The college is fully involved in preparations within the university for any spread of the coronavirus, and regular meetings are taking place at Selwyn to ensure that the community stays as healthy as possible. College officers are liaising with colleagues across Cambridge, and they in turn are taking the latest advice from Public Health England and other key institutions.

For the latest information, please check regularly on this government website:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

Below is a joint message from Dr Martin Vinnell, the University’s director for occupational health and safety, and Dr Dan Tucker, senior tutor at Pembroke and chair of the university’s advisory group on communicable diseases, which has been sent to staff across Cambridge. They write: 

First of all, there is no reason to feel alarmed at current developments, or indeed at the prospect of cases being confirmed at the University or in the city of Cambridge.

The collegiate University has tried and tested systems in place to deal with the outbreak of communicable diseases, and much work is going on behind the scenes to make sure that we are prepared for any escalation while ensuring that our actions are proportionate and in line with government advice.

We are currently:

• Speaking regularly with Public Health England (PHE)
• Ensuring that we have appropriate expertise on our Incident Management Team, which would assist PHE if we had a positive case at Cambridge
• Providing guidance to Colleges on how they should manage any self-isolation cases in the student population
• Answering queries from institutions.

Staff should visit the University’s coronavirus webpage regularly: https://www.cam.ac.uk/notices/news/coronavirus-latest-guidance. This provides access to the latest government advice on health and travel, as well as a number of HR-related FAQs. Please note that it is the government’s responsibility, not the University’s, to provide public health advice, and all members of staff should take responsibility for keeping up-to-date with the latest information. If the current situation escalates further, and it becomes necessary to provide operationally-focused advice, this will be posted on the ‘Information for staff, students and departments’ section of the coronavirus webpage.

The best way to protect yourself and others from the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses is to wash your hands regularly and catch coughs and sneezes in tissues, which should be binned straight away.

It is possible that colleagues who have visited one of the countries on the government’s watch-list may fall ill, or cannot attend work because they need to self-isolate. The fact that, as of 1 March, there have been 11,750 tests for COVID-19 and only 35 positive cases, is clear evidence that they are far more likely to have another illness or condition. It is important, therefore, to be non-judgmental and calm in these circumstances, and continue as normal.

We are aware that many people are concerned about travelling or making travel plans. Staff are advised to check the Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel guidance regularly, make a judgement as to whether they feel comfortable travelling, and ensure that they have appropriate travel insurance in place.

There is also no reason at the moment to consider cancelling, or not attending, public events or lectures, although it is important to be mindful that the current situation may change rapidly.

Thank you for your cooperation. 

Dr Martin Vinnell, Director of Occupational Health and Safety
Dr Dan Tucker, Chair of the Advisory Group on Communicable Diseases and Senior Tutor, Pembroke College

The foundation stone has been laid for our new library and auditorium. The principal donor for Ann’s Court, Chris Dobson, was accompanied during a short ceremony on February 3^rd by his daughter Abbie – and college fellows and staff attended too. Ann’s Court is named after Dr Dobson’s late wife; and the current building project marks the third phase of its development. It is scheduled for completion by the end of this year.

You can keep an eye on progress on the site via our webcam.
http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/includes/phase3/current.jpg

The college is pleased to announce that it has created an enhanced role for a college nurse. The revised post comes with added responsibilities for the wellbeing of our whole community – and the nurse will have expanded hours and a commitment to being here throughout the year.



The new nurse, who began work on January 27^th, is Carolyn Taylor. She will be available both in term times and vacations, and she is going to evaluate the optimal hours when she will be in college in the light of experience in her first few weeks. This will result in a significantly better service for students, particularly the graduate community. As well as being able to help with student and staff illnesses and wider health concerns, we will encourage the nurse to recommend steps for Selwyn to be a place where we seek the best possible physical and mental wellbeing for everyone who lives and works here.

This role has been made possible by a very generous donation from Peter and Christina Dawson, who will soon be installed as Fellow Benefactors of the college. They have previously endowed a fund that allows us to offer extra and tailored support for students with serious mental health issues, and there has been considerable benefit from this already.

 

The college is delighted to announce that the distinguished writer and broadcaster Trevor Phillips OBE will give this year’s Ramsay Murray lecture. Mr Phillips is a former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and an award-winning television producer and presenter. You can read more about him here: https://www.green-park.co.uk/people/trevor-phillips-obe/



The Ramsay Murray lecture is an annual prestigious event at Selwyn, and previous speakers have included Professor Amanda Vickery, Sir Michael Howard, Sir Keith Thomas, Professor Ian Clark, Ms Bridget Kendall, Professor Lawrence Freedman, Baroness Onora O’Neill, Professor Niall Ferguson and Professor David Cannadine.

Mr Phillips will deliver this year’s lecture on Friday 15th May at 5.30pm BST via the online platform Zoom. The talk, entitled "The New Normal : Diversity, Difference and Discord", will last for approximately 30 minutes, followed by a 15 minute Q&A session.

To register, please click here.

