered on the College’s workforce by means of an anonymous questionnaire, which was returned by 110 of the College’s current employees. The analysis of this (e.g. female staff 52%; BME staff 16%; staff with a disability 10%) appeared to show results broadly in line with expectations for the sector. Further data will be examined in Trinity Term 2016 with a view to considering analysis of the evolution of the workforce over time, and to seeing whether comparability can be established between recruitment data and data on current staff.

There is a variety of other Equality work within the College beyond that related to Magdalen’s specific Equality objectives. In 2014-15 the College’s Harassment policy was revised following the revision of the University’s Harassment policy, and the College’s Freedom of Speech policy will be reviewed in Trinity Term 2016. The College’s policy on parental leave is regularly updated. But perhaps the most extensive regular Equality work is in respect of disabled students and staff.

When an applicant for a place at Magdalen declares a disability, the applicant is contacted by the College, and the Admissions Officer liaises with the candidate and key College staff to ensure that appropriate adjustments can be put in place in good time for the interview process. Successful candidates are encouraged in their offer letters to disclose any disability if they have not already done so. The College’s Student Support Administrator liaises with the student and the University’s Disability Advisory Service (DAS), and the College’s designated Disability Adviser at the DAS makes arrangements with the student for a disability assessment. The assessment leads to a Student Support Plan, on the basis of which provision can be tailored to the particular needs of that student.

Adjustments in College take a variety of forms, including choice of room, furniture or equipment (such as beds, chairs, or desks), assistance in the case of visual or aural impairment (such as devices to alert students with hearing impairment to a fire alarm), transportation, the location of teaching, and examination adjustments. The examination adjustments, which involve liaison between the College’s Academic Administrator, the DAS, the College Doctors, and the University Proctors, vary widely from case to case, and can include extra writing time, rest breaks, the use of a word processor, the use of special software (e.g. for mathematical or musical notation, or for particular languages), the provision of a separate examination room, the use of one or more amanuenses (sometimes one for each sub-discipline of an Honour School) or readers, and arrangement of overnight supervision for those unable to take examinations on particular days (this can be for various reasons, including disability and the timing of religious holidays). Where practicable, examination arrangements for students who have had adjustments approved for their University examinations are used for their College examinations (‘collections’), which assists students by giving practice in sitting examinations in the appropriate conditions, as well as helping to ensure fair assessment of their progress.

In respect of improving access to College facilities for members of College and visitors to the College, much work has been done in recent years, in consultation with the relevant planning and other authorities, including the creation of accessible accommodation and teaching space, the installation of a lift in Cloisters to give access to meeting room and library space, and new accessible toilet facilities. Accessibility was made an important element in the College’s Strategic Plan for 2015-20, and the following access improvements were made in 2015-16:

•    Chaplain’s Quad. In place of stepped access into the Ante Room, we installed a stone ramp with handrails and alternative stepped access to cater for the needs of both wheelchair users and people who are ambulant disabled.
•    Daubeny Building. The main glass entrance door and subsequent internal doors leading to Rooms 1 and 2 have been automated. Though both rooms are already accessible, minor alterations and upgrades have been made since the 2007 refurbishment to meet the needs of wheelchair users.
•    Longwall Annexe, Lower Annexe. Alterations to five existing store-rooms have been made to create four en-suite study bedrooms, including one accessible en-suite room with ramp access in the external courtyard and automation to the courtyard door and the building entrance door.
•    Marston Road Grounds. An existing rutted stone track has been removed, and a new roadway has been provided, with highway-standard construction depths and appropriate drainage, surfaced with self-binding gravel. This surface provides improved accessibility for students, staff, and visitors to the College properties, the Fellows Garden, and the all-weather sports pitch operated by Magdalen College School.

The College’s JCR and MCR committees are also engaged in Equality work. The JCR has four Equalities Officers (a Women’s Officer, an LGBTQ Officer, a Disabled Students’ Officer, and a BME Students Officer, the latter two positions created in 2014-15), who are active in running and advertising events, including discussion groups, workshops, and social events. The MCR is similarly active; in 2014 it added an LGBTQ Officer to its committee structure, and in 2015 it added four new Equalities Officers (or Liberation Representatives) – a Women’s Officer, a Disabled Students’ Officer, a Racial Equality Officer, and an additional LGBTQ Officer. In 2014, the College accepted a proposal from the JCR and MCR to fly the Rainbow Flag on one day in February, to give a public expression of its commitment to provide a welcoming, safe, and supportive environment for both work and leisure for all members of the College, whatever their sexual orientation. In 2015, the College accepted a proposal from the JCR and MCR to fly the Rainbow Flag for one week of LGBTQ History month every year.

In accordance with its specific duties under the Equality Act 2010, the College has adopted the following two Equality objectives for the years 2016-17 to 2019-20, and reports below on progress in achieving them:

1          To increase the accessibility of Magdalen’s buildings and grounds for disabled members of the College and visitors.

2          To improve further the College’s provision of support for disabled students, staff, and visitors.

The College’s Equality work covers a much wider range than that referred to in these objectives, and further information about the extent of this follows.

Objective 1:

There has been very extensive work in College in support of this objective.

Trinity Term 2016 to Hilary Term 2017:

• Grove Buildings internal refurbishment. The existing accessible rooms (D.III.1 and the Teaching Room with ancillary bathroom in A) were refurbished and upgraded to a higher specification.
• Grove Quad re-landscaping. The works involved replacement Yorkstone paving. The improvements include tight 3mm joints between paving stones; re-designed ramp layouts at the north end of Building A by the car park and from the F/E door at the Auditorium; a more manageable gradient of ramp into all accessible areas; and a seamless transition to the asphalt paths that lead into College.
• Longwall Library. All floors of the building are now accessible to a wheelchair user through the introduction of a lift; all users of the library can use the same front door which is automatic and approached by a ramp; circulatory and room doors throughout all floors of the building are automatic; circulation routes throughout the building are generous to allow for ease of movement of a wheelchair; fittings and fixtures have been designed to take account of the needs of disabled people; signage is clear throughout the building, and colours are of a suitable degree of contrast to aid those with visual impairments; provision has been made throughout in designing for those with sensory impairments; there are accessible WC facilities on the lower ground and first floors; and the Longwall late gate has also been automated, giving wheelchair access to and from the street 24/7.

Trinity Term 2017 to Hilary Term 2018:

• Replacement Buttery lift. The existing platform lift has been replaced with a Part M compliant hydraulic passenger and goods lift, which has been modified and appropriately re-modelled so that it can transport wheelchair and ambulant disabled users.
• Hall refurbishment. The existing PA system has been replaced with a new sound system, which for the first time introduces a hearing loop system to assist those with hearing impairments.
• Holywell Ford Stables. Both floors of the building are now accessible to a wheelchair user through the introduction of a Stannah stairlift; all users can use the same front door, which is automatic and approached by a ramp; all internal doors throughout are automatic; signage is clear throughout the building and colours are of a suitable degree of contrast to aid those with visual impairments; and there is an accessible WC on the ground floor.
• Senior Common Room. A new Part M compliant hydraulic lift has been installed, which provides access to the first floor where the Senior Common Room is located, and to the upper first floor where the Lower Muniment Room can be found. There is an accessible WC on the first floor, and wheelchair users can move independently between the Senior Common Room and the
• Lower Muniment Room with the aid of automatic doors. Signage is clear throughout the refurbished spaces, and colours are of a suitable degree of contrast to aid those with visual impairments.
• Old Practice Room. The passageway from the Cloister into the Old Practice Room has been made level going, and the room door is automatic, which now makes this an accessible teaching and meeting space.

Trinity Term 2018 to Hilary Term 2019:

Planning for the following improvements took place:

• Chapel. As part of an extensive refurbishment of the Chapel and Ante Chapel space, the existing PA system will be replaced with a new sound system, with a hearing loop to assist those with hearing impairments.
• Winter Common Room project. The Winter Common Room, New Room, and back of house areas are going to be refurbished starting in the summer of 2019. Our aim is to improve accessibility where and to the extent that it is practically possible, with due regard to the character and significance of the historic fabric and setting. Our proposals allow for all existing and new dining and reception rooms to become accessible.
• 1-7 Longwall St. An extensive refurbishment will include improvements to accessibility. The gate leading to 1-7 Longwall St from the highway will be automated, and the internal spaces will be reconfigured to allow for improvements in the size and quality of the offering for accessible rooms and bathrooms.
• Old Kitchen Bar terrace. This space will be made accessible by the introduction of lift access between the servery and the terrace.
• St Swithun’s and Longwall Quad. These staircases will be extensively refurbished and all opportunities for improvements to accessibility will be fully explored and implemented where it is possible to do so.

Trinity Term 2019 to Hilary Term 2020:

The following works are taking place in this period:

• Winter Common Room project. At the end of Trinity Term 2019 work began on this project (see above for details), which will greatly increase accessibility by incorporating lift access to connect ground and first floors and by providing automated doors and an accessible WC. The current programme shows a completion date of August 2020.

