The JCR

The JCR (Junior Common Room) represents both the undergraduate student community and the communal spaces we all share.

The JCR Committee is the governing body elected from among the JCR to ensure that Somerville has a vibrant undergraduate community which welcomes everyone. We do this by running events, providing welfare support and making sure the voice of the student body is heard. We’re also responsible for dealing with any issues that undergraduates at Somerville face, from housing ballots to acquiring new equipment for college. The JCR Committee abides by a constitution and passes motions that every Somerville undergraduate can vote on through weekly meetings.

A Message From the JCR President

“The JCR, or Junior Common Room, is both the undergraduate community here at Somerville, and the committee that represents these students within college. The JCR consists of elected officers who represent student views, concerns and interests to the college and the university as a whole. It is our aim to ensure that we provide the necessary resources and mandates to allow for lives which are academically and personally fulfilling, exciting, and meaningful, both within our community, and beyond.

The privilege of my role as JCR President is the ability to facilitate and support the individual interests and ambitions of our common room members. It is more important than ever in my work to help foster and embrace opportunities afforded to us as Somervillians; to encourage and support our students in throwing themselves into whatever it is that most interests or best represents them. Somerville represents the beginning of our adult lives, and the experiences we foster here will, I hope, continue to shape us to the end of our own stories.

So, members of the JCR: try new things, or throw yourselves into old passions. Love your subjects, and feel proud that you live in an environment where this is something to be cherished. And, as members of our wonderful community, choose to be kind to those around you, and interested in the lives of this body of genuinely fascinating people, of whom you are one, and by whom you will be surrounded for three, or four, or even six years.

If you want to learn more about the work our officers do, or get in touch, everyone’s details are listed below! We would love to hear from you!”

Thomas Bainbridge
JCR President 2025-2026