‘But did I come here looking for the BNOC-ery? Absolutely not…But, you know, sometimes the BNOC-ery just chooses you.’

 

 

At this point, eyebrows have been raised high enough to brush one’s hairline. George Abarayone – Vice President of ACS, ArabSoc Events Officer (…huh?), Hip-Hop Soc co-Founder and President,  Mr Number Six on the Cherwell BNOC list, now President-Elect of the Oxford Union – sits there. A slight degree of self-embarrassment slash consternation betrays the otherwise confident look on his face. The realisation of having produced a quotable gaffe slips quite nicely with another humbling detail; another thing to add to his list of titles and hats is the fact he is also a Warwick-reject. The only university town in the country with a nightlife as poor, and a crowd as frustrating as here. A fact that he seems to always follow with ‘FUCK WARWICK.’

 

 

If you haven’t met George…you probably have. Towering above the musk of the late ATIK dancefloor, many have been introduced to him as the guy who is everywhere and anywhere. Although, he reserves, quite strongly, that in his first year, he had only gone to Park End a maximum of four times per term. Of course, that is four too many, and when asked to provide the details of his transactions to FIXR, he profusely refused. He also reserves that he is not the club fiend or social moth fluttering towards a digicam’s lights, such would be a misunderstanding of why he is everywhere and anywhere.

 

 

In fact, he never fully wanted to be here. It was Warwick that called his name, pre-rejection. In an inversion of the usual formula, he opted for Oxford instead. George is a man acutely aware of his identity, which he describes as ‘non-typical.’ Neither of his parents attended university in Britain, he is state-school educated and was on free school meals. To him, and the figures of authority in his life back home in Fulham, he is something of a symbol to others. A way of breaking a mound-posing-as-a-charity-for-tax-exemptions. In his words, to show ‘Oxford isn’t exactly what you think it is. It’s not all posh, rich, Eton twats drinking wine.’

 

 

But it would be incredibly short-sighted (as well as tedious) to reduce him solely to the popular cliche of the working class penetrating Oxford. For George, the degree is not going anywhere: it may be a hub for intellect for sure, but George’s Oxford is one to explore, to meet people and to socialise. But there is a distinction between George’s Oxford, and the Oxford that George wants. For the latter – he does not hesitate to be political, it is a place that must be more inclusive so that it may not become epistemologically or pedagogically stagnant. The books and texts are not going anywhere, but the faces and backgrounds must change to encourage new thoughts and ideas. The end goal he seeks to aspire to is a slightly incoherent mix of a little pond of brilliant intellect, but also a vast sea of networking and community growth, both kind of working at each other’s expense. Though he won’t admit it, both his Oxford and his desired Oxford are places to social climb – you can hear it in his admission that the BNOC title is ‘lowkey a flex’ though he claims to hate it.

 

 

A man acutely aware of his identity, he should not be understood as self-serving. George’s work with ACS and The Union have encouraged the creation of forums for the expression of Black identity in Britain. His ‘Say it with Chest’ forum recently hosted Dr Umar, an event that was a gripping almost messianic exploration of a very particular strand of African-American thought, as well as the first time a male member of a Union audience was asked if they were a ‘bunny-hopper’ (read: exclusively dates white women). He has worked often at a great toll to himself, to make the social life here slightly more accessible to those outside the very particular bubble of accents that frequent the student nights of this town. Another initiative was HipHop Soc, gestated in many a bedroom and pub, and inaugurated in Michaelmas at The Varsity Club. 

 

 

What followed was success, measured in the form of innumerable photodumps on Instagram. That being said, momentum has slowed – and while Trinity Term has seen a few big occasions like the So Far So Good launch party, George accepts that’s largely a consequence of a slowdown and lack of events in Hilary. When asked about the direction of the society, George imagined it to be two-pronged. One towards a more intimate, informal kind of safe-space for those who want to discuss and listen to hip hop and adjacent genres together; and one for those who just want a night out. If anything, Hip-Hop Soc is George at his least political: the parties aren’t just for those who actually engage or enjoy the music, they’re for everybody. So while some may rightfully groan at the Bullingdon event becoming the afters for OxWib Ball, with all its Old Paulines and Harovians, George does not care. He’s here for the faithful, and the Bridge-attending Gentiles.

 

 

George the Crusader claims he’s here for the disenfranchised. By that, he does not only mean the dispossessed: he means those who feel disenfranchised by the University and all its arcane trivialities, those who are alienated with life outside the degree. So it must seem slightly ironic that he has chosen to immerse himself in the spew of irrelevancy that The Union has seemingly become. So much so that in Hilary 2026, the societies’ many pariahs will answer to him.

 

 

Yet, George is an optimist. He knows the society is ‘fucking broken.’ In fact, he himself seemed to be deeply alienated with it. But George is a man, perhaps admirably or perhaps for his sins, will stick by a thing that he is sick of. His main motivation for returning this Trinity was solely to serve under his best friend and first female Black president of the Union, Anita Okunde. And now he’s President-Elect.

 

 

The jump is a strange one. One that he is quite self-conscious of. In his eyes, The Union remains a net positive, at least on paper. In describing it, he is something of a romantic. Even a democrat (in the Enlightenment, not contemporary American, sense). The premise of an entirely student society that is positioned to invite whomever it seeks is simply too good to abandon. Much like his Oxford, George’s Union ‘is a platform for people to go and speak against people who they would never get the opportunity to speak to.’ George should know, he has come head to head with Charlie Kirk—much to the love of TikTok comment sections, and the chagrin of those who know him…

 

 

George the Crusader is also George the aspirant revolutionary. But not through procedure or rules-change or the mindless petitions that Overheard at Oxford is so adamant to publish (nobody cares). There is something wrong, but it’s not in the standing orders or constitution. What is wrong is the culture. He seeks to make a conscious effort to induce a cultural revolution, a change to avoid the politicking and antagonisms that have hence defined the society. To make it a space that is less about grooming and hacking, but one for its true merits. There will be a Great Leap Forward, he is The Union’s Chairman Mao.

 

 

Just without the actual Maoism. His vision is not a radical break from anything every other candidate for President promises, and any militant fervor instead replaced by what seems to be an on the record love and respect for all of his political rivals and opponents. But what is different is what seems to be an earnest desire for a better internal culture. 

 

 

Is this revolutionary? 

 

 

Perhaps not for any other society, but for The Union it certainly is. His main aim is to be an ‘everyman’ for the undergraduates. He knows many don’t care, and a part of his vision is to change that. It’s an admirable task, not yet fully articulated, but admirable nonetheless. 

 

 

So what now? 

 

 

As George slips away to prioritise the Union, he will have to rusticate. But he promises he’ll be around. He’ll still be playing basketball, he’ll still be at HipHop soc and ACS. He knows The Union is not the university. His aims are not to fall into the wayside, but remain himself and on his journey to create his own Oxford. In an almost pertinent state, he asks his friends to be patient. He accepts that he may mess up, or make mistakes, and asks them to bear with him. He promises to remain as best of a friend as he can. He has not changed, he remains the friend he was two weeks ago.

 

 

All of this has taken a toll on George, he has found himself exhausted and often drained. But his commitment is more than just admirable, it’s often brilliant. And to his critics, I think his words are most appropriate in saying:

 

 

‘God forbid a man hits a cheeky ATIK step.’∎

Words by Zaid Magdub. Image courtesy George Abaraonye.