Further planning for the following improvements has taken place:

• Chapel (see above for details).
• 1-7 Longwall St. (see above for details).

Objective 2:

The College has continued to work hard to improve its provision of support for disabled students, staff, and visitors. A detailed account of the various ways in which Magdalen supports disabled students is given above in our Equality Reports for 2012-13 to 2015-16. Over the years 2010 to 2019, the percentage of students with a declared disability at the College has been very close to or above that for the University as a whole, and that percentage increased from 4.7% in 2010 to 13.2% in 2019. The data on Final Examination results for the period 2015-18 at Magdalen and in the University as a whole show that over this period 34.43% of Magdalen finalists with a declared disability achieved Firsts (compared to a University average of 27.92%), while 43.16% of Magdalen finalists with no declared disability achieved Firsts (compared to a University average of 34.34%). The University has not yet released Final Examination data for 2019.

Other Equality work:

Much other Equality work has been done at Magdalen, with the aim of promoting and increasing diversity and inclusivity wherever possible.

Between 2016 and 2018 Magdalen significantly increased its outreach efforts, in support of the University’s aim of removing barriers to higher education and promoting equality of opportunity. In 2016-17 much work was done to complete and update the database of schools in Magdalen’s link regions, and to develop both ‘An Introduction to Oxford’ workshops at local host schools, and ‘Magdalen Revealed’ workshops at the College, aimed specifically at schools which have little or no history of making competitive applications to Oxford.  Confirmed engagements were made with 82 of the schools in the link regions, and 32 Magdalen students were trained as Student Ambassadors, who assisted at both external and internal events. In the year 2017-18 the Outreach Officer arranged or attended 41 outreach events, reaching approximately 1,500 pupils from 84 schools. Over 60 current undergraduates were trained to act as Student Ambassadors during these outreach events. The Outreach Officer collaborated with other colleges and departments on outreach events aimed at widening participation more broadly, including a Women in Science event in collaboration with Jesus and Trinity Colleges, a computer science competition organised by the Department of Computer Science, and a charity fundraiser for International Women’s Day. Magdalen Outreach co-hosted the Oxford African & Caribbean Society’s annual Offer-Holders Day, during which 24 Year-13 Oxford offer-holders of black African & Caribbean heritage attended workshops and study skills sessions followed by a formal dinner at Magdalen. The Outreach Officer also attended an outreach event for BME students at IntoUniversity Lambeth, which consisted of an all-BME panel of Oxford alumni providing insights into the admissions process and Oxford life, followed by a Q&A session. From October 2017 the Outreach Officer was involved in the development of an app to highlight landmarks around Oxford that are relevant to the BME community, to help address the perceived lack of recognition of BME figures and BME history within Oxford.

The College has embarked on a major new Outreach Strategy for the period 2018-23, which aims to give opportunities for outstanding education to students regardless of background; to increase the presence of under-represented groups at Magdalen and at Oxford; to promote Magdalen and Oxford to all students with the potential for academic excellence; and to support the University as a whole in its outreach and access work. This involves increased staffing at Fellowship and Officership level, collaboration on a wide variety of access programmes, developments in communications, and the greater embedding of outreach as a fundamental part of the College’s life.

Magdalen conducted 88 outreach events between Trinity 2018 and Hilary 2019, and 134 between Trinity 2019 and Hilary 2020. Many of these events involved multiple schools and colleges and some events took place over more than one day, e.g. Higher Education exhibitions and residential visits, such as ‘Law at Magdalen’, a two-night residential for Year 12 students from under-represented backgrounds which aimed to introduce them to the study of law at university level. Most events involved schools and colleges in our link regions, but we also worked with schools and colleges across the UK. Most of these events were organised and led by Magdalen, whilst also involving collaboration with other Colleges, Departments, and external organisations. The College contributed significantly during this period towards many University-wide outreach and access programmes, including UNIQ (twice hosting 40 students for 4 or 5 nights), UNIQ+ (hosting 2 students for 6 weeks), Target Oxbridge (hosting 50 students for a 2-day residential), Oxford for Oxford (4 events), Oxford Pathways (6 events), OUSU Target Schools (1 event), Open Days (6 across the 2 years), Oxford First-Gen Society (1 event), and the Oxford African and Caribbean Society (3 events). Magdalen also worked with many external organisations specialising in outreach and access, including The Sutton Trust (hosting 20 teachers for 1 night as part of the Teacher Summer School); The Social Mobility Foundation; The Access Project (which works with disadvantaged students in London and the Midlands); The Access Platform (ongoing digital outreach platform); IntoUniversity; Your Future, Your Ambition (which focuses on diversity within STEM); Breakout Youth (a LGBTQ+ youth group in Hampshire); Making the Leap (a London-based social mobility charity); UK University Search; Oxfordshire Historical Association; Holocaust Educational Trust; Oxfordshire Virtual School for Looked After Children and Care Leavers, 0-25; Pimlico Musical Foundation; and UCAS Higher Education Exhibitions. For 2020-21 we have events planned with UNIQ, UNIQ+, OUSU Target Schools, Target Oxbridge, Oxford for Oxford, Oxford Pathways, The Access Project, Westside Young Leaders Academy, Oxfordshire Virtual School, and UCAS. In 2019 Magdalen launched a ground-breaking new initiative to help equip future Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) leaders with the tools and knowledge required to stand for political office. The Pathways to Success residential and mentoring programme was set up by the House of Commons and Operation Black Vote, and run in partnership with Madgalen College, the Blavatnik School of Government, and Lloyds Bank. More information is available here: https://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/news/creating-bame-leaders-of-tomorrow/. Magdalen also organised a trip to 10 Downing Street to give a group of BAME Oxford students an opportunity to meet Nero Ughwujabo, the Special Adviser on Social Justice, Young People, and Opportunities in the Office of the Prime Minister (for details, see https://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/news/students-visit-10-downing-street/).

The Final Examination results supplied by the University for the period 2015-18, which were scrutinized by the College’s Academic Policy Committee, show that 41.97% of Magdalen women who were finalists achieved Firsts (compared to a University average of 29.24%), while 41.91% of Magdalen men achieved Firsts (compared to a University average of 37.19%), with the Finals performance of women at Magdalen over this period being better than that of men, a sharp contrast with the picture in the University as a whole. In respect of BME students, the University’s statistics for the period 2015-18 show that 38.75% of Magdalen finalists classified as BME/unknown achieved Firsts (compared to a University average of 28.60%), while 42.66% of Magdalen finalists classified as White achieved Firsts (compared to a University average of 34.82%). However, the overall numbers of women and BME students studying at Magdalen have been lower than the College would wish, and further work under the College’s Outreach strategy for 2018-23 is being undertaken to address these and other diversity and equality issues. Following the first undergraduate admissions exercise conducted under the College’s new strategy in December 2018, the figures for the UK students who comprise Magdalen’s 1st year in 2019-20 show a marked increase in numbers from under-represented groups compared to data for the period 2016-18 published in May 2019 in the University’s second Annual Admissions Statistical Report. 108 new undergraduates arrived at Magdalen to begin their degrees in October 2019, of whom 76 are UK-domiciled. Of these 76, 31.5% are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, an increase of 20.7 percentage points from the average for the previous three years (data available on 73 out of 76); 59.2% attended a state secondary school, an increase of 8.8 percentage points; 60.5% are female, an increase of 16.1 percentage points; 13.3% are from socio-economically disadvantaged areas, an increase of 4.2 percentage points (data available on 75 out of 76); 17.6% are from areas with low progression to higher education, an increase of 8.9 percentage points (data available on 74 out of 76). In the second undergraduate admissions exercise of this period (December 2019), the College has again offered the majority of its places to female students, and has made 4 offers to students taking part in the University’s new Opportunity Oxford programme, for which it will be hosting up to 6 students during the pre-arrival residential programme in September 2020. In developing its Outreach strategy further, the College is seeking to address the challenge of changing public perceptions, in order to attract higher numbers of academically able students from disadvantaged and under-represented groups.

The Tutor for Equality and Diversity has organised a termly Equality and Diversity Forum for Magdalen’s undergraduates and graduates, which provides a space for raising issues and instigating positive changes within the College. Among the improvements which have been made is the setting out of clearer information by the College about arrangements for those with particular dietary requirements, such as the provision of kosher and halal food; training a team of ten Magdalen staff and fellows through a two-day Mental Health First Aid course; working with the Porter’s Lodge on further improvements to their interactions with students; and working with the library to collect student feedback and improve provision for non-visible disabilities in the library.

In co-operation with the JCR and MCR, the College made significant changes to its Student Welfare provision in 2016-17, with the appointment of a Tutor for Welfare, Personal Tutors for all incoming fresher undergraduates, and a Student Mentor to offer advice and guidance to all students on a broad range of topics, to help signpost students to other support services, which include a College Counsellor who is also a member of the University’s Counselling Service, and to organise various sorts of discussion groups or workshops, such as the very popular sessions on Mindfulness. The JCR and MCR also have Welfare Officers and Peer Supporters who receive training in welfare support for students. An additional Sub-Dean was added to the College’s provision from Hilary Term 2018, to increase the ‘out-of-hours’ welfare support available to Magdalen students. From 2017, the College has required all fresher undergraduates to attend a session on Student Safety which included sexual consent guidance provided by the Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre. The College’s welfare provision was reviewed again in Trinity Term 2018, leading to a substantial increase in the number of hours of counselling provided by the College and of additional support offered by the Student Mentor (renamed the ‘College Mentor for Students’).

The College’s Human Resources Committee has continued to monitor recruitment data and data on current staff. These are derived from forms completed voluntarily by applicants for posts and by current College staff, and appear to be relatively consistent from year to year in respect of declarations about ethnicity and disability. As before, most of the posts considered are non-academic rather than academic: the majority of the College’s senior academic appointments are made jointly with the University. The University has gathered and published monitoring and statistical data and other Equality information in a series of reports.

These reports incorporate data on a number of the College’s academic staff who hold a joint appointment with the University.

In considering the figures for the Gender Pay Gap at Magdalen (in the reporting year 2016-17: median 2.02%; mean 26.46%; in the reporting year 2017-18: median 0%; mean 27.88%; in the reporting year 2018-19: median 2.36%; mean 25.43%), the Committee has noted the factors that have led to the imbalance in the mean (in particular, the number of male incumbents in the most senior roles), and considered ways of addressing the gap. The College has in place a generous Maternity policy, details of which are advertised in the further particulars for academic vacancies with the aim of attracting more applications from female candidates, and made further improvements to this policy in Trinity Term 2019. In addition, the College’s shared parental leave pay policy mirrors the Maternity pay policy, to encourage men to take on more responsibility for caring for children. In Hilary Term 2020 the College introduced a formal Flexible Working policy. The College is seeking to establish a dedicated College nursery as well as transitional housing for families to attract more applications from female candidates. And the College continues to review its recruitment processes, focus on how to attract more women into the roles within the College where there is currently a preponderance of men, and ensure that all interviewers have received guidance about unconscious bias. In 2019-20 the College appointed female candidates to two of its most senior roles (Development Director in Michaelmas Term 2019, and President in Hilary Term 2020).

Consideration has been given to the promotion of an atmosphere in Magdalen of inclusivity and equality for all members of the community. A revision of the College’s Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech was undertaken in 2016, along with a further revision of the Code of Practice on Harassment (following the revision of that Code which was undertaken in 2015).

The College flew the Rainbow Flag for one week of LGBTQ+ History month every year to 2018, and in Michaelmas Term 2019 agreed to fly the Rainbow Flag for the months of February and June as a celebration of LGBTQ+ History month and Pride month; and it flew the Suffrage Banner on 14 December 2018 to mark 100 years since British and Irish Women first cast a vote in a general election and stood as parliamentary candidates, and again to mark International Women’s Day in March 2019. Magdalen hosted its first ever Iftar on 8 June 2018, bringing together members of the College over a meal in the President’s Lodgings to mark the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan. Former student of the College Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International, gave the 2018 Waynflete Lecture at the College, entitled ‘Creative maladjustment in a time of affluenza’, concerning the biggest problems faced by society, including inequality and climate change, and the urgency with which they need to be addressed. In 2019-20 the College held celebrations to mark 40 years of the admission of women as equal members of Magdalen, including a day of panel discussions on the experience of being a woman at Magdalen and on Magdalen women in the world after College, concluding with live music from singer Rachel Amosu, and an exhibition curated by Dr Charlotte Berry and Prof. Siân Pooley, entitled ‘Women and Power? A Magdalen Story’, open to the public from 18 September 2019 to 29 April 2020.

The College has also continued to celebrate the achievements of female Fellows at Magdalen by commissioning female portraiture, with recent portraits of Professor Lizzie Fricker and Dr Christine Ferdinand to add to the portrait of Dame Frances Kirwan. At the instigation of the JCR, in close co-operation with the MCR and Fellows of Magdalen, the College commissioned a series of photographic portraits to hang in the Dining Hall, which reflect the diversity of the College’s membership and help to ensure that all students and staff feel included in the College community, and in Trinity Term 2019 the JCR and MCR successfully proposed that the exhibition be extended indefinitely and the portraits renewed periodically to reflect changes in the student population.

The JCR and MCR are also very active in promoting equality in other ways. The JCR has established the post of Trans Officer, to help support the needs of transgender students. Its RaEM (Racial and Ethnic Minorities) Representative has attended the Oxford SU Access and Admissions Focus Group and training sessions of the Oxford SU Campaign for Racial Awareness and Equality, and the JCR held its second Race Workshop during Freshers’ Week in 2018, along with workshops led by the Welfare and LGBTQ+ Representatives, organised following collaboration with the Tutor for Equality and Diversity. The LGBTQ+ Representatives have hosted weekly drinks in the Old Kitchen Bar, and the Representative for Disabled Students has addressed the issues of common room accessibility, and lighting around the College. The MCR’s Racial Equality Officer worked with counterparts in the JCR to establish an annual dinner for BME students, starting in 2018, to parallel the annual dinner for students identifying as LGBTQ+. In 2017-18 the JCR organised a panel discussion entitled ‘The Power of Out: Being Yourself & Being Successful’, with guest LGBTQ+ speakers from Barclays, Boston Consulting Group, and VISA, and LGBTQ+ drinks are held weekly in the Old Kitchen Bar. The MCR has worked with the Tutor for Equality and Diversity to put on a series of panel talks where women discuss their work in different realms of life, including ‘Women at Oxford’, ‘Women in Social Entrepreneurship’, and ‘Women in Academia’, and to organise a lecture to celebrate LGBTQ+ History month. There has also been close collaboration between the Welfare team and the LGBTQ+ Officers, the Disabilities Representative, and the BME Representative. In 2019-20, the MCR established the position of ‘Vac Rep’, to focus on improving the mental and physical health of students without the means or opportunity to spend the vacation period with friends and family away from the University. And in Hilary term 2020 a group of BAME students, including the JCR RaEM Representative, attended the Parliamentary Report Launch of ‘Empowered Employment: Unlocking the Workplace for Muslim Women’, a report authored by Magdalen alumna Dr Suriyah Bi. Both the JCR and the MCR are proud to be working to make Magdalen an ever more diverse and inclusive environment.

In accordance with its specific duties under the Equality Act 2010, the College has adopted the following two Equality objectives for the years 2020-21 to 2023-24, and reports below on progress in achieving them:

1          To promote good mental health among students and staff at the College.

2          To work towards greater gender equality at the College.

The College’s Equality work covers a much wider range than that referred to in these objectives, and further information is given about this below.

Objective 1:

Trinity Term 2020 to Hilary Term 2021:

The principal activity in support of this objective was a thoroughgoing review of the College’s student welfare provision, with input from students and staff in College and comparison with welfare provision at other colleges. This resulted in proposals for a revised welfare system, with greater cohesion in its structure and clear separation between the welfare and discipline roles of the Deans.

Trinity Term 2021 to Hilary Term 2022:

The new welfare system became operational in Michaelmas Term 2021. Further to this restructuring, the year saw the creation of the new position of ‘Dean for Welfare and Research Fellow’, reflecting the College’s commitment to providing Magdalen undergraduates and graduates with dedicated time from academic staff which is focused on their welfare needs.

Trinity Term 2022 to Hilary Term 2023:

The new Dean for Welfare took up office in Michaelmas Term 2022. In partnership with the University of Oxford Mindfulness Centre (OMC), the College hosted an eight-week practical introduction to mindfulness in that term, designed specifically with the needs of students in mind, and fully reimbursed students who attended at least six out of the eight sessions.

Trinity Term 2023 to Hilary Term 2024:

The College enrolled in an Employee Assistance Programme for its staff and their immediate family, providing support in respect of mental and physical health, among many other services. In 2024 the whole Library Team at Magdalen qualified as Mental Health First Aiders, to act as a point of contact if a member of the College, or someone that member is concerned about, is experiencing poor mental health or emotional distress.

Further information is provided below on other activities in the College in support of the promotion of good mental health among its members.

Objective 2:

Trinity Term 2020 to Hilary Term 2024:

Following extensive outreach work by the College under its Outreach Strategy for 2018-23, the composition of the student body has seen significant change. While in December 2018 40.7% of the College’s student population were female (compared with 46.7% in the University as a whole), this figure rose to 46.4% in December 2019 (compared with 47.8% for the University) and 48.2% in December 2020 (compared with 48.7% in the University), such that in that year the College’s figures were only just below those for the University as a whole; in December 2021, December 2022, and December 2023 Magdalen had a higher percentage of female students than the University as a whole (Magdalen: 51.0%, 52.8%, and 51.0% respectively; the University: 50.2%, 50.9%, and 50.9% respectively).

There has been movement too in respect of the Gender Pay Gap.

A number of the College’s most senior roles in the reporting years were held by majority male incumbents. In addition, the College has relatively low employee turnover in its senior positions, and while longevity of service has benefits, it can be a barrier to changing the gender balance in particular areas. However, in two years of the four-year period Median pay in College was higher for women than for men (2019-20 Gap: -0.42%; 2020-21 Gap: -6.69%), and since the start of Gender Pay Gap reporting the Mean Gender Pay Gap has reduced as follows:

2016-17: 26.46%

2017-18: 27.88%

2018-19: 25.43%

2019-20: 19.12%

2020-21: 17.21%

2021-22: 14.37%

2022-23: 13.89%

Teaching and research staff take considerable time developing the experience needed for career progression. This means that it is difficult for early career academics to reach more senior positions swiftly. It is also the case that, in recruiting to academic roles, the vacancies are typically in highly specialised areas, which reduces the number of suitable candidates for a vacancy.

Stipendiary Fellows of the College receive a Housing Allowance which has been included when calculating the Gender Pay Gap. Associate Professors who are on joint appointments where Magdalen is the minor employer also receive the full Housing Allowance. This has significantly increased the hourly rate for these employees. At 5 April 2023 there was a 1:4.6 ratio of women to men in Associate Professor roles at Magdalen.

In its efforts to eradicate the Gender Pay Gap the College will continue to review its recruitment processes, focus on how to attract more women into the roles within the College where there is currently a preponderance of men, and ensure that all interviewers have received guidance about unconscious bias. The College will continue to ensure that at least one woman is shortlisted for interview for each senior post, and if this is not possible a justification for this will be submitted to the Human Resources Department.

The College has in place a generous Maternity policy which all staff (Academic and non-Academic) are entitled to from day one of employment, details of which are advertised in the further particulars for all vacancies, with the aim of attracting more applications from female candidates. In addition, the College’s shared parental leave pay policy mirrors the Maternity pay policy, to encourage men to take on more responsibility for caring for children.

The College has introduced more support for those with caring responsibilities (which still predominantly tend to fall to female employees) for both childcare and eldercare. These include a carers’ leave policy and an additional annual leave (unpaid) policy. The College continues to support flexible working practices for employees where job roles allow. There has been a considerable take-up of hybrid working (home/College) following the pandemic, which allows staff a better work/life balance and which the College fully supports where roles allow it. The College is still seeking to establish a dedicated College nursery as well as transitional housing for families, which should help to attract more applications from female candidates. Plans for these are under development.

The College’s Gender Pay Gap for the reporting year 2022-23 is:

Median:           26.53%

Mean:              13.89%

Quartiles

Further details about the College’s Gender Pay Gap in previous years are available here: https://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/gender-pay-gap/.

In Michaelmas Term 2023 the College introduced a menopause policy, in order to offer a positive, open, and supportive work environment where staff and their colleagues and managers are well informed about how menopause can affect people in the workplace and are better able to provide support.

For International Women’s Day on 8 March 2024 Magdalen College Library put together an exhibition under the theme ‘Inspire Inclusion’, displaying works by Magdalen authors, past and present, who have studied or tutored at the College.

Both of the College’s specific Equality Objectives for the period 2020-21 to 2023-24 also figure in much of the College’s other Equality work:

Outreach:

Trinity Term 2020 to Hilary Term 2021:

Between Trinity Term 2020 and Hilary Term 2021, Magdalen adapted its outreach provision to the new virtual educational environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Trinity Term, 33 pre-organised events had to be cancelled, with many others that were yet to be arranged made impossible by COVID-19. Nevertheless, Magdalen conducted 76 events during this time. By the end of Hilary Term, this had involved approximately 2,000 participants (not including the 2,090 students who attended the University Remote Interview Workshops or the many more we have engaged with at HE fairs and the virtual Open Days). We have engaged directly with 59 of our link region schools, as well as engaging with pupils from across the country. We have 105 current undergraduates and graduates trained as student ambassadors, with 42 of them having been trained this academic year. Twenty-two members of the academic staff have participated in events as well.

Trinity Term 2020 saw the introduction of Magdalen’s first virtual outreach events in the form of several ‘Taster Days’ for Year 11-12 students to sign up to as individuals. By this means we reached 250 pupils, teachers, and parents from across our link regions. The success of these events has led us to incorporate this into our regular offering whereby we shall run two virtual taster days every school half-term. Creating asynchronous online content has been important to provide for students who are unable to attend live sessions. We have developed several talks for the Magdalen Youtube channel, including a series of academic lectures and a ‘Magdalen in a Minute’ series of current students answering FAQs. We also developed a subject-specific resource pack to help students develop their interest in their subject outside of school.

Despite the cancellation of in-person residentials over the summer, we participated in various online programmes. We collaborated with Dr Tammie Bishop, part of the team led by Nobel Prize-winning Magdalen Fellow Professor Sir Peter Ratcliffe, to give 15 Year 12 pupils a chance to participate in remote work experience at the Nuffield Department of Medicine. The pandemic allowed us to provide work experience in Oxford to students from our seven link regions who would have been unable to take part otherwise. The week involved lectures and workshops given by Tammie and her team, including a Q&A with Magdalen Professor Rob Gilbert and a mock tutorial with Samvid Kurkelar, who studied Biochemistry at Magdalen. We were still able to go ahead with our second year of the Law at Magdalen residential, led by Joe Sampson, by converting this into a three-day virtual event, which enabled us to triple our capacity to 90 Year 12 students. The event involved a combination of live and pre-recorded sessions, including student Q&As, academic work, and an opening lecture by Magdalen’s new President, Dinah Rose QC.

The in-person Humanities BAME Study Day scheduled for Easter 2020 at Magdalen had to be cancelled, but was replaced with a half-day online Virtual Humanities BAME Study Day in July. The event had financial support from the Humanities Division and was organised with University College, the History Faculty, and the English Faculty, with significant input from Magdalen Professor Siân Pooley. The event involved an admissions presentation, subject-specific lectures, and a student Q&A, as well as an introduction from the University’s Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach, Samina Khan. The event is being expanded this year to involve all Humanities subject areas.

During Michaelmas and Hilary Terms, the College offered a full schedule of talks and workshops which schools could access digitally. In particular, we supported the University-wide effort to provide remote interview workshops to applicants from state school backgrounds, as well as running our own interview workshops for our link area. With the support of our academic tutors, we have launched a Talks with Tutors programme to allow individuals to access academic sessions to help boost their interest and understanding in a given subject. This has involved over a hundred participants so far, with more virtual talks scheduled for the Easter vacation and in Trinity Term.

This year we also launched two year-long programmes with the University of Cambridge – Next Steps Sheffield, and Progress2Uni in Nottinghamshire. Next Steps Sheffield is being run with Emmanuel College, and offers four online webinars – one for Year 11s and three for Year 12s. These focus on debunking myths about Oxford and supporting students to make a competitive application to university. Progress2Uni is being run with Peterhouse College, and is a sustained programme that was offered to all state schools in Nottinghamshire for able Year 10s to participate in. This five-module programme, involving pre-session tasks and live sessions focusing on introducing pupils to the possibility of attending university, will run throughout the year.

Finally, work is being done to support our offer-holders and our current undergraduate students. For the first time this year we have launched a post-offer scheme which began with sending a welcome pack to all Magdalen offer-holders. We have provided additional optional support for 22 of our offer-holders from under-represented backgrounds in the form of a virtual Welcome Morning, to introduce them to the College and to ask any questions they may have. We have also hired six current students as Access Mentors to provide 1-on-1 mentoring sessions to help offer-holders consider their offer and to provide support in their path to university. Additionally, we have also supported the Opportunity Oxford scheme this year, as we did last year. There is ongoing work by the Outreach Office to consult with current students via our new termly outreach forum about their experiences at Magdalen, with a particular focus on issues that disproportionately impact students from under-represented backgrounds. We hope that this will begin future projects to help our students have a smooth transition to university.

Trinity Term 2021 to Hilary Term 2022:

Between Trinity Term 2021 and Hilary Term 2022, Magdalen transitioned from entirely online outreach provision, as necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, to a hybrid of in-person and online provision. By the end of Hilary Term, we had conducted approximately 148 events. These involved approximately 3,500 students, teachers and parents (not including students who attended the University Remote Interview Workshops or the many more we have engaged with at HE fairs and the virtual Open Days). We engaged directly with 62 of our link region schools and many more via Oxbridge evenings held in hub schools and via our virtual events. We have 101 current undergraduates and graduates trained as student ambassadors, and 18 members of the academic staff have participated in events as well.

During Trinity Term, we offered a full programme of online events for school groups and for individuals to sign up to, including our standard workshops and talks as well as special events such as our Virtual Taster Days and Talks with Tutors sessions led by Magdalen academics. Our online programmes with Cambridge, Progress2Uni for Nottinghamshire Year 10s and Next Steps Sheffield for Year 12s, concluded in Trinity. Both programmes were continued for a second year beginning again in Michaelmas, with Next Steps Sheffield expanding to include all of South Yorkshire.

