News Articles

Selwyn brought Cambridge’s May Ball season to a close on Saturday June 20th with a spectacular event across the College grounds. Around 1600 people, including current students, alumni and guests from other colleges, enjoyed a night of music, food and fireworks – with a Ferris wheel in Old Court proving to be one of the biggest attractions. The photo below, by student Nicky Collins, shows the moment just before 11pm when the firework display took place.

More images can be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/selalum/sets/72157654917723995

Selwyn PhD student Clare Walker-Gore has been named as one of the BBC's ten New Generation Thinkers for 2015 in recognition of her work on disability in Victorian Literature. Clare, who went to school in Wakefield in West Yorkshire, first came to Selwyn as an undergraduate in 2007; and we’re delighted that her academic efforts here have been recognised. Clare is now preparing for her first broadcast on Radio 3 in early July, and she will contribute to the ‘Free Thinking’ programme throughout the coming twelve months. Read more about all the New Generation Thinkers on the BBC website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2015/r3-new-gen-thinkers

 

Selwyn Fellow Ken Coutts (SE 1968) has co-authored a report on the effect of
liberal market policies introduced after the election of Margaret Thatcher
in 1979. It was widely featured in the newspapers, with much interest in the
argument that the UK’s economic performance was better before the reforms:

 

And Selwyn’s Professor Colin Humphreys has a public lecture on Monday June
15th about Gallium Nitride LEDs: how they can save energy, purify water,
improve our health - and be manufactured in the UK. It’s at 7.30pm in
Churchill College, with more information here:

http://www.csar.org.uk/programs2/syn/2014-15/15062015.pdf

The Cambridge May Bumps - the most important inter-collegiate rowing event of the year - took place
from Wednesday June 10th to Saturday June 14th. Overall, it was a disappointing week for the Selwyn
crews: the College finished next to the bottom of the table with a net Pegasus Cup score of -28.
The bright spot was a good performance from the M1 boat, who started at the top of Division 2 and
were promoted on the first day - and then went on to improve their position in the rest of the
week. You can check all the Selwyn results at

Our photo shows the successful Selwyn M1 crew. They are from bow, with the year they started at the
College: Nigel Coburn 2012, Max Sherman 2014, Marcos Gallego Llorente 2013, Rob Galbenu 2013, James
Perry 2013, Charlie Cullen 2013, Charlie Nye 2012, Felix Newman 2013, and cox Will McDermott 2012.

 

Selwyn will be hosting visits by prospective students and their parents in two Open Days at the start of July. They’re part of the University of Cambridge Open Days, during which potential applicants will be able to find out more about what the University and Colleges have to offer, including courses, the application process, student support, finance and careers. Visitors will have the opportunity to speak with staff from both academic departments and Colleges, along with current students. Details about the 2015 Selwyn events can be found at http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/open-days/; and the pictures from last year show visitors and college staff enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the Open Days in glorious summer weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More pictures can be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/selalum/sets/72157645576667015

 

 

 

 

The College hosted a dinner for major benefactors on Saturday June 6^th. The Lyttelton dinner is an
annual event in the College calendar, at which we welcome back alumni and friends to thank them for
their support for Selwyn. In the photograph below: the current Master Roger Mosey and his
predecessor Richard Bowring lead guests across Old Court to the new Senior Combination Room for
dinner.
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Two Selwyn students have been elected as captains of University sport teams for the next academic year. Frances Lee-Barber (left in the picture) will lead the Cambridge netball team. She is currently a fresher, and was part of the University team that beat Oxford in this year’s Varsity match. Charlotte Burrows (right) is in her second year, and she has been elected as captain of hockey. Cambridge are the defending champions in that sport too, having won this year’s encounter with Oxford 2-1. Charlotte says of her new role: “our team had a very successful season last year, getting promoted from both of our leagues and winning Varsity. It’s a huge honour to be voted captain. With a really talented squad, we are looking for back-to-back promotion and retaining the all-important Varsity trophy!”

This has been a particularly strong time for women’s sport in the college. Selwyn graduate student Hannah Evans was in the Cambridge crew for the first rowing of the women’s Boat Race on the Tideway this year; and undergraduate Katie Holmes was president of the women’s rugby club, leading her team to a 47-0 win over Oxford in the most recent Varsity match.

The College held a tea party on Wednesday 20 May to mark the 99th birthday of its former Master, Owen Chadwick. Professor Chadwick was Master from 1956 to 1983, and his distinguished career included being Regius Professor of Modern History and Vice-Chancellor of the University. He was appointed to the Order of Merit in 1983. His sporting prowess was considerable too: he is a former British Lion, and represented Cambridge three times in the Varsity match. He is pictured (bottom right) alongside Sir David Harrison, Master from 1994 to 2000; and standing is the current Master, Roger Mosey. Selwyn College congratulates Professor Chadwick on entering his centenary year.

 

First-year Selwyn student Lola Olufemi has been cast as Othello in a production of the Shakespeare play that will run from May 19-23 at the ADC theatre. Lola, who is reading English, says of her role:

“Othello is in a high pressure environment, in which most of her peers don’t look or sound like her and yet she challenges those boundaries. I’ve faced a lot of similar things as a student here and I’m really keen to see how audiences respond to the dynamic of having a black female be in such a powerful, central position on a Cambridge stage. It feels subversive. We've put a lot into this production and that'll be clear when audiences come and see it.”

You can read more about the production, and book tickets at https://www.adctheatre.com/whats-on/drama/othello.aspx

Former Selwyn students had mixed fortunes in the General Election on May 7^th. Two of our alumni were elected to the House of Commons. Graham Stuart (below) won for the
Conservatives in Beverley and Holderness, his third victory in that seat. Graham was chairman of the select committee on education in the last parliament, and he
hosted a reception at the Commons for the college’s boathouse appeal in the Spring of this year.

Newly-elected in Ilford North was Wes Streeting (below) for Labour. He is a former JCR president at Selwyn and went on to become president of the National Union of
Students. His performance was one of Labour’s best on a poor night for the party: Wes overturned a Conservative majority of 5000 to win by 589 votes.

But two alumni - both Liberal Democrats - lost their seats. Simon Hughes, one of the best known Lib Dems and justice minister in the last government, was beaten in
his Bermondsey seat after 32 years as an MP; and Roger Williams was defeated in Brecon and Radnorshire, which he had held since 2001.