Lincoln College Kitchen Charge: Time for Reform

Dear Mr Knowles,

This is a petition against the Lincoln College Kitchen charge, which - in its current format - we believe to be unfair.

Many students do not manage / wish to eat in college on a regular basis, yet the compulsory kitchen charge forces them to pay out £67 per term, amounting to >£800 over a 4 year degree. On a termly basis (8 weeks), the kitchen charge amounts to more than some private gym memberships in Oxford...

You argue that hardship funds are available for students in financial need, yet we believe that some students would be embarrassed to claim, taking the view that there are likely to be others worse off than themselves.

Not only that, but why should ANY student be forced to pay against their will? The kitchen charge is a "one size fits all policy". What about students with commitments to social/sporting/voluntary organisations? What about mature students, or those with partners / family? And what about students who live/work long distances from the city centre, meaning that it is impractical (or even costly, e.g. in terms of bus fares) for them to eat in college?

You say that the kitchen charge encourages collegiality: "you may not want to come in to dinner, you may feel you can, but the College encourages you to, and if you decide not to, you must accept the Kitchen Charge as the price of membership of this community". Every student already pays for membership of the college community, via college fees and contributions to the JCR/MCR. The £67 per term charge pays for membership of the kitchen, NOT the college.

We ask you to consider the question, “does the catering operation really require the subsidy of students who do not eat in college to cover its costs?” Lincoln is not a poor college and we see no reason why it cannot restructure its kitchen finances along the lines of other Oxford colleges - most of which have no such charge for members (see list below, here all college MCRs for which information could be obtained are included, any bias is unintentional).

MCR COMPULSORY CHARGE
St Catz No
Keble No
Merton No
St Cross No
New No
Worcester No
Brasenose No
Wadham No
Mansfield No
St Annes No
Jesus £55.80 per term for those living on the main College site, £27.90 for those living in College flats / private accommodation
Balliol £18.40 per term for graduates living in, no charge for graduates living out
Exeter ~£65 per term, compulsory for all

Furthermore, you currently say that students may be exempt from the charge if they are:
(i) away from Oxford
(ii) married

Exemption clause (ii) is archaic and discriminative. Mr. Knowles, you chair the Lincoln College Equality Committee, whose commitment to equal opportunities states:

"The College will [also] avoid, in the fields of employment, education and provision of goods, facilities, services and premises the use of ostensibly neutral criteria which have disproportionate adverse impact on those of a particular age; colour; disability; ethnic origin; marital status.”

Yet exemption clause (ii) has an adverse impact on most students according to their marital status: those who are unmarried (even those who live with their partners) cannot be exempt! We believe this to be discriminative and against the college’s committment to equality.

We truly value your contribution to the college as bursar, but please pay attention to our views on this issue - the kitchen charge is debated every year at Lincoln because reform is long overdue.