Our alumnus John Sentamu, the former archbishop of York, has been given a peerage in the political honours list published just before Christmas. He will become a member of the House of Lords in the New Year, and will sit on the crossbenches as a non-party member.
Most of the scaffolding has been removed from Selwyn’s new building – giving a chance to see it properly for the first time. On the corner of Grange Road and West Road, the building will house the Bartlam library and the Quarry Whitehouse auditorium; and it is expected to be handed over to the college by the contractors Barnes Construction in the early spring of 2021.
Congratulations to Issy Roberts who has been elected president of the JCR, the body which represents our undergraduates, for the year 2021.
Issy is a second-year HSPS student, specialising in sociology. She is from south-west London and is currently the JCR’s Disabled Students and Mental Health Officer.
She will join the college council and become a member of the governing body in January.
The college is delighted to announce that it has elected Lord Deben, better known as John Selwyn Gummer, as an honorary fellow.
The topping out ceremony took place on November 4th for the Bartlam library and the Quarry Whitehouse auditorium. That means the builders have reached the top of the structure and it is close to completion. The project has cost £12.6m, and the new building is expected to open in the second half of 2021.
It’s a Selwyn tradition to invite our musical freshers to give a recital at the start of the academic year. We went ahead with an event in Hall on Sunday October 25th with social distancing measures in place – and, as you’ll see from the video, additional cleaning measures too.
Four new fellows were installed in a ceremony in the college chapel on Tuesday October 6th. The installation was led by the master, Roger Mosey, and it was attended by a smaller number of senior members than usual because of the health restrictions. But it had all the traditional features with the fellows making their declaration of loyalty to Selwyn; signing the fellows’ book; and then being guided to their stalls in the chapel.
The college has welcomed its new postgraduate and undergraduate students, and we wish them all a long and happy association with Selwyn.
Recent alumna Annabel Steadman has won a record-breaking deal for a series of children’s books. Reports say that a fierce bidding war led to a sum in seven figures for the novels, with film rights going for a similarly high valuation.
Selwyn’s high-profile events from this Spring, and earlier, are available to view online.
We began the recent series with the visit by the Swedish foreign minister Tobias Billström on April 16th. Mr Billström, a Selwyn alumnus, explained why Sweden had joined NATO. The video of the session can be viewed here:
Sweden’s foreign minister Tobias Billström gave a talk at Selwyn on April 16th about why his country has joined NATO. He warned that the world is going through a dangerous phase: not just the Russian attack on Ukraine, but also China’s intentions and the current crisis in the Middle East. These changing circumstances were why Sweden decided to relinquish the neutrality that it has held for more than two centuries.
An MA graduation ceremony was held in the university Senate House on Saturday April 6th. Selwyn’s graduands gathered in Old Court on a warm, windy Spring day and then made the journey into the centre of the city via West Bye Lane and King’s College.
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Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Selwyn three minute thesis competition. It’s an opportunity for undergraduate and postgraduate students to explain their academic work - against the clock.
