Professor Alexander Betts, Pro Vice Chancellor for External Engagement, Sport and Community, talks about participation and belonging at Oxford, focussing on sport, wellbeing & inclusion broadening out to wider community engagement
In this episode of Student Voices, Oxford SU President for Welfare, Equity and Inclusion, Alisa, speaks with Professor Alexander Betts, Pro Vice Chancellor for External Engagement, Sport and Community, about who gets to take part at Oxford, and what fair access looks like in a collegiate university.
The conversation focuses on sport, wellbeing and belonging. Alisa raises what students share about uneven provision across colleges, barriers linked to timetabling and where you live, and how participation can start to feel like an all or nothing pipeline. Alexander reflects on how the University is working to strengthen sport and physical activity as part of a thriving student experience, alongside academic life.
They discuss emerging plans for a central University gym and leisure facility in the city centre, intended to improve everyday access for students whose colleges have limited provision, and to reduce practical barriers linked to distance and getting to Iffley Road. Alongside this, they talk about wider ambitions to improve facilities, investment, and how colleges and the University can think more collaboratively about the collegiate sports estate.
They also explore inclusion in practice, including how gym spaces can feel intimidating, and what it would mean to shape facilities, coaching and culture so that women and those who identify as non-binary feel welcomed in sporting spaces. Alex and Alisa share an early announcement of a women’s sport research network they are developing at Oxford alongside a small but diverse group of researchers, staff and practitioners to support a clearer institutional focus on women’s sport.
Lastly, they address widening out beyond sport to town and gown. Alexander shares how sport can be used to build stronger relationships across Oxford and Oxfordshire through community programmes and volunteering, and Alisa signposts routes for students to raise barriers and shape change through student voice channels, including common rooms, Sports Federation structures, and the SU.
