MCR
The MCR exists for the benefit of the community of graduates at Mansfield, providing as many opportunities as possible for social interaction and mutual support. While the Department is there to look after your academic development, the College is here to give you a ‘home away from home’, a close-knit community where you can belong while you are here in Oxford.
The MCR organises a wide variety of events for graduates, including formal dinners, cocktail parties, pizza and film evenings, international food nights, Nintendo and board games evenings, exchange dinners with other colleges, academic presentations, ice-cream café trips, and much more.
We aim to make our common room as accessible, inviting, and functional as possible, as well as encouraging graduate engagement in College life. In addition, we serve on behalf of graduates as representatives within the College, our executive members attending various College committees and pursuing issues that are raised by MCR members, while also serving members practically with support in areas of welfare and women’s matters. Essentially, the MCR is all of us together, and with your involvement it will be better for everyone.
Meet the current committee below.
Karim Alaa El-Din, President
Hello all! Welcome to Mansfield. My name is Karim, and I’m currently doing a DPhil in Atomic and Laser Physics – and I’m honoured to be the new MCR President. Our goal as the MCR Bench is to make your time at Mansfield the best it can be. As such, your wellbeing and enjoyment are of utmost concern to us, so please don’t hesitate to contact me or any of the other bench members with questions or suggestions. We all know how overwhelming it can be to start off in a place like this one, and while we can’t help with all issues, we usually know someone who can. I’m looking forward to meeting you all :)
Contact Karim on: karim.alaael-din@physics.ox.ac.uk
and/or mcrpresident@mansfield.ox.ac.uk
Elliot Johnston, Vice-president
Hi all, I’m Elliot. I’ve travelled from Brisbane in Australia to complete the MPhil in Political Theory here at Oxford. During my first year here I feel like I benefited a ton from the friendly and welcoming environment that Mansfield offers. Now, as this years vice-president of the MCR, I’m excited to be a part of giving back to this community, by helping to build a fun and inclusive space for all graduate students here. If you have any suggestions or ideas please don’t hesitate to get in touch, I’m always happy to chat! elliot.johnston@mansfield.ox.ac.uk
Alec Xu, Social Secretary
Hi y’all! I’m Alec, a master’s student from Victoria, BC, Canada. Outside of Mansfield, I’m part of the Soft Matter Photonics and Applied Optics research groups.
Within Mansfield, I’m a proud member of the Mansfield community and I’m proud to be part of a bench that embraces the same inviting and diverse spirit that makes up our student body as a whole. As secretary, it is my job to help organize meetings, both internally within the bench and to the larger student body as a whole and to ensure the transparency of the bench by publicizing the minutes after those meetings. I hope that by doing this, I can make the MCR bench as approachable an organization as possible, and one that is able to flexibly respond to the needs and wants of its members. Outside of work, I enjoy playing the piano and embroidery.
Email contact: alec.xu@mansfield.ox.ac.uk
Biwei Zhang, Treasurer
Hi! I am Biwei Zhang, a DPhil student at Mansfield studying in Engineering. It's such an honour for me taking the treasurer as well as social secretary of the MCR this year. My responsibilities mainly include taking care of the financial records of the MCR and organising social events for MCR members. Please free free to get in touch if you have any queries or suggestions. I sincerely hope that my efforts would bring you enjoyable experiences here and contribute to a better MCR.
biwei.zhang@mansfield.ox.ac.uk
Hannah Ezer, Equalities & Ethnic Diversity and Inclusion Representative
I’m from Houston, Texas in the US. I’m in the second year of my History MPhil on the women, gender, and queer studies track. I did my undergrad in the US where I majored in PPE and Gender Studies and am looking forward to a great year. I joined the board because the one that came before me was so great and I wanted to be a part of making Mansfield postgrad’s experiences at Oxford better.
hannah.ezer@mansfield.ox.ac.uk
Angela Odermatt, Women’s Rep
Hi! I’m Angela (she/her), a MPhil in Politics student at DPIR and Gender Rep at Mansfield. In my role as Gender Rep, I want to embrace Mansfield's open and diverse community to open up room for discussions. How does our gender affect our experiences in academia and beyond? What do we want for the future and what are concrete steps Mansfield can take to get there? However, there are many immediate challenges associated with Gender such as access to sanitary products and contraception, or feeling uncomfortable in professional as well as social environments. Mansfield already offers some resources helping with these challenges and I hope to make these even more accessible and visible. Should you need any support, have an idea, or simply want to say hi and have a chat, please do reach out!