Freshers' Guide - Clubs and Societies

Merton and Oxford offer you a fantastic variety of activities to pursue. Here's a taste of what's on offer...

Music

Merton Music Society offers loads of opportunities for you to get involved in College music, be it in the choir, the orchestra, in an ensemble or on an individual basis. There's no need to worry about having experience, as the Big Band and orchestra are both non-auditioning, and both reach high standards by the end of term concerts. The repertoire is varied; last year Big Band performed jazz, funk and blues standards, while the Orchestra continues to challenge and entertain its members with a varied selection of works, last year including Holst, Mozart, Chaminade, Faure, Sibelius and Beethoven. Both the Big Band and the Orchestra allow the opportunity for individuals to perform solo concertos and improvisation. The Kodaly Choir is a long established chamber group singing mainly English music both popular and classical. The choir reached an excellent standard during the last year, and hopes to continue to recapture its former glory! Chapel Choir is auditioning and an excellent standard. You don't have to be a choral scholar to join and its a very friendly environment. The audition is short and painless! Choir is really rewarding, with new music every week (lots of sight-reading), a little bit of pay, and free formal hall on Sundays and Wednesdays. This summer the choir toured very successfully in Paris. Aside from the main groups, you could also get involved in, or even set up, something smaller. Currently, students are involved in their own groups including a vocal octet, an instrumental septet, a rock band and a Jazz Quartet. The Music Society is always looking for student groups to be involved in the termly concerts. For individual practice, it's easy to book the music room (the old summerhouse) at the Lodge, and there's the chance to perform in weekly recitals in College organised by the Music Society. If you have any questions or want to get involved in anything then we'll be at the Freshers' Fair and at the Merton Freshers' Fair. You can also contact the Music Society President at bryn.richmond <at> merton.ox.ac.uk.

Faith (or otherwise)

As well as the College Chapel – Anglican in affiliation, but open to everyone – there are Catholic, Methodist, Reform, Orthodox, Quaker (etc.) churches and Christian Union societies, a thriving Jewish community, orthodox, liberal and masorti services, and JSoc; a number of mosques (and Halal supermarkets and restaurants), and the OU Islamic Society; and provision for Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus, Jehovah's Witnesses and the Baha'i community. There are also student societies for atheists, agnostics and secularists.

Charity

On the charity side of things, RAG (Raise and Give) is very popular in Oxford, and we had a very successful RAG week last year with a wide range of fun events, including "second desserts", a special BOP, and the liberal covering of the JCR President in custard, all to raise money for good causes. Contact our Charities Rep, Kinda (kinda.al-hourani <at> merton.ox.ac.uk) for more information.

Journalism

The university has two good student papers, the more official Oxford Student ("OxStu") and more scurrilous Cherwell, both of which having won national awards. There are also plenty of smaller journals to get involved with. Or, alternatively, (and this is a personal appeal) you could take a more hands-on approach, and engage in creating stories for the Merton News.

Politics

For those of you interested in this delightful ‘art', all of the major political parties have student organisations in Oxford – even the Lib Dems; if you're interested in debating, or general political machinations, there's also the distinguished Oxford Union, although Merton does have a proud tradition of Union-apathy. In college, the Neave Society is officially Merton's politics and current affairs society, with regular debates and speaker events. Unofficially, it's Merton's best opportunity to get free wine, port and Pringles. The discussions are largely informal, and a much friendlier atmosphere than a formal debating society. Many people just come along to sit and listen rather than step up and make grandiose speeches, and the emphasis is on inclusion rather than point-scoring. For more info, contact paul.bryant <at> merton.ox.ac.uk.

This year's Arts Fest pageant – some Mertonians have a taste for high-brow art, but most prefer outdoor slapstick in the rain.

Drama and the Arts

At Merton, drama and the arts are all about quality, if not quantity. Those few who do decide to give up their lives to the arts tend not to go in for it half-heartedly. Merton Floats (the dramatic society) stages several plays throughout the year, and Michaelmas term sees the Cuppers competition, where any freshers have the chance to put together a short play on a shoestring budget and present it at the small studio theatre. There is also the annual college Arts Festival, which is packed full with dance performances, an outdoor drama production, a large interactive art display, several concerts and a film screening – all students' work, and mostly Mertonians'. If treading the boards is not quite to your taste, you can always get creative at Art Soc, or listen to talk by one of the many eminent cultural figures who address our speaker society, the Bodley Club.

Sport

Women's cricket is one of Merton’s strongest sporting suits – the men's team are pretty good, too.

Hi, I'm Kohi, a third-year medic and the JCR Sports Rep. Whilst Merton doesn't have the sporting reputation of some of the larger Colleges, we still field teams in all the major sports, including rugby, football, and rowing, as well as the more obscure, like dancesport, croquet and pool. The emphasis is definitely on participation and enjoyment rather than achievement – anyone can get involved, and there's plenty of opportunity. Being a relatively small College, we often field joint teams with Mansfield College, so we can actually get a team out! The College sporting calendar is centred around Cuppers, the annual intercollegiate competitions, which happen at various times during the academic year for different sports. Recently, Merton has achieved glory in men's cricket, hockey and football, women's rugby, dancesport and of course pool, so our sporting reputation has rocketed! The social side of sport is often as important as the energetic side and most teams will have a number of crewdates and socials throughout the term, so it's a great way to get to know people.

Overall, being the sports rep I'm not remotely biased or anything, but I would say have a go at some kind of College sport in your first year, it's great fun and a decent break from that lovely tute work. Look out for the Merton fresher's fair in 0^th week, where you can find out more and sign up. There's also a list of sports and their team captains on the JCR website so have a look. For the more serious, University-level sport is great fun, and a good way to meet people from other colleges, as well as being an opportunity to take part in one of the annual grudge matches against Cambridge (Varsity), possibly earning a full or half blue in the process. Again, look out for the sports section of the University Freshers' Fair during 0^th week to sign up.