Over the summer, we were pleased to hold our first in-person event since before the pandemic. The third year of our Law at Magdalen residential programme with Professor Joe Sampson took place in August for 27 Year 12 students from across the country, with a further 78 students joining us to receive a simultaneous online programme. We also ran a new three-day online Physics and Engineering programme with Dr Alexy Karenowska and Professor Robin Cleveland for 44 Year 12 pupils. Pathway to Success, a leadership and development programme designed to help equip future Black and Minority Ethnic leaders with the tools and knowledge required for senior leadership, returned to Magdalen for a 3-day residential. Professor Timothy Barraclough delivered a session in the colonnade of New Building about climate change. As an extension to the Pathway programme, earlier in the year participants had been assigned Magdalen alumni as mentors, and, on the second day of the Magdalen residential, mentors and participants were able to meet in person for the first time.

During Michaelmas Term, we were pleased to be able to restart our programme of in-person school visits to Magdalen, which continued into Hilary with minimal disruption from COVID-19. These have taken place alongside a reduced number of online events. During this time we hosted 46 events in College, primarily consisting of Taster Days for our link region schools. We have also been able to host specialist events again, such as the Oxfordshire heat of the Historical Association’s Great Debate competition for Year 12s (December 2021) and the African and Caribbean Society’s Offer-Holders Day (February 2022). Our partnership with the Access Project in Ashfield School has continued, and we hosted their Year 12 trip to Oxford for 76 students from 14 schools (March 2022). It was also our third year of running the Humanities BAME Study Day for Year 12 students of BAME heritage (an online event, with 81 attendees live and a further 81 who received the recording subsequently), funded by the Humanities Division and introduced by the University’s Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach, Samina Khan.

Since Trinity 2021, we have officially launched our NextGen programme with the Oxford for East Midlands consortium made up of Magdalen College, Lincoln College, and St Edmund Hall. This sustained contact programme was launched with 7 target schools from across the East Midlands, including Trinity Catholic School from Nottingham. Each school cohort of around 15 Year 10s received an online launch event, an online ‘What is University’ session, and a Taster Day visit to one of the partner colleges in Michaelmas or Hilary. Each school has now added a new cohort of Year 10s to the programme alongside their (now) Year 11 cohort, doubling the number of pupils on the programme. A second school from Nottingham has also joined NextGen. As a consortium, we have also been able to combine our resources to provide post-offer support to offer-holders from the East Midlands, in the form of an introductory email and an online welcome event for offer-holders and parents that took place in March 2022.

After the successful pilot of our Access Mentorship Scheme for 22 offer-holders from disadvantaged backgrounds last year, the optional scheme continued this year for 35 offer-holders. It aims to support offer-holders through their journey to Magdalen via a welcome pack for all offer-holders and an in-person welcome day and online mentoring for those on the scheme. We hired seven current students to act as mentors, with five of the seven being previous mentees from last year’s programme. Additionally, we have again supported the Opportunity Oxford scheme this year, making six offers under the scheme. We have continued to train new ambassadors and consult with current students via our termly outreach forum about their experiences at Magdalen, with a particular focus on issues that disproportionately impact students from under-represented backgrounds. These activities contribute to our work in connecting our outreach work with ensuring on-course satisfaction irrespective of background.

Finally, we worked with the Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation (CSSF) to organise a residential event scheduled at the end of March 2022. CSSF is a nationwide organisation which each year arranges for schools to perform short versions of Shakespeare plays in professional theatres, with the aim of building the participants’ confidence, creativity, and interest in Shakespeare. We hosted 4 state schools, with 3 being from our link regions, to perform their plays in the Magdalen Auditorium. As part of this two-day residential, the schools received a workshop with the Magdalen Players and a lecture on their chosen play from our Shakespeare expert Professor Laurie Maguire, and learned more about what it is like to study at Oxford.

Trinity Term 2022 to Trinity Term 2023:

Between Trinity Term 2022 and the end of the 2023 Easter vacation, the Magdalen Outreach team ran or took part in approximately 145 events, involving approximately 4,300 students, teachers and parents. Around 94 of the more than 115 schools engaged with during these events were from Magdalen’s link regions. In addition, in the summer of 2022 the University returned to in-person Open Days, during which at least 5,800 prospective applicants, teachers, and parents/carers visited Magdalen. We had 46 current undergraduates and graduates trained as student ambassadors. 22 academic staff and postgraduates supported our events by providing academic taster sessions.

The past year saw outreach work return to being almost entirely in-person, with virtual events only being held for programmes which engage with large numbers of participants. Our standard programme of Taster Day visits to Magdalen by individual link region schools ran at almost full capacity throughout the past three terms. The number of Taster Days was slightly reduced in Hilary due to teacher strikes, but we were still almost fully booked. We have also visited some of our link schools, including a week-long Sheffield “roadshow” with Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in March. Virtual events have included two multi-webinar series: Progress2Uni for Nottinghamshire Year 10s which we have run with Peterhouse, Cambridge, for the last few years, and Next Steps South Yorkshire with Emmanuel and Homerton, Cambridge, and Mansfield, Oxford, for Year 12s. Both programmes concluded one cycle in Trinity and began again with the next cohort in Michaelmas.

Over the summer, we held the fourth year of the Law at Magdalen Programme, which saw 35 Year 12 students attending a three-day in-person residential and another 38 students joining online. This was the first year which included participants from the Social Mobility Foundation, a charity we have recently entered a formal partnership with. Dr Joe Sampson, Professor Roderick Bagshaw, and Professor Katharine Grevling delivered various Law taster sessions for the participants. In September, Pathway to Success, a leadership and development programme designed to help equip future Black and Minority Ethnic leaders with the tools and knowledge required for senior leadership, returned to Magdalen for a five-day residential, longer than the previous year’s thanks to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

Our flagship sustained contact programme as part of the Oxford for East Midlands consortium, NextGen, entered its third year. The Year 12s who began the programme in the 2020/21 academic year visited Oxford again for the launch of their supercurricular project ‘The X Behind the Y’, which they then completed in their own time and submitted to the consortium. These have all now been marked by Oxford undergraduates from the East Midlands, and the winner from each school will receive a prize. A new Year 10 cohort has been added for each of the 8 schools, meaning all but one school now has a concurrent cohort in each of Years 10-12 (the eighth school joined the programme a year later than the others, so has two cohorts).

We ran several large-scale events over the course of the Easter vacation. Our partnership with The Access project has continued in Ashfield School, and we hosted the charity’s Year 12 visit to Oxford at the end of Hilary Term, comprising 34 students from London and the Midlands. At the end of March we hosted 4 state schools from our link regions for the Shakespeare Schools Festival, our second year working with the Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation (CSSF) to run this event. As part of this, each group received an in-school talk from Dr Sophie Duncan about their play, and a longer lecture from her during the residential event itself. Various other Magdalen members and friends came to support the students’ performances on the Friday night. At the start of April, we collaborated once again with University College and the History and Modern Languages faculties to run the BAME Humanities Study Day, a virtual event with taster lectures and admissions workshops in nine different Humanities subjects by academics and outreach staff from across the University, which around 75 students of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic heritage attended.

The Mentorship Scheme for disadvantaged offer-holders has entered its third year, and has been taken up by 35 of the 41 eligible students. A Welcome Day was held in Magdalen in March, and one-to-one online mentoring by nine current undergraduates, most of whom were previously mentees themselves, took place during the Easter Vacation. In addition, a post-offer welcome booklet with information about student life at Magdalen was sent to all offer-holders, regardless of their level of advantage. Magdalen has also continued to take part in the Opportunity Oxford scheme this year, making five Opportunity Oxford offers in January. We participated in the “Meet your College” session during the online Opportunity Oxford Welcome Day run by UAO, which involved an informal talk by the Outreach Officer and a Q&A with Magdalen students.

Finally, once they are at Magdalen we continue to engage with students, by training new ambassadors, hosting a termly Outreach Forum to discuss our work and the student experience on-course, and collecting feedback from those who have helped with events. We work closely with the JCR Access and Admissions Trustee to put on these events and discuss the student experience. These activities contribute to our work in connecting our outreach work with ensuring on-course satisfaction irrespective of background. Last May we ran our first Annual Outreach Dinner, a celebration which brought together all those across the Magdalen community who contribute to outreach work: students, support staff, and academic staff.

Trinity Term 2023 to Hilary Term 2024:

Between Trinity Term 2023 and the end of the 2024 Easter vacation, the Magdalen Outreach team ran or took part in approximately 105 events, involving just under 3,500 students, teachers and parents. In addition, in the summer of 2023 the University once again held Open Days in June and September, during which around 7,600 prospective applicants, teachers, and parents/carers visited Magdalen. We had 53 current undergraduates and graduates trained as student ambassadors. A number of academic staff and postgraduates supported our events by providing academic taster sessions.

Our standard programme of Taster Day visits to Magdalen by individual link region schools has been running as usual throughout the past three terms. This year we ran three Taster Days per week rather than four because of internal capacity constraints. We have also visited some of our link schools at various points, including a week-long Nottinghamshire “roadshow” with Peterhouse College, Cambridge, in March 2024. Virtual events have included two multi-webinar series: Progress2Uni for Nottinghamshire Year 10s, which we have run with Peterhouse, Cambridge, for the last few years, and Next Steps South Yorkshire with Emmanuel and Homerton, Cambridge, and Mansfield, Oxford, for Year 12s. Both programmes concluded one cycle in Trinity and began again with the next cohort in Michaelmas.