Our alumnus Hugh Laurie, who studied here from 1978 to 1981, was installed as an honorary fellow of Selwyn in a ceremony on December 13th in chapel. The honour recognises his extraordinary achievements as an actor, writer and musician.



During his time at the college, Hugh rowed in the university boat race against Oxford; and he began his writing and comedy partnership with Stephen Fry, who was a contemporary at Queens’ College. Since then he has become one of the most famous faces in film and television worldwide, with two major new roles revealed early in 2020: as the captain of a space ship in Avenue 5, and as Mr Dick in The Personal History of David Copperfield.

Hugh said after the installation: "There are very few things as solidly fixed in my life as Selwyn - emotionally, artistically, architecturally and academically. It"s remarkable to return, and I am truly honoured to be an honorary fellow."

He is seen with the vice-master Dr Janet O"Sullivan, who presented him for the installation; and afterwards being congratulated by fellows, including Hugh"s family member Haruko Laurie.

We’re proud to present our Christmas video for 2019, which features the choir singing ‘O come, all ye faithful’ in the college chapel. This year also included are sequences filmed around Selwyn as we celebrated the season. So you will see some of the college’s festive decorations, and then students going to formal hall for what was the first of three special Christmas dinners. We hope it gives a good sense of this special time of year; and, if you like it, please share the video as widely as you want. It’s also available on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/Selwyn.College.Cambridge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3CBTVOXNb0

Yorkshire has been the focus of much of our recent outreach work – with primary school pupils travelling to the college to see what Cambridge is like, and college staff visiting Leeds for activities in the HE+ programme.

In the last week of November, we hosted fifty-two Year 4 students from Leeds, who took part in an “Information Scavenger Hunt” which required discovering a range of information including the names of the Master’s dogs! This is part of a programme aimed at building interest early in attending university and showing that Cambridge is a welcoming place for people whatever their background.



For older children, there was the launch of Selwyn’s new HE+ programme in Leeds involving Year 12 students from seven schools: Allerton High School, Elliott Hudson College, Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College, Ossett High School, Pontefract New College, St Mary’s Menston and Woodhouse Grove.

The event took place at Notre Dame and the sessions included a talk by schools liaison officer Chloe Cupid (centre in photo) on ‘what is a lecture?’, then a lecture by Dr Kirsty McDougall (left) on forensic phonetics. Also in the photo are teachers Kitty Graham (Notre Dame) and Clare Lucas (Elliott Hudson) with Becky Taylor (Cambridge Admissions Office).



This picture shows participants from Elliott Hudson College with Chloe and Kirsty.

A number of new pictures have been put on display in the college Hall. They’re part of a series taken by the photographer Jeff Overs, which began with portraits to mark 40 years of co-education in the college. Now the portfolio has been expanded to include students, staff and Fellows from 2019, with the aim of showing the breadth and diversity of the Selwyn community.

Our homepage photograph shows three Chemistry students, including: Zosia Staniaszek, Jack Entwistle. It’s now to be found on the south side of Hall, alongside High Table.



Also featured are three undergraduates studying Modern & Medieval Languages: Alannah Young, Mary-Hannah Oteju, and Cathy Wardle. Their photograph hangs on the north side of Hall, near the main entrance.

The college will be marking Remembrance – and honouring the dead of recent conflicts – on November 10^th and 11^th.

The main event on Sunday will be a service in chapel at 6pm. The introduction in the printed programme says:

“We gather as a community of all faiths and none to reflect on the human cost of conflict and to honour the fallen. This is an opportunity to remember those who died fighting in the First and Second World Wars, and all those who have suffered because of those wars. It is also an opportunity to remember those who have died in war or as a result of conflicts before and since. As well as a service of remembrance, it is a time to reflect on the ways in which war and violence continue to tear apart lives, communities, and countries. It is also a service of hope; hope that a future without violence, hatred, fear, and misunderstanding can be possible. The service will consist of anthems sung by the choir, accompanied by a series of readings. In addition, the names of those listed on the college’s war memorials will be read out, and we will hear a brief reflection on what it is to remember.”

To reflect the faiths within Selwyn, there will be readings of Jewish and Muslim texts – in Hebrew and Arabic respectively – as well as from Christianity.

The traditional two minutes of silence is being observed in chapel at 11am on Sunday morning and again on Monday morning at 11am – representing the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month, when the First World War ended.

 

Selwyn continues to attract new Fellows to the college to ensure that its teaching and its ambitions remain as strong as possible.



Eight men and women were welcomed to the Fellowship for the 2019-20 academic year. They are, from left to right:

Dr Emily Hancox (Law), Professor Leonardo Felli (Economics), Dr Lotte Reinbold (English), Dr Mathias Nowak (Astrophysics), Dr Jörg Haustein (Divinity), Dr Ronita Bardhan (Architecture), Mr Martin Pierce (Bursar-elect) and Dr Tom Smith (History).

They add to the international diversity of Selwyn. Professor Felli is Italian; Dr Nowak is French; Dr Haustein comes from Germany; and Dr Bardhan is from India. We will be joined in January by an American historian: Dr Robert Lee.

The full list of senior members of our Governing Body can be found here: http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/life-selwyn/the-fellowship/