The MCR enjoyed another exciting year in 2023-24. Under the excellent leadership of our last President Keerthi Vasishta and the rest of the Exec, we put out a rich programme for our members. Following a packed Postgraduate Fresher’s Week programme, we ran a broad range of activities and initiatives through the year. We started the year strong with one of several General Meetings chaired by Surasing Phukae, where the motion to create non-executive roles was raised. Our then Vice President Melody Bishop led on recruitment to these new roles. 2023 also brought the re-opening of James Barber House (JBH), a newly-renovated postgraduate accommodation block with a common room and stunning patio where MCR events can be held.

Our superb Secretary Brittany Whitfield championed communication with MCR members, curating regular newsletters and creating beautiful publicity materials. Lucy Weatherill kept our finances in good shape, ensuring clear budgets for different aspects of the MCR experience. We are pleased that Lucy will be continuing in the Treasurer role this year.

This year, the MCR plans to continue to develop wherever we can! Join us in creating more memories for life!

Many thanks to the Executive Committee and non-executive officers 2023/24 for all their hard work – and to all our members for being ever-enthusiastic about postgraduate life at Hatfield College!

This year, the Events Officers, Maria Beatriz Ferraz de Oliveira and Lauren Gill, ran approximately one event per week during term time to help people within the MCR mix, make friends, and have some non-academic fun. Through organising Winter Sessions, which took place in December, Bea and Lauren built relationships with the JCR Exec, and we continued to foster these relations throughout the rest of the year, including running some joint JCR/MCR events.

Bea and Lauren also established a separate MCR sign-in process for formals, streamlining entry to the hall. The greatest MCR turnout was at our annual St Patrick’s Day-themed Inter-MCR formal, where nearly 200 postgrads from across different colleges came together to dine!

Events took place across a variety of college spaces such as our MCR common room, the Elizabeth Burt Art room (monthly Paint & Sip events), the Burt Room (Hatfield bar), and the newly renovated JBH common room (home to parties such as a Halloween gathering, Michaelmas end-of term party and Euros Final Watch Party). Other popular events included themed bar crawls (such as Pub Golf), Board Games Nights, a Picnic (featuring our new and growing outside games collection!) and a well-attended “Fake Formal” during the summer. Throughout the year, the team worked with our new non-exec Green/Environment Officer Kate Hallard to help make the MCR more environmentally-conscious.

The Academic Officers Amy Doyle and Huiying (Lucy) Tan fostered our academic community, with regular study sessions in college throughout Michaelmas term. In November, there was an Academic Mixer – a round robin speed-dating style mixer where members talked about their current research project, business idea, essay plan or special interest in a fun and relaxed setting. In January, the MCR teamed up with Castle for a Research Roulette (a classic MCR event), a mini conference on the theme of ‘Climate and Conflict,’ with eight postgraduates research on a range of topics – from medieval literature to law and physics. This was followed by a wine & pizza social in Castle’s Great Hall. February saw a co-organised Chinese New year pub quiz, complete with prizes!

The Welfare Officers Alice Higginson and Pierre-Louis Peuch maintained our MCR support network, holding weekly Welfare drop-ins during term time. A new initiative was launched, where the team provide welfare baskets containing various supplies available in the MCR Cottage and James Barber House. The MCR also hosted free Welfare brunches in college! Two Coffee Afternoons (Neurodiversity and Disabilities) were held at the Hatfield College Cafe, creating space for members to discuss shared experiences. As part of our ‘Inclusivity in Hatfield’ series, Alice and Pierre supported the POC/International Officers, Aleem and Chung-yen, in organising an important discussion of POC issues. The POC/International Officers also ran a successful Christmas Potluck. Welfare-related activities continued over the summer with a recent beach-trip!

As part of a cross-college initiative launched by Collingwood, we hosted a coffee and cake afternoon aimed at PhD students. The Academic Officers also contributed to our ‘Inclusivity in Hatfield’ series, organising an inspiring panel for International Women’s Day and a Disability Studies Academic Discussion, co-organised by our Disabilities Officer Lucy Ham. Throughout the year, we engaged with the local area through trips to sites of historic interest such as Washington Old Hall (April) and a walk based on the ‘Coal Stories’ pamphlet to learn more about the city’s mining heritage ahead of the Miners’ Gala. Another Research Roulette took place jointly with Cuth’s in late summer, where speakers presented their final project/dissertationa and celebrated hard work.