Selwyn students received their degrees at the Senate House on Friday, June 28th as part of the University’s General Admission. They assembled in Old Court, watched by families and friends, for the traditional ‘team photo’ of the graduands taken outside Chapel. Then they set off to the centre of the city for the official ceremony, led by head porter Helen Stephens along with the Master and Praelector.

We offer our heartiest congratulations to all our new graduates.

Work is intensifying on the site of Selwyn’s new library and auditorium. A piling rig has been installed, and a crane will soon follow. The photo, taken from the roof of Cripps Court, shows where construction is underway on the corner of Grange Road and West Road.



The building will complete Ann’s Court, and it’s hoped it will be finished by the end of 2020. In the initial phase a concrete box will be formed in the ground. Then, towards the end of this year, the ground floor slab will be cast; and we anticipate the erection of the steel frame and floors before the Christmas break. You can follow what’s happening via our webcam: http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/includes/phase3/current.jpg



There’s more information about the project here https://www.selwynalumni.com/main-website-pages/library-and-auditorium including details on how to buy a brick or paving stone or chair to help us reach our financial target of £12.6m.

The bursar of Selwyn, Nick Downer, is to retire at the end of this year.

Mr Downer has held the role since 2002, with responsibility for domestic staff and finances, and during that time the college has significantly expanded its buildings and also strengthened its endowment. The Master of Selwyn, Roger Mosey, said: “Nick has been a conspicuously successful bursar, who has operated with admirable efficiency and he has helped to transform the college in the time that he has been here. He has also managed to be a loyal friend to many of us, and we will greatly miss him when he leaves his post in December.”

The college is launching a recruitment process for a replacement for Mr Downer, and details can be found here

Preparation work has begun on the site of the new library & auditorium which will be built during 2019-21. At the corner of Grange Road and West Road, it will provide an auditorium on the ground floor – with flexible space including tiered seating – and then a state-of-the-art library on the first and second floors. The total cost is expected to be £12.6m, and more than £11m of that has been raised already. The main contractor will be the Barnes company.



There’s more information here: https://www.selwynalumni.com/main-website-pages/library-and-auditorium. We’re grateful to the alumni and friends who have made contributions to enable this important project to start, and we’ll be providing frequent updates during the construction.

Selwyn has had notable success on the badminton courts and on the river this March.

Our women’s badminton team won Cuppers: the competition between all the Cambridge colleges. They beat Murray Edwards 3-0 in the final. The college has a strong reputation in the sport: this is the third year in a row that we"ve made the final, but the first victory.

The winning team is pictured - left to right Diya Rajan, Amy Chen, Emma Collins, Maria Chukanova, Aeisha Johnson and Nique Clare Oh.



 

It was also a strong week for Selwyn’s boat club in the Lent Bumps. Our first men’s crew won their blades after four successful bumps in four races; and our first women’s crew bumped up three times to record their best performance for some years. M1 have moved up from 8^th to 4^th in the 2^nd division, and the M2 boat improved by one place. Our photos show M1 after their triumph, and a garlanded W1 on the Cam.

We"re delighted to announce that this year"s Selwyn Ramsay Murray lecture will be given by Professor David Reynolds, speaking on "History: academic, personal and public".


Professor Reynolds will explore some of the achievements of academic history today and also reflect on what can get lost if history becomes too "academic".

David Reynolds is Professor of International History and a Fellow of Christ"s College. He"s the author of eleven books, and over the last few years he has published The Long Shadow (2013) - on the legacies of the Great War for the 20th century - and Transcending the Cold War (2016), a major international study of summitry in the 1970s and 1980s.

He has also written and presented thirteen historical documentaries for BBC TV, ranging across the international history of the 20th century.

The lecture will take place at 5.30pm on Friday May 10th, at The Arthur Goodhart Lecture Theatre, Faculty of Law, Sidgwick Site, Cambridge. No booking required.

If you require any further information, please contact: Christine McDonald, Selwyn College Alumni Office, 01223 335843 or email cmm95@cam.ac.uk.

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Lecture now available as audio, below:

Selwyn will be running three major summer schools this year for prospective students. We’ll be introducing year 12s to the opportunities of studying medicine at Cambridge; there’s a climate change curation project, also for year 12s; and for year 11s we’re offering a taster for arts and humanities, in which participants will get a chance to make a virtual journey through Italy.

Past summer schools have been much appreciated by the people who took part. Here are some of the testimonials:

“I am very grateful to have been given a place on this summer school. It has been an eye opening, educational and informative experience. I have gained new analysis skills as well as making new friends and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you!”

“I have had an amazing experience at Selwyn College, and I would love to stay longer or return! I am very grateful to the faculty and student ambassadors for this wonderful chance to experience university life.”

“After being at this summer school I have definitely gained more confidence for my application to university. It has also given me a realistic insight to life at university and course options. I have also been able to meet some incredible people who are inspiring and have helped me throughout the week.”

There’s more information available online http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/summer-events/ including the selection criteria and details of how to apply. Closing dates are late April/early May.

 

The Cambridge colleges and the university recognise that the approach of Britain’s departure from the European Union will prompt questions from students and staff. The university is therefore collating all the latest information on its website, and you can find useful links on this page: https://www.eu.admin.cam.ac.uk/

If any Selwyn member has particular concerns, please get in touch with your tutor or head of department in the usual way. Our priority, of course, is to ensure that things run smoothly whatever the political decisions that are made; and we will therefore share information and update it regularly to keep everyone informed.

The college has sent out emails and letters with offers to students for admission in autumn 2019. Congratulations to everyone who has secured a provisional place, and we wish you well with your studies in the coming months. We’re sorry that many excellent candidates didn’t receive an offer – but this year was once again highly competitive with a record number of applications.

More widely, the Cambridge admissions process is the subject of much discussion about whether it’s fair to all candidates, irrespective of their background. In particular, there has been controversy about interviews and how much they influence the selections we make. The Master of Selwyn, Roger Mosey, has written a piece for the New Statesman explaining how the process looks from the inside and how the decisions are made. He explains that interviews are only part of a much bigger process; and this college – and the university more widely – rely increasingly on data about prospective students. You can read the piece here:

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2019/01/here-s-how-cambridge-admissions-process-looks-inside

Selwyn has a new Dean: Dr Charlotte Summers, who takes up the role this January. Charlotte is one of our Fellows in medicine. She is also a university lecturer, and an honorary consultant in intensive care medicine for the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.


The post of Dean is established in our statutes: “The Dean shall, in conjunction with the Senior Tutor and tutors, be responsible to the governing body for maintaining good discipline and the observance of college regulations on the part of the students of the college.” It’s a key role in the smooth running of the college, and there’s more information about the Dean’s responsibilities in section 6 of our guide for students.

We wish Charlotte well in her new position.