2015 Reunion Dinner on Saturday, 27 September 2025
We are delighted to invite you back to Selwyn for your 10-year reunion dinner. This is a great opportunity to get together and celebrate 10 years since you arrived at Selwyn and walked through the archway into Old Court. Guests are also welcome.
There will be a drinks reception followed by a formal dinner in Hall in the evening. In the afternoon, there will be a more informal chance to meet over tea and explore the college's newest buildings. Accommodation is available in college both on 26 and 27 September.
To further enhance your first reunion, it will coincide with Alumni Day and the Commemoration of Benefactors service, offering you the opportunity to attend a special afternoon talk by a former Selwyn Bye Fellow, and an evening chapel service. Please note that your year group will be seated together during dinner, as there will be alumni from other years attending.
The programme:
2.00 - 3.00pm in the Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium
The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History
The story of the ancient world’s most spectacular library, and the civilization that created it
In this talk, based upon her recent book The Library of Ancient Wisdom, Selena Wisnom reveals a civilization at once strange and strangely familiar. From the fragments of 30,000 or so clay tablets excavated from the great library of Ashurbanipal, Dr Wisnom is able to provide us with a vivid portrait of Mesopotamian life. She introduces us to a land of capricious gods, exorcisms and professional lamenters, whose citizens wrote of jealous rivalries, profound friendships and petty grievances. Through these pages we come face to face with humanity’s first civilization: their startling achievements, their daily life, and their struggle to understand our place in the universe.
Dr Wisnom is a former Bye Fellow of Selwyn College, and currently a Lecturer in the Heritage of the Middle East at the University of Leicester. A specialist in the interpretation of Mesopotamian cultural sources, Selena has also written three plays set in ancient Assyria; the most recent, Ashurbanipal: The Last Great King of Assyria was staged at London's Crypt Gallery in 2019.
3.00 - 4.30pm
Drop in for an opportunity to look around the Bartlam Library and Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium; climb the tower; and see how the Old Library has been converted into supervision rooms, a medic/vet resources room and a home for the college archives.
3.30 - 4.30pm
Refreshments served in the Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium.
4.30 - 5.00pm
Informal presentation and Q&A with the Master and Development Director, and an opportunity to hear about the latest news and developments from the college.
Evening Programme
6.00 - 7.00pm
Commemoration of Benefactors Service in Chapel.
6.45pm
Drinks reception in Old Court (weather permitting; QWA if wet) followed by dinner in Hall at 7.30pm.
The dress code for dinner is black tie/evening wear.
The bar will be open from noon until midnight.
Costs:
Dinner: £45 per head for 3 courses, including cheese, coffee, wine and port.
Accommodation: £60 B&B for a single ensuite room, or £100 for two single ensuite rooms (unfortunately, there are no double rooms).
Recent reunions at Selwyn have been very popular and we hope that many of you from 2015 will be able to join us.
If you need any additional information, please contact Mel Cousins on mp609@cam.ac.uk.
Sunday, 28 September
On the Sunday morning, there will be a simple service of Said Communion in Chapel for anyone who would like to attend, at 8.00am followed by breakfast in Hall. Names and intercessions are invited from any alumni who would like particular individuals or concerns prayed for at this service. Do email the Dean of Chapel, Arabella, at chaplain@sel.cam.ac.uk.
We look forward to seeing you in September.
Reservations can be made below:
