What on Earth Is an Oxford Uni Crewdate?

The history and traditions of Oxford University range from terrifying to hilarious, sometimes both, and usually absurd.

Going back a few centuries, some examples of this are several murders (one of which led to the creation of Cambridge University in 1209), the constant consumption of beer, the escapades and controversies of the infamous Bullingdon Club, and more.

The Oxford “Crewdate” is no exception to this rule. It can best be described as an excuse to drink copious amounts of cheap wine, livened up with interesting traditions to call it Oxonian.

When I registered for a crewdate, I had no idea what it would entail, except for hopefully some yummy food (they're usually held in Thai/Indian restaurants) and the instruction to bring my own bottle of wine.

Walking into the cozy-looking Thai restaurant, I was pleased with the ambiance... until we were guided to the basement. There, I was shocked to find a tiny room packed with 30-ish stools around a large table set with plastic wine glasses.

After settling into our seats, the night started innocently enough with some friendly introductions and some “sconcing” (which is essentially Never Have I Ever). Since almost everyone was new to crewdating, it started off with tame statements like “I sconce anyone who is a postgraduate student”. Of course, things quickly took a more raunchy and targeted turn with mentions of collegecest, blacking out, and exes.

Then came the dares, many involving members of opposing sexes, and the terrifying tradition of shoeing. At the cry of “SHOE!”, the last person to remove a shoe (sometimes both shoes and/or socks) and place it on their head had to drink wine from said shoe 🤢. Suffice it to say, some of us started keeping our shoes at the ready.

Best shoe to wear to a crewdate

The games continued at a breakneck pace. These included a variation of speed dating and the common "pennying", where a penny is dropped into someone's drink and they must down it as quickly as possible to "save the queen from drowning". There were many more that I will leave to your imagination.

Eventually, I realised that apart from some snacks, there was no Thai food coming. Instead, the ~£15 per person fee (luckily covered by the society in this case) went towards the restaurant's cleaning and inconvenience costs. The wine glasses were clearly plastic for a reason, as countless spills were making the already hot room sticky as well. I left a bit early, but it was clear that the most drunk attendees were heading to a club later.

Though I wanted to avoid most of the games for health/hygienic reasons, I'm glad I went. The creativity of the games and rapid escalation were astonishing. It was definitely an unforgettable thing to witness, and at least at this particular crewdate, people were relatively respectful of how much you wanted to drink, and the wilder games were targeted at those who seemed more enthusiastic about them.

The main negative is how inescapable everything was - the room was so small that unless you were sat next to the door, it was very difficult to leave the sweaty room for a break, making it very stifling at times. I can also certainly see how crewdates could devolve into severe peer pressuring and less-than-desirable behaviour.

In the end, I felt a whirlwind of emotions—impressed, uncomfortable, amused, stressed, giddy. Canadian student life could certainly take some inspiration from the Brits, though perhaps not too much.

Until next adventure,

Ana