Welcome to Univ’s Middle Common Room (MCR) also known as the Weir Common Room or WCR! All graduate students at University College are automatically a member of the WCR.
The WCR has a double meaning: it refers to the graduate body of students at University College and also to the physical space in the College where graduate students can relax and socialise. It is an engaging and diverse community of early-researchers consisting around 150 members across all year groups and subjects. Whether you are here for a one/two-year Masters programme or a DPhil programme we do hope you choose to get involved with college life!
The WCR has a committee of graduate students (you can find the details of the committee members below), whose role is to serve, advocate for and represent the interests of the graduate student body within the College and the University. The aforementioned services range from running fun social events, such as BOPs (informal parties) and quiz nights, to providing welfare support and promoting environmental awareness. The WCR committee changes every year, with elections held in Hilary Term.
No matter whether you are a current or prospective Univ graduate student, below you will find all the essential information related to the WCR. Get to know the committee members and the WCR building, or learn about our upcoming events and the welfare support available to students.
The WCR, located behind the Old Library, has a comfortable lounge and a fully equipped kitchen and two gender-neutral bathrooms. The WCR makes up the large proportion of the Mitchell Building and the space is a regular meeting-point for the graduate community here at Univ. A whole suite of events are held in the WCR from drinks receptions, art socials, discussion groups and our graduate bops. When you first enter the building one is met with a small vestibule where all the pigeon holes, or “pidges”, are located. These brown, wooden shelves will host all mail correspondence sent to you during your stay in college accommodation.
Inside the large, spacious lounge several zones exist from multiple seating areas containing grey sofas with orange striped patterns to a large wooden dining table.
Along with a variety of newspaper and magazine subscriptions, the WCR also hosts a large selection of books and DVDs that have been kindly donated to the common room by alumni and the previous Master. Music and TV facilities are present in the WCR and are a great accompaniment to any small-scale or large-scale event hosted in the common room.
The WCR also contains a fully equipped kitchen, available for use by any member of the graduate body. A coffee machine is also located in the kitchen, free of charge for our members to use.
Within the WCR, we know how important being able to meet and socialise with other members of the graduate community is. As a result, the WCR is involved with the organising and running of a wide range of events to bring people together and allow them to share experiences. Some of the events that have been run in the past include theatre trips, parties, quiz nights and exchange dinners between the MCRs of different colleges.
Some of the favourite events of the community are the bops, where everyone can come together to sing and dance the night away in a fun and safe environment. These large events occur once or twice a term and have been based on a wide variety of themes such as Prohibition, the 1990’s and “Heroes and Legends”. In addition to these events, there are a number of graduate societies within the college, one of them being the Martlets’ Society where graduates are able to present their work to the college community, as well as the college sports teams, such as our football team that has been undefeated for two seasons, that graduates are welcome to take part in.
As a result of the pandemic over the past year, the WCR has had to shift some of its events online. This has included virtual Sunday Socials, inter-household competitions and a virtual Glühwein making session over Christmas. We have had a lot of fun with these events and have been a great opportunity to socialise even when they had to be at home. With the easing of restrictions, the social team will be hoping to produce a balance of both virtual and in-person events and allow members to meet each other in as many ways as possible.
In order to see what events are currently being hosted by the WCR social team, you may view our social term card on the 
Our Twitter provides a platform for the WCR to tweet out the thoughts of our common room. We love retweeting our members’ posts and promoting statements posted by Univ college and the wider Oxford community!
The Gradlet is a space to showcase the members of the graduate body on instagram. We post regular content in a Q&A style. Follow to learn more about the current graduate community at Univ and do reach out if you’d like to be featured if you are a current Univ WCR member.
Our WCR website is a great first-point of searching for a broad-brush of information. Our social calendars can be found here. The website is currently under the process of being renovated!