Over the summer, we held the fifth year of the Law at Magdalen Programme, which saw 34 Year 12 students attending a three-day in-person residential. This was the first year which included participants from the Social Mobility Foundation, a charity with which we have recently entered a formal partnership. Professor Roderick Bagshaw, Professor Katharine Grevling, and Dr Alan Eustace provided various Law taster sessions for the participants. Participants were also able to hear from High Court Judge and Magdalen alumnus Mr Justice Foxton, and participate in a mini-moot judged by Deputy High Court Judge Margaret Obi. A similar residential programme, Physics & Engineering at Magdalen, ran in-person in late August for the first time, following a successful virtual pilot in 2021, and was attended by 36 Year 12 students.

Our flagship sustained contact programme as part of the Oxford for East Midlands consortium, Oxford NextGen, has entered its fourth year. The Year 13s who began the programme in the 2020/21 academic year had their final event in September 2023 – a one-night residential involving a day of subject-specific Oxford admissions talks and activities, followed by attending the September Open Day. Some of these students then applied to and received offers from Oxford. The programme continues for students in Years 10-13 in each of the eight schools.

We ran several large-scale events over the course of the Easter vacation. Our partnership with The Access Project has continued in Ashfield School and has also started this year with a second school, Hampstead Hall. We hosted the charity’s Year 12 “Oxbridge Society” visit to Oxford at the end of Hilary Term, comprising 38 students from London and the Midlands. At the end of March, we hosted four state schools from our link regions for the Shakespeare Schools Festival, our third year working with the Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation (CSSF) to run this event. As part of this, each group received an in-school talk from Dr Sophie Duncan about their play, and a longer lecture from her during the residential event itself. Dr Alexy Karenowska ran a hands-on Old Library workshop with support from the Library staff team, particularly Jessica Woodward. Magdalen alumnus and young director Sam Plumb ran drama workshops encouraging students to experiment with reciting and performing Shakespeare. Various other Magdalen members and friends came to support the students on their performance night. At the start of April, we collaborated once again with University College and the History and Modern Languages faculties to run the BAME Humanities Study Day, a virtual event with taster lectures and admissions workshops in nine different Humanities subjects by academics and outreach staff from across the University, which around 100 students of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic heritage attended.

This academic year we have joined the Primary School Twinning Scheme led by the Oxford Hub, which pairs Oxford colleges with local primary schools. We have twinned with St Francis CofE School in Temple Cowley, and in February hosted their Year 5 class for a visit to Magdalen, led by Dr Alexy Karenowska and Professor Paul Billingham and supported by the Archives and Chapel teams. There are plans in place to engage with the Year 4 and Year 6 classes before the end of the 2023-24 academic year.

The Mentorship Scheme for Band A and B offer-holders has entered its fourth year, and has been taken up by 37 of the 43 eligible students. A Welcome Day was held in Magdalen in March, and one-to-one online mentoring by 10 current undergraduates, most of whom were previously mentees themselves, took place during the Easter Vacation. In addition, a post-offer welcome booklet with information about student life at Magdalen was sent to all offer-holders, regardless of their contextual background. Magdalen has also continued to take part in the Opportunity Oxford scheme this year, making four Opportunity Oxford offers in January. We participated in the “Meet your College” session during the online Opportunity Oxford Welcome Day run by UAO, which involved an informal talk by the Outreach and Access Officer and a Q&A with Magdalen students.

Finally, once they are at Magdalen we continue to engage with students, by training new ambassadors, collecting feedback from those who have helped with events, and hosting an annual Outreach Celebration Dinner for all those across the Magdalen community who contribute to outreach work: students, support staff, and academic staff. We work closely with the JCR Access and Admissions Trustee(s) to put on these events and discuss the student experience. We have also this year begun a partnership with the charity upReach, which provides tailored careers mentoring and events for undergraduates from low-income backgrounds. There are currently 13 Magdalen students enrolled as upReach Associates. These activities contribute to our work in connecting our outreach work with ensuring on-course satisfaction irrespective of background.

Accessibility:

In College, increasing the accessibility of Magdalen’s buildings and grounds for disabled members of the College and visitors was one of the College’s Equality Objectives for the period 2016-17 to 2019-20, and the extensive work undertaken over that period is reported on in the above tile for that period. Further work has continued, as follows:

Trinity Term 2020 to Hilary Term 2021:

• Winter Common Room & Associated Areas.  The project is now completed. Alongside the WCR there is the Ante Room, the Terry Newport Room, the Cardinal Wolsey Room, the Glazed Link, and the Sophia Sheppard Room. All existing and new dining rooms/areas are now fully accessible by incorporating lift access to connect ground and first floors, by providing automatic doors, and by the provision of an accessible WC.

Trinity Term 2021 to Hilary Term 2022:

• 1-7 Longwall St – This project is on site and due to complete in Summer 2022. It comprises an extensive refurbishment, which will include improvements to accessibility. The gates from Longwall Street leading into the courtyard at the rear of 1-7 Longwall Street will be automated, as will the entrance door and several internal doors. There are two existing accessible ensuite rooms, which will be enlarged to bring the spaces into line with current regulations. The shared kitchen has been designed with inclusivity in mind – it features an ‘inclusive area’ where one can use a rise and fall counter incorporating a ceramic hob, and cook using work surfaces and a fan oven that are installed at an accessible height.
• Projects in the planning stages include:

o       Chapel – As part of an extensive refurbishment of the Chapel and Antechapel space, the existing PA system will be replaced with a new sound system that has a hearing loop to assist those with hearing impairments. We have obtained listed building consent for the full scope of the project.

o       71 High St, 62 High St – both buildings are earmarked in the rolling five-year plan to receive major refurbishments. Whilst the floor layouts are not going to be changed for listed building reasons, we will look for and take all opportunities to increase accessibility.

o       Foot-bridges – design work is progressing to look into how to make the foot-bridges at Bat Willow Meadow and Fellows’ Garden accessible. A worked-through proposal is expected for Trinity Term 2022.

o       Masterplan – following the completion of the masterplan and its presentation to Fellows in summer 2021, the Governing Body has approved the taking forward of three projects which best serve the most urgent of the College’s strategic objectives. These are: (1) the redevelopment of the Waynflete site; (2) the refurbishment and extension of the Old Kitchen Bar; and (3) the accommodation scheme at Marston Road. At the forefront of each of the projects will be accessibility for all, in particular solving the current issues around the accessibility of the JCR and MCR.

Trinity Term 2022 to Hilary Term 2023:

• Projects in the implementation stages include:

o       1-7 Longwall Street – This project was completed in Summer 2022. It comprised an extensive refurbishment, including improvements to accessibility. The entrance gates off Longwall Street have been automated, as have the entrance doors and all ground floor circulation doors that lead to communal areas. Two existing accessible rooms have been enlarged to bring the spaces into line with current regulations. The shared kitchen features an adapted, inclusive space to allow for independent use by all.

• Projects in the planning stages include:

o       Chapel – during the period we conducted further planning for a major refurbishment project of the interior of the Chapel and Ante Chapel spaces, which will see the existing PA system replaced with a new sound system that has a hearing loop.

o       71 High Street – extensive design work was undertaken in the period. Whilst the floor layouts were not changed for listed building reasons, we ensured to look for and take all opportunities to increase accessibility where possible to do so.

o       Foot-bridges through the meadows – in the period the Gardens Committee received some preliminary feasibility work about how to make the foot-bridges accessible. It was agreed that this work should be included in the forthcoming masterplan project concerning the development of housing / student accommodation at Marston Road.

o       Masterplan – in the reporting period we actively progressed both the Riverside project (refurbishment and extension of the Old Kitchen Bar) and the Waynflete Building project through preliminary feasibility work. At the forefront of both projects we embedded into the respective briefs the notion of accessibility for all and that proposals will aim to meet or exceed the requirements of the relevant regulations and best practice guides.

Trinity Term 2023 to Hilary Term 2024:

• Projects in the implementation stages include:

o       71 High Street – currently on site, due to be completed in summer 2024. Whilst the floor layouts were not changed for listed building reasons, we made sure to look for and take all opportunities to increase accessibility where possible to do so.

o       Cloisters – Choir Library. Installation of a new rolling rack system that maximises storage capacity and enables safe and accessible access to the music collection.

o       Addison’s Walk – Duckery bridge.  Replacement of the rotten handrails and the addition of a mid-rail that ensures the safety of children crossing the bridge. The replacement of some of the rotten footboards with new oak boards with non-slip strips will improve accessibility.

