What it’s like to be on the JCR committee: the access perspective

Let me paint you a picture. My second year, Day One, Freshers’ Week. I was stepping into the JCR bar, introducing myself to 100 new people. I was nervous, and excited, and had one task: explain what my JCR role is. Easier said than done!

The JCR is kind of like a student council, that has influence over the undergraduates (basically your Bachelors or usually first degree) and coordinate all these people to make sure life in college is as good as it can be. As you can imagine, there are lots of different roles. Some of them are kind of predictable: President, Vice-president, Treasurer… Some are a bit more unexpected, like mine: Access and Equal Opportunities Representative. What does that even mean? What do I do? What’s the point?

You can split the role into two parts. On the one hand, access. As you probably know, Oxford doesn’t always have the best reputation. It’s sometimes seen as scary, foreign, only for posh geniuses and full of elitism. No one ‘normal’ gets in. These are all the myths you hear, right? Well, none of them are true, and it’s my job to make sure that people forget about these myths and still apply. I try to make the idea of getting into Oxford as straightforward and open as possible, especially if you’re from a background where people ‘just don’t go to Oxford’.

This means that I organise the Student Ambassadors (who have written far better posts than me!) to take tours, and write blog posts, or do social media campaigns, or make day-in-the-life videos. I also run the Facebook page Humans of Merton, and the Instagram account @mertonjcraccess. I help to organise college open days too. I also attend meetings with staff in college to discuss how we can best use our resources to make sure people from every type of background feel comfortable applying to Oxford - it doesn’t matter where you come from or who you are, only your academic ability and potential.

On the other hand, once people are in, things have to stay really open and inclusive too. I try to ensure that college is as considerate of peoples’ varying needs as possible, and make sure that everyone has equal opportunities: so that’s the second part of my role. This means that I try to make college life adapted to everyone’s needs, like making sure our accessibility information is easy to find online, or helping people out with the access scheme for our ball, which gives grants to students who would like to go to Merton’s ball but find that their financial situation is too difficult for them to pay the full price.

What is it like to be part of the JCR committee? So much fun, but so many emails and meetings! My second year has been so busy with meeting college staff and other members of the JCR to make progress as efficient as possible. It’s a fair bit of responsibility, but I knew what I was getting into! I couldn’t be happier that I’m part of a community in Oxford and across the country that are tackling the problems of educational inequality and barriers to advancing to higher education.

Why did I apply to do this? I love being a student ambassador, and it kind of developed from there! I think it’s super-important to make sure that Oxford keeps up with the fast pace of the modern world. University needs to represent the amazing diversity we see across the world; diversity and inclusivity are something to be celebrated and supported.

So, Freshers: I did a terrible job of explaining my role, and what access is. But hopefully this clears up any confusion. Access to university is super-important, and there are so many people that are passionate about helping possible Oxbridge applicants to achieve their dreams! And if anything, I hope I’ve made it crystal clear that no matter who you are and where you’re from, there is a place for you at Oxford.

Rebecca is a second-year French & Linguistics student, and the Access & Equal Opportunities Representative 2019-2020. She likes to go for walks in Oxford in the rain and is slightly obsessed with tea.