Alumni Day & Commemoration of Benefactors
Saturday, 27 September 2025
We are delighted to invite you back to Selwyn for our annual Alumni Day; a chance to reconnect with the college and Cambridge. The candle-lit, black-tie dinner in the evening is open to all alumni, friends and guests. If your year group hasn’t had a reunion for a few years, why not get together with a group for this occasion?
The day’s programme includes a talk, the opportunity to visit Selwyn’s newest buildings, and the Commemoration of Benefactors service in Chapel. The Hall will be open for lunch and the café/bar, open from noon until midnight.
The university’s Alumni Festival will also be taking place over the weekend. There is a full programme of talks, tours and special events, mostly free of charge, that you are welcome to attend. The full programme is available here.
Accommodation is available in college both on 26 and 27 September.
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.
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 Alumni Days at Selwyn have been very popular and we hope that many of you from across the years 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:
