This is a list of current University of Oxford dining clubs. All are social in nature and recruit members by private invitation for a programme of drinking and dining. Members are drawn exclusively from the student body of the University of Oxford. Most have individual costumes and traditions and maintain a high degree of secrecy concerning their membership and activities.
University wide
- The Assassins (known for their debauchery in the 1980s; not to be confused with the unrelated student society, Oxford Guild of Assassins)
- The Bullingdon Club (founded 1780; dress in navy blue tailcoats, with navy velvet collar, ivory silk lapels, brass buttons, mustard waistcoat, and a sky blue bow tie; club tie is sky blue striped with ivory; sometimes called The Buller; male society)
- The Delilahs (female society)
- The Gridiron Club (founded 1884; commonly called The Grid; club tie is dark blue with white gridirons; mixed gender society)
- The Piers Gaveston Society (founded 1977; limited to 12 members; mixed gender society)
- The Stoics (dress in black tailcoats, with bi-coloured socks, braces, and bow ties of blue and yellow; male society)
- The Viceroys (dress in black tailcoats, with bow ties of purple with yellow and blue stripes; male society)
- The 9th Prime Club (postgraduates only; mixed gender society)
College based
- The Abbotts, Corpus Christi (male society)
- The Ace of Spades, St Edmund Hall (male society)
- The Alices, Christ Church (female society)
- L’Ancien Régime, Merton (mixed gender society)
- The Black Cygnets, St Hugh's (male society - members wear white bow-ties with cygnet motif; organise 'fox hunt')
- Bugger Ruggers, St Edmund Hall (female society)
- The Cardinals, Christ Church (male society)
- The Carolines, New College (female society)
- The Claret Club, Trinity (male society)
- The Dolphins, Jesus (female society)
- The Eaglets, The Queen's (male society)
- The Elizabethan Society, Jesus (male society)
- The Faeries, Lincoln (female society)
- Flowers and Fairies, Christ Church (male society)
- The George
- The Goblin Club, Lincoln (founded 1902; limited to between 12 and 15 members; extensive silverware collection; club tie in colours of port, champagne, and claret; male society)
- The Halcyon Club, The Queen's (mixed gender society)
- The King Charles Club, St John's (claims to be the oldest University dining club; club tie is black, with stripes of pacific blue edged with gold; male society)
- The Loder, Christ Church (members drink only from 18th-century silver goblets; male society)
- The Missionaries, Magdalen (male society)
- The Mantis, Magdalen (female society)
- The Mercurials, Christ Church (male society)
- The Millers, Oriel (male and female society)
- The Myrmidon Club, Merton (founded 1865; mixed gender society)
- The Myrmaids, Merton (female society)
- The Musketeers, Oriel (male society)
- The Nondescripts Club, Christ Church (male society)
- The Penguin Club, Hertford (possibly defunct; male society)
- The Phoenix Club, Brasenose (claims to be the oldest University dining club; dress in brown tailcoats, and dine with a silver phoenix at the table; limited to 12 members; male society)
- The Preprandials Society, New College (mixed gender society)
- The Pythic Club, Christ Church (founded by 1845)
- The Regent's Rabbits, Regent's Park College (female society)
- The Reginae Society, The Queen's (female society)
- The Sir Henry Pelham Gentleman's Sporting Society, Hertford (commonly known as Pelhams; male society)
- Somerville Ladies Ultimate Tequila Society, Somerville (female society)
- The Steamers, Keble (male society)
- The Syndicate, St Edmund Hall (male society)
- The Wardens, Merton (mixed gender society)
References
- "Assassins were the real rioters, not the Bullers". The Standard. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
- "Oxford Guild of Assassins". Retrieved 20 October 2024.
- ^ "Who's afraid of the big, bad club?". Cherwell. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- ^ Vaughan, Matt (8 October 2003). "Drinking the town dry". Cherwell. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- ^ Bell, Matthew (16 September 2014). "Inside Oxford University's secret drinking clubs". Cherwell. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- Wilkinson, Carl (2 October 2004). "You've got to do the rite thing". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- Wynne Jones, Ros (21 September 2015). "My contemporaries behaved appallingly at Oxford university and now they are running the country". The Mirror. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- Anonymous (12 March 2020). "Beyond the Bullingdon: A closer look into Oxford's Secret Societies". Cherwell. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
- ^ Turner, Camilla (22 November 2017). "Oxford college bans student representatives from joining secretive dining societies as it undermines inclusivity". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- Davies, John D. Griffith (1951). "Ronald Winckworth". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 8 (2): 293–296. ISSN 0035-9149. JSTOR 3087206. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- Whitehouse, Jon. "Whitehouse, Trevor (1951)" (PDF). Jesus College Record. 2017: 154. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- Sidney, Pippa. "SIDNEY, Malcolm Deryck (1938)" (PDF). Jesus College Record 2011 (2011): 97. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- Gauci, Perry (2003). "The Goblin Centenary" (PDF). Lincoln College Record 2001-2002.
- A short account of the history of the Myrmidon Club
- Q&A With Regent's Rabbits
- "The Syndicate slammed for School-girl themed event". 8 May 2013.