Welcome to the website of the Middle Common Room (MCR) at Oriel College. The ‘Middle Common Room’ refers to the college’s collective postgraduate body and, informally, to the Common Room that we all share. This web site is maintained to provide a focal point of communication and information for MCR members on the world wide web. We also invite new graduate students considering Oriel as their College to explore these pages for their information.
This introduction to the MCR continues here.
Oriel MCR, from Oriel Square
Welcome Graduate Freshers
A cheery welcome to Oriel's new graduate members. A summary of the 0th (i.e. Freshers’) Week timetable will appear on the MCR Live! page, the College also has provided an official document for the fresher's week. Oxford University Student Union has compiled a handbook for international freshers.
About Oriel
Oriel College, from the High
Oriel is among Oxford’s oldest and friendliest colleges. Frequently Head of the River, we are also known for good food, excellent academics (the tutorial system was developed here), fine company, and illustrious alumni such as Walter Raleigh, Cecil Rhodes, and John Henry Newman among others. We also helped to produce two twentieth century Nobel Laureates, James Meade (Economics, 1977) and Alexander Todd (Chemistry, 1957).
Oriel was founded in 1324 by Adam de Brome and given its charter in 1326 by Edward II, making it the oldest royal foundation at Oxford. We are known by the official title,
The House of the Blessed Mary the Virgin in Oxford, commonly called Oriel College, of the Foundation of Edward the Second of famous memory, sometime King of England.
Take a 360 degree tour of Oriel College.
Read on for the president’s welcome. Alternatively, visit the MCR Live! page to see what’s happening this week.
President’s Welcome
A warm welcome to the Oriel MCR. I am Jochen Klingelhoefer, Oriel MCR President for 2008-9. MCR, a short for Middle Common Room, stands for both the
postgraduate student body of Oriel College including 4th year undergraduates, master and doctoral students and affiliated members, as well as the actual set
of rooms provided by college for their use. The Oriel MCR is situated in close proximity to High Street and is envied for its magnificent views over the
picturesque Oriel square. It consists of a comfortable seating area where members frequently enjoy the journals and papers the MCR subscribes to, as well as
the variety of coffee, cappuccino and espresso our coffee machine manages to produce. In addition, a separate TV room and a well stocked bar are available to
MCR members and their guests - our MCR is one of the few in Oxford that can call a bar its own and our MCR bar is considered one of the finest and most
atmospheric. The central placing near High Street, as well as the wealth and superb quality of its facilities lets the MCR become a place where to come to
after lunch or where to bring your friends to on a weekend before you dive into Oxford's clubbing and bopping scene. Furthermore, every Sunday the 2nd dessert
is hosted in the MCR - a great event to catch up with each other about the past week. Being part of Oriel College combines excellence in academia with a
wealth of tradition and history and offers the opportunity, uniquely to the collegiate system, to meet students from across the other faculties in the relaxed environment that the MCR provides. No place seems to be better equipped to deliver the quintessential Oxford experience!
You will always be welcome to the MCR and I'm positive that you will meet interesting people there every single time you visit. If you're interested in finding out more, feel free to explore the college websites (www.oriel.ox.ac.uk), and, of course, please don't hesitate to contact me with any queries.
Find out more about the MCR committee.
Other websites relating to Oriel College.
