List of University of Oxford dining clubs

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[1][2][3] (male society)
  • The Bullingdon Club[1][2][3] (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[3] (female society)
  • The Gridiron Club[1][3] (founded 1884; commonly called The Grid; club tie is dark blue with white gridirons; mixed gender society)
  • The Piers Gaveston Society[1][2][3] (founded 1977; limited to 12 members; mixed gender society)
  • The Stoics[2][3][4] (dress in black tailcoats, with bi-coloured socks, braces, and bow ties of blue and yellow; male society)
  • The Viceroys[1][3][5] (dress in black tailcoats, with bow ties of purple with yellow and blue stripes; male society)
  • The 9th Prime Club[citation needed] (postgraduates only; mixed gender society)

College based

  • The Abbotts, Corpus Christi[1] (male society)
  • The Ace of Spades,[citation needed] St Edmund Hall (male society)
  • The Alices, Christ Church[1] (female society)
  • L’Ancien Régime, Merton[1] (mixed gender society)
  • The Black Cygnets, St Hugh's[1][3][6] (male society - members wear white bow-ties with cygnet motif; organise 'fox hunt')
  • Bugger Ruggers, St Edmund Hall[2][3] (female society)
  • The Cardinals, Christ Church[1] (male society)
  • The Carolines,[citation needed] New College (female society)
  • The Claret Club, Trinity[1][3] (male society)
  • The Dolphins, Jesus[3] (female society)
  • The Eaglets, The Queen's[7] (male society)
  • The Elizabethan Society, Jesus[8][9][10] (male society)
  • The Faeries, Lincoln[3] (female society)
  • Flowers and Fairies, Christ Church[1][2][3] (male society)
  • The George[3]
  • The Goblin Club, Lincoln[3][11] (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[7] (mixed gender society)
  • The King Charles Club, St John's[1][2] (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[1][3] (members drink only from 18th-century silver goblets; male society)
  • The Missionaries,[citation needed] Magdalen (male society)
  • The Mantis, Magdalen[3] (female society)
  • The Mercurials, Christ Church[1] (male society)
  • The Millers, Oriel[3] (male and female society)
  • The Myrmidon Club, Merton[3][12] (founded 1865; mixed gender society)
  • The Myrmaids, Merton[3] (female society)
  • The Musketeers, Oriel[3] (male society)
  • The Nondescripts Club, Christ Church[2] (male society)
  • The Penguin Club, Hertford[1] (possibly defunct; male society)
  • The Phoenix Club, Brasenose[2][3] (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,[citation needed] New College (mixed gender society)
  • The Pythic Club, Christ Church (founded by 1845)
  • The Regent's Rabbits, Regent's Park College (female society)[13]
  • The Reginae Society, The Queen's[7] (female society)
  • The Sir Henry Pelham Gentleman's Sporting Society, Hertford[1] (commonly known as Pelhams; male society)
  • Somerville Ladies Ultimate Tequila Society, Somerville[3] (female society)
  • The Steamers, Keble[1] (male society)
  • The Syndicate, St Edmund Hall[14] (male society)
  • The Wardens,[citation needed] Merton (mixed gender society)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Who's afraid of the big, bad club?". Cherwell. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Vaughan, Matt (8 October 2003). "Drinking the town dry". Cherwell. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Bell, Matthew (16 September 2014). "Inside Oxford University's secret drinking clubs". Cherwell. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  4. ^ Wilkinson, Carl (2 October 2004). "You've got to do the rite thing". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Anonymous (12 March 2020). "Beyond the Bullingdon: A closer look into Oxford's Secret Societies". Cherwell. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  7. ^ a b c 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Whitehouse, Jon. "Whitehouse, Trevor (1951)" (PDF). Jesus College Record. 2017: 154. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  10. ^ Sidney, Pippa. "SIDNEY, Malcolm Deryck (1938)" (PDF). Jesus College Record 2011 (2011): 97. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  11. ^ Gauci, Perry (2003). "The Goblin Centenary" (PDF). Lincoln College Record 2001-2002.
  12. ^ A short account of the history of the Myrmidon Club
  13. ^ Q&A With Regent's Rabbits
  14. ^ "The Syndicate slammed for School-girl themed event". 8 May 2013.