This year, the Mather Cup competition has entertained, informed and delighted. Over the course of two Terms, every House has participated in debates that ranged from whether music is more important than books, to whether we would rather be happy than rich.

The year ended on a more topical theme, with Fisher and Grafton going head-to-head to debate whether the problems caused by the internet outweigh the benefits created.

Ed Day and Jake Darke-Christopher of Grafton proposed the motion, and made the case that the rise of mental illness, the prevalence of fake news polarising society, and the illicit harvesting of data, meant that the internet is indeed dangerously harmful.

This was rebutted eloquently by Jack Campbell and Jerry Li of Fisher, who proposed that it is not the internet itself that causes harm, but the way it is sometimes used. Because it is a tool that can be used to promote freedom, it is often considered dangerous by oppressive societies and dictators. They argued that the internet’s power as a tool can reduce social disparity by expanding access to information.

After some deliberation, the adjudicators unanimously agreed that Fisher House had won the debate, and the 2019 Mather Cup was presented by Mrs Kerr-Dineen.