This week, national media reported that state school admissions to Cambridge were at a record-high. The story was popular – everyone loves some good news, and better still to make a display of support on social media. Yet, as Varsity pointed out, these changes were minimal, and should be anticipated each year, rather than treated as anomalous.

Also this week, an exclusive investigation by Varsity can reveal the colleges which have hosted ‘Christian Concern’ in recent years, a controversial group who have been condemned by CUSU as threatening the safety of Cambridge’s LGBT+ community (pp. 10-11).

In light of this, we must reject tokenistic displays of support for under-represented groups, and call instead for tangible change. Varsity is proud to ofer a platform for Cambridge students to make their voice heard through writing that is thoughtful and thorough. New columnists include Galaxy Henry, who argues that we should resist turning ‘woke’ into a millennial buzzword (pp. 16-17), and Joel Lucyszyn, who discusses the erasure of bisexual identity (p. 25). In our Comment section we encourage rational debate and reasonable discussion: Peter Chappell argues that Cambridge traditions such as gown-wearing, formal halls and May Balls are not so much exclusive as enjoyable (p. 16).

For Freshers in particular, it can be diicult to hold on to what you believe in, or remember what your values are, when you find yourself suddenly part of a mass of a hundred people in your year, all nervous, all being herded along to the same Freshers’ events, and all trying desperately hard to impress. We aim to help you find your feet this Michaelmas, as well as demystifying certain Cambridge eccentricities. We’ve added a Freshers’ section to our website, with articles giving you the ultimate guide to Cambridge slang, for example, and answering the question that’s truly on everyone’s mind right now: ‘Do I really need to read my reading list?’.

This term, we will maintain Varsity’s role as an authoritative source of information within the University. Our new Arts section replaces the previously-ambiguous Culture section, and will contain detailed and comprehensive events listings, as well as reviews, previews, and commentary on cultural afairs. In every article in every section, be it a sports report or album review, we aim to be accurate and fair and, most importantly, a platform for intelligent writing that is relevant to you