• Projects in the planning stages include:

o       Masterplan – in the reporting period we actively progressed the designs for the Riverside project (refurbishment and extension of the Old Kitchen Bar) and the Waynflete Building project. At the forefront of both projects we embedded into the respective briefs the notion of accessibility for all and that proposals will aim to meet or exceed the requirements of the relevant regulations and best practice guides.  For both projects, the College appointed an access consultant and a fire engineer at project initiation and they are working with the design team to reconcile the brief, the needs of disabled users, and (in the case of the Riverside project) the limitations of the existing buildings.

o       Chapel – during the period we conducted further planning for a major refurbishment project of the interior of the Chapel and Ante Chapel spaces, which will see the existing PA system replaced with a new sound system that has a hearing loop.

o       Grove Auditorium – Upgrades to the existing audio-visual system. In the period, planning work took place for the replacement and upgrade of existing legacy audio visual systems within the Grove Auditorium. The brief included to ensure the hearing loop system is fit for purpose. The existing hearing loop system is functioning well and will be integrated into the new AV system upgrade scheme.

o       Hall – proposed new handrail which will provide central support to people climbing and descending the stairs. This will help alleviate the current issues of irregular height steps at the top of the flight and provide alternative support to low side hand rails. The installation of a central handrail will be subject to Listed Building Consent approval.

o       Addison’s Walk – new foot-bridge by punting sheds. The design will take account of the needs of disabled users, as far as it is practicable to do so.

A detailed account of the College’s regular provision for disabled students is given in the tile above for the 2012-13 to 2015-16 reporting period.

Other Work:

As a result of the pandemic, the exercise to monitor equality data on current staff was postponed in 2020-21, but was re-instituted in Trinity Term 2022. The Human Resources Committee has found that limited useful information has emerged from the survey to guide the behaviour and actions of the College, because of the difficulty of persuading staff to complete it every year. It continues to be the case that the majority of the College’s senior academic appointments are made jointly with the University. The University has gathered and published monitoring and statistical data and other Equality information in a series of reports available from:

https://edu.admin.ox.ac.uk/equality-report.

These reports incorporate data on a number of the College’s academic staff who hold a joint appointment with the University. The College has supported changes to the manner of advertising joint appointments where colleges are the majority employer, such that in future the University’s reports will automatically include data on all joint appointments.

At the initiative of the College’s JCR and MCR in Trinity Term 2020 an advisory group was formed on ‘Tackling Racial Inequality in Magdalen’. The group met three times, and since the first meeting work on a wide variety of proposals has been under way in the areas of increasing awareness of diversity within College, outreach initiatives, funding for BAME scholarships, College-organised cultural events, religion-based dietary options, equalities workshops, training, and historical investigation into the role of colonialism in the College’s past. This has led to various activities, including the contribution of information about Magdalen to the ‘Oxford and Colonialism’ website (https://oxfordandcolonialism.web.ox.ac.uk/magdalen-college), the allocation of funding for two student internships to research the history and legacy of colonialism at Magdalen, and fundraising for a BAME Scholarship in Law (in conjunction with the Law Faculty) and for Black Academic Futures Scholarships. In Hilary Term 2024 the College also agreed a partnership with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to create two new graduate scholarships.

Magdalen’s Tutors for Equality and Diversity organise an Equality and Diversity Forum termly, in which they engage members of the MCR and JCR Committees (Presidents and Equality and Diversity representatives) in wide-ranging conversation. This provides a space for reflecting on what the College is doing well, and what can be improved, in relation to relevant outcomes. Additionally, the Tutors regularly contribute to the Conference of Colleges’ Equality and Diversity Forum. Other concrete actions have included: ·         Encouraging participation in workshops, lectures, and training events pertaining to Equality and Diversity occurring throughout the University;·         Supporting individual students and finding solutions to issues relating to equality and diversity;·         Liaising with other members of the College’s Welfare Team as appropriate, including attendance at weekly meetings during term.·         The organisation of a termly ‘Inter-faith meal’, at which members of Magdalen of different faiths (or none) are welcome to engage with each other, and a guest speaker.·         Continuing consultations regarding possible improvements to Magdalen’s multi-faith prayer room, which opened for use by members of the College in Trinity Term 2021.·         Supporting student initiatives, such as activities for LGBT+ History month, and a formal hall to celebrate the contributions of Magdalen’s BAME members.·         Supporting the introduction of a range of new celebrations at Magdalen, including Diwali and the Lunar New Year.

The JCR and MCR:

Trinity Term 2020 to Hilary Term 2021:

This year the JCR established an Equalities Committee in order to co-ordinate an intersectional approach to equality. With the input of the JCR, the College began the process of setting up its multi-faith prayer room. A ‘cultural events’ fund was established by the JCR, which is open for all students to fund cultural events of a celebratory or educational nature. There was significant progress on making the JCR and MCR accessible, with plans being drawn up by an architect and passed at a JCR meeting. The JCR established the post of socioeconomic officer, to help support the needs of students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Across Trinity and Michaelmas Terms 2020, the MCR introduced into its constitution a new ‘Equality Subcommittee’ with a once-termly meeting focused specifically on topics affecting minorities within Magdalen, and participated in the ‘Tackling Racial Inequality in Magdalen’ advisory group with the other common rooms, to emphasise equality spanning the influence of the College.

In conjunction with the above, the MCR and JCR also mandated annual unconscious bias training for some of their committee members.  Furthermore, beginning in Hilary Term 2021, the termly MCR termcard is reviewed by the Racial Equality, Women’s, LGBTQ+, and Disabilities Officers before finalisation, to ensure that it is free of bias.

The Transgender Flag, on a joint initiative between the JCR and MCR, flew for the first time in November 2020 to mark Transgender Awareness Month.

Trinity Term 2021 to Hilary Term 2022:

This year has been very active from an Equalities perspective. The JCR Equalities Committee has continued to meet every term, and the Women’s Tea was re-launched in Trinity 2021. The JCR has now created the role of Socioeconomic Officer to assist in the organisation of events for, and the representation of, members of the JCR from low-income and working-class backgrounds. There is now also a second Racial and Ethnic Minority rep who assists in the organisation of events for, and the representation of, members of the JCR from racial and ethnic minorities. In the revising of the JCR’s constitution in Trinity Term 2021, a new Cultural Events Fund and a Gender Expression Fund were added, so increasing the level of funding JCR members can access directly for Equalities purposes.

The Gender Expression Fund has now been increased to £400 per year instead of its initial £200, and the cap per student has increased to £80 per year from £40 initially. Its use has increased from one student in the previous year to six since Trinity 2021, mainly through increased awareness of the Fund, particularly among first-year students. Motions have passed both in the JCR and MCR to adopt the SU’s new definition of transphobia, and a paper on this has been presented to the College’s Governing Body. The JCR has also run Unconscious Bias Training and Bystander Intervention Training, and has supported the retention of the photo exhibition in the Dining Hall which showcases the diversity of the College community.

A number of new Equalities projects have launched in Hilary 2022 – a Taxi Fund, which allows members who feel they are in danger to be able to call a taxi to ensure they can leave such a situation safely, a new spiking protocol for bops, and the adoption of ‘Ask for Angela’. The JCR has added to the constitution the position of International Students Officer, who will be involved in liaising with and organising events for international students, as well as the means to introduce a temporary position to represent the needs of intermitting students.

The JCR continues to meet in the Equality and Diversity Forum every term with the Tutors for Equality and Diversity, as well as participating in the Access and Outreach Forum and other meetings. A survey has been conducted to try to cater for a wider range of dietary requirements, and a detailed cost-of-living survey has taken place, so we have data on the financial needs of students. Regular consultation with students continues to ensure that the College’s long-term development plan takes into account the needs of disabled students, and the JCR Disabled Students Officers are currently working with the College to install hearing loops in a number of key locations. The JCR has also purchased overlays to assist disabled students, and is about to launch Disability Teas as well as its own guide to support disabled students.

The JCR President has met with key personnel to improve the room ballot process in order to ensure that disabled students do not have to re-apply for adjustments every year, as well as to improve offer-holder communication and the confidential communication of the relevant elements of Student Support Plans. The launch of the Floreat Forum, a Forum to effect cultural change and to ensure the learning environment meets the needs of all students, is intended as a step forwards in ensuring that all students can access learning and feel supported.

The JCR continues to run drinks for LGBTQ+ students on Tuesday nights, and connect students to wider LGBTQ+ events in the university.

The MCR has worked with the JCR on Equality issues. In conjunction with the LGBTQ+ and Racial Equality Officers, the MCR introduced funds in Trinity Term 2021 to which individual members of the MCR can apply for the purchase of books on the topics of racial education and LGBTQ+ issues. The MCR is exploring the option of renewing these funds in the form of a more generalised MCR Welfare Fund.

During Michaelmas Term 2021 the MCR separated the roles of the Welfare and Charity Officer into two Welfare Officers and one Charity Officer, to maximise the benefit of each of these positions.

The JCR and MCR assisted the College in purchasing the latest version of the Progress Flag (including the intersex O), which has been flown by the College during the LGBTQ+ History Month 2022.

Trinity Term 2022 to Hilary Term 2023:

Equalities work in the JCR has continued to be a priority, with many programs created by previous committees continuing to run successfully.

