Meet the LGBTQ+ Undergraduate of the Year fighting for working-class voices at Oxford

When Alfie Davis won the LGBTQ+ Undergraduate of the Year award in 2024 supported by Clifford Chance, it marked more than just personal achievement. For this Oxford geography graduate, it represented recognition of vital work in making elite institutions more accessible and inclusive for everyone.

“I never really wanted to go to Oxford,” Alfie reveals, reflecting on their initial hesitation about applying. Coming from a working-class background in Kent, where neither parent attended university, the prospect of studying at one of the world’s most elite institutions seemed daunting.

“There’s this idea of Oxford being very stuffy and very middle-upper class,” they explain. “I didn’t really see a space for myself there.” However, it was the geography course that drew them in, offering the unexpected flexibility to explore interests in gender studies, queer theory, and social issues.

This commitment to inclusion and accessibility would later catch the attention of international law firm Clifford Chance. The LGBTQ+ Undergraduate of the Year Award involved a competitive selection process. “You need to apply yourself,” Alfie explains. After making it through initial applications, the top 20 candidates proceeded to interview with the firm, before being narrowed down to 12 finalists.

“I really liked my time at Clifford Chance”

As part of their prize, Alfie completed an internship with Clifford Chance. “It was meant to be two weeks but Clifford Chance extended it to three weeks. I learned about pro bono and EDI work (equality, diversity and inclusion),” they explain. The experience shaped their approach to their current role: “I really liked my time at Clifford Chance, and I think something I’ve really adopted in my own work now is how they had this approach continual campaigning and seeing inclusion as a campaign rather than a box-ticking exercise.”

This philosophy aligned perfectly with Alfie’s work at Oxford, where they had already noticed that getting students from diverse backgrounds through the door wasn’t enough. The university’s structure itself needed reform, particularly around accommodation policies that assumed all students had homes to return to during term breaks.

Challenging the divide

Through their work with Class Act, an Oxford Student Union campaign, Alfie tackled these systemic issues head-on. They focused particularly on changing accommodation policies that required students to leave their rooms every eight weeks – a particular challenge for those from non-traditional backgrounds or without stable home environments.

One of Alfie’s key missions has been challenging the artificial divide between working-class and LGBTQ+ identities. “There’s this idea that when people say ‘working class’, they mean an archetypal straight white man,” Alfie observes. “It tends to skew queer people as non-working class somehow, even though we’ve always been part of the working class.”

Perhaps nothing better illustrates Alfie’s innovative outlook than their dissertation topic: LGBTQ+ walking techniques as an everyday form of self-preservation, self-expression, and resistance. The research examined how identity affects how people occupy public spaces, from who moves out of whose way on pavements to how trans people might adjust their walking style during transition.

During their research, the topic’s relevance became starkly clear. “I got threatened and approached in the street while actually doing the research, for ‘walking too gay,'” Alfie shares, highlighting how even the most basic act of can become political for LGBTQ+ people.

“I really want to keep doing something that’s impactful”

Today, Alfie continues their community work in Oxford as a fundraising and communications officer for a local food bank. “I’ve been working with them for a while and it’s a really fun job,” they explain, though they acknowledge the responsibility that comes with it. “It’s a lot of pressure, because there’s a lot riding on it… it’s people helping people.”

The role aligns with their commitment to mutual aid and solidarity rather than charity. They’re also looking to expand their involvement in local politics, building on their experience in student organising – including helping to found Oxford’s first Trans Pride in 2023.

“I really want to keep doing something that’s impactful and enjoyable,” Alfie says, reflecting on their future plans. “I feel like I really learned a lot from my time doing different student organisation stuff, so I really want to carry on with that kind of work.”

To learn more about Clifford Chance’s early career opportunities, visit their careers page.