The JCR Women’s Officer began a weekly notices letter to inform JCR members about relevant issues and events. A Magdalen Women’s Society was formed by the Women’s Officer and Welfare Officer, which has planned events for women in the College to meet and discuss ways to improve gender equality issues at Magdalen. These events included a ‘Galentine’s Day’ evening in Hilary Term where money was raised for the Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre.

The JCR Gender Expression Fund is still operating and has been used by an increasing number of students. The protocol for requesting support from this fund and handling receipts and reimbursements was reviewed in Hilary Term 2023 to ensure that all requests are kept confidential and that personal information is not shared with committee members other than the LGBTQ+ Representative.

Throughout the period from Trinity Term 2022 until Hilary Term 2023, the MCR has continued to strive towards taking steps in improving equality, diversity and accessibility challenges within the Common Room and College.

The MCR runs annual implicit bias training and sexual consent workshops and has engaged with different third-party providers in order to have a course of suitable level and delivery for a graduate community.

As College events and events in the Oxford community in general can be quite alcohol-heavy, the MCR continues to have a balanced selection of non-alcoholic events on their termcard as well. Exciting and novel social events in Hilary and Trinity Terms included Alpaca-Petting, lasertag, an exciting punt race, downhill cheese-chasing, a flying trapeze class, and live cluedo in College.

Particular thanks go to our two dedicated Welfare Officers. With the ongoing uncertainty of the pandemic, as well as the Ukraine-Russian war, having a strong and reliable welfare team present in the MCR was a huge relief. Their creativity in organising wholesome events was invaluable to the community. These events ranged from regular Welfare teas to picnics, a visit to the playhouse, the cinema, and a very popular day-trip to a wildlife park in the Cotswolds.

Another wonderful addition to the termcard is the MCR Cultural Food Festival. At this event everybody is invited to bring along a dish of their nationality or heritage which is shared together in the MCR.

Throughout the year, we have been working hard with the Catering Team to further improve and enhance the dinner experience for our diverse community at Magdalen College. Due to tickets to Formal Hall Dinners selling out within minutes, we transitioned to a staggered release in two batches. In addition, the number of guest tickets for Sunday Formal Hall Dinners has been reduced from five to three guests. Shifting focus more towards sustainability, the Buttery has moved away from single condiments and requires students to book their meals in advance, which has resulted in College halving the amount of food waste. Last but not least, vegetarian food options have been greatly developed, with more vegan and vegetarian meal options in the Buttery, which is hugely appreciated by the community.

The MCR transformed their annual End of the Year Banquet at the end of Trinity term into a Charity Formal. The motion included the dinner costs being substituted by up to £3,000 from the annual MCR budget to subsidise the dinner costs. The proceeds from the ticket sales were then allocated to charities and charitable causes at the discretion of the MCR and under the supervision of the MCR Charity Officer.

Trinity Term 2023 to Hilary Term 2024:

The Magdalen Women’s Society organized a Women’s Picnic in Trinity Term.

Efforts have been made to expand equalities-related training in the JCR, especially for committee members and students in leadership positions. All committee members must now complete the online implicit bias training provided by the University. The Sports Representatives began developing a plan to have all captains of College sports teams complete consent training and bystander intervention training, a programme that will be implemented in the coming year by the next JCR committee, and at Magdalen vs Magdalene in 2024 clear guidelines on conduct were established before the trip to Cambridge in order to create an inclusive environment for all participants and spectators. The Freshers’ Representatives also organised a number of training sessions as part of Freshers’ Week activities for incoming students, covering topics including antisemitism, implicit bias, and consent.

The JCR Access and Outreach Officer and Socioeconomic Officer have been very active. They created a guide to the different sources of JCR, College, and University funding available to students to help them identify sources of support and navigate the many different financial resources that exist. The Access and Outreach Officer has organised termly socials to help build a supportive community of students from state school backgrounds, including State School Teas and a State School Lunch in collaboration with representatives from Lincoln and St Edmund’s Hall. These officers have also worked with the IT officer on the ongoing redesign of the JCR website to ensure that current students have access to relevant information about support resources, and that prospective students are well-informed about the JCR community and feel welcome.

The LGBTQ+ Officer has also introduced a fortnightly newsletter to College members about LGBTQ+ events in and around College. Weekly LGBTQ+ drinks have continued to be held on Tuesday nights.

JCR officers have continued to participate in the termly Equality and Access Forums, allowing them to keep College informed of equalities issues and connecting JCR representatives to their MCR counterparts. There has been the implementation of a reporting system specifically looking into incidents of racism, misogyny, classism, and homophobia, which is being rolled out alongside the Deans in order to tackle these issues within College. JCR Officers come from an ever-increasingly diverse background, with 75% of the current executive identifying as women, and across the committee there continues to be strong representation of BAME, LGBTQ+, and disabled students.

Building on the efforts of previous years, the MCR community has continued to advocate for and work towards increasing equality, accessibility, and inclusivity.

Throughout the year, the MCR has continued to improve its efforts to raise money for charity. As a response to the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in February 2023, bar prices were raised at Liquid Lounges, with the profits going to the Red Cross Earthquake Relief Initiative. In addition, MCR members collected money during bake sales and at the Magdalen Monday Movie Nights organised by the College President’s husband. The End of Year Banquet at the End of Trinity Term was once again held as a Charity Banquet, with the proceeds from the Dinner being donated to the MCR charities. Following the initiative of an MCR member in conjunction with the MCR Charity Officer, a special cocktail was created for the BOP following the Banquet, the proceeds of which were donated to Auditory Verbal UK.

The trial run of the MCR Welfare Fund was evaluated after three terms, and it was decided that no further funds from the MCR budget would be allocated to this fund. Instead, a new direction was taken in which the MCR Welfare Officers and wider equality subcommittee, comprising the Gender Equality, Racial Equality, LGBTQ+, Disability and Charity Officers, will still be able to assist MCR members confidentially who are in financial need, both with monetary support and advice. To this end, a new document compiling all funds available to graduate students within the MCR, the College, and the wider University was drawn up and circulated within the MCR.

Following encouragement from the MCR, we now have two vegetarian options next to one meat option for Buttery lunches and dinners, the change from the phrasing ‘Standard’ on Upay to ‘Meat/Fish’ and the option for a non-alcoholic drink option for special Formal Halls. Another significant change for the MCR has been the possibility for graduate students to apply to the Student Support Fund in Michaelmas Term, rather than just in the other two terms.

In Hilary Term 2024 we raised hundreds of pounds for the MCR charities through an MCR comedy night hosted in the OKB; we also continued the Magdalen Monday Movie nights organized by the College President’s husband, as noted in the above report. We have made plans to collaborate with the JCR for another charity night in Trinity Term, also slated to raise hundreds for our MCR charities.

We have updated the drink spiking protocol to incorporate accurate information about first steps, oversight requirements for MCR members, and how to ensure endangered victims receive expedient medical assistance. We have also created signs clearly posted around the MCR instructing guests and members on protocols for how to proceed if they suspect a spiking has occurred. Clarifying and broadcasting these procedures will not only increase expediency in the event of a crisis but makes clear that the MCR does not tolerate predatory behaviour and has precautions in place to prevent harm to any members or guests.

We implemented an ‘ask for Angela’ protocol at the bar. Guests or members at Liquid Lounges and bops can use a code phrase at the bar to express that they are feeling unsafe and receive immediate assistance in leaving from an MCR volunteer. As above, we have posted this protocol clearly around the MCR.

In collaboration with the catering team, we organized Iftars throughout Ramadan, including a special inter-faith Iftar dinner at the high table for the faith community at Magdalen and invited guests from outside College. The dinner was a great success and the food in particular (our Racial Equality Officer helped in choosing the menu) was well-received. There was also an Eid formal at the end of Ramadan.

We created a ‘donation box’ for students moving out of College over Easter vacation, where they could leave perishable or nonperishable foods to be taken to a food bank. This both prevented food waste among Magdalen students and positively contributed to food security in the Oxford area.

We raised hundreds for the Town and Gown charity race, for the cause of muscular dystrophy research, by co-sponsoring MCR members’ participation in the race, as well as encouraging student welfare and health.

We have begun stocking the MCR with fruit, increasing the nutritional options for students with dietary restrictions, allergies, or simply seeking healthier options than usual snack fare.

In collaboration with the head scout, we supported an initiative to add free sanitary products to all College bathrooms. There are now free sanitary products in all bathrooms around College.

After conversations with the Home Bursar, we are putting forward an initiative at the upcoming House Committee meeting to install an automatic opener on the interior gate to Holywell Ford (by the bike racks) in order to improve accessibility and ease of navigation for Holywell residents.

We have created a ‘waitlist’ system with the accommodation office for students seeking alternative accommodations to receive ‘right of first refusal’ for rooms around College that become available (e.g. as other students move out, or renters leave). This will provide a form of recourse for students with disability needs their accommodations do not currently satisfy, in addition to improving flexibility in housing and making use of spaces that the accommodation office would have to fill anyway.

We have continued consultation with College on the Riverside Project and have discussed alternative spaces for the MCR during the period in which a lift will be installed. We will continue to discuss options as information about the project becomes available.