Selwyn Chapel was the centrepiece of our Family Day on July 2^nd when we were celebrating 40 years since the admission of women to the College. But the talking point was a cake, not the building. An edible model of Chapel was created by Carolyn Collins, mother of two Selwyn students; and the photograph below shows what an accurate rendition it was of the building.

Mrs Collins worked from photographs to achieve her astonishing level of detail. The finishing touches include an icing version of the college dog, YoYo, in one of her favourite positions on the Old Court lawn. The consensus among the guests on Saturday was that the cake was as delicious to eat as it was wonderful to look at – and we’re very grateful to Carolyn for her contribution to the success of the day.

Degrees were conferred on Selwyn students at a ceremony on Friday June 24^th. As is traditional, the students lined up in Old Court - watched by families and friends - ready for the walk to the Senate House.

Selwyn’s contingent managed to avoid the worst of the downpours that have hit Cambridge this week, though there was a light shower when the procession set off – and umbrellas were to hand.

See many more photos online in our Flickr album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/selalum/albums

The Master, Roger Mosey, sent this message to Selwyn students and staff on the morning of Friday June 24th.

“The vote by the UK to leave the European Union means we are now in a time of uncertainty. But I want to say something that is certain about Selwyn. We are a community that welcomes people from Britain, from the continent of Europe and from across the world. That will not change. We are multinational and diverse, and proud of it. We will never compromise on that.”

There are more updates on Brexit developments on the main Cambridge University website:
href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">https://www.cam.ac.uk/.

The College was delighted to hear about old members who featured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

• Tim Stevens, former Bishop of Leicester, is awarded a CBE


• Dennis Gethin received an OBE for services to Welsh Rugby


• An OBE was also awarded to JP Burgon, chairman of the Outdoor Recreation Network


• There's an MBE for Jon Reynolds, founder of SwiftKey

We’re also pleased to report that our former Master, Sir David Harrison, is to
receive an Honorary Fellowship from Homerton College. Sir David was chairman of Homerton’s
Board of Trustees for the 30 years running up to the grant of the college’s Royal Charter.

Our congratulations to them all.

The Selwyn first men’s crew had a triumphant week in the Cambridge May Bumps, which took place from June 8^th to 11^th. They went up six places in the first division, starting with an over-bump --- overtaking two boats that had bumped and catching another one --- on the opening day. There was then a bump on each of the next three days, meaning that the crew have earned their blades. Huge congratulations to them all! Selwyn’s crew included our University Blue and Boat Race winner Felix Newman, and he is pictured below (4^th from left) with his colleagues.

The line-up was:

Cox: Will McDermott

Stroke: Felix Newman

7: Charlie Nye

6: Charlie Cullen

5: Robert Galbenu (C)

4: Marcos Gallego

3: Harry Prudden

2: Sam Pettinger-Harte

Bow: Nigel Coburn  

It was a much tougher week for our other men and women’s crews, three of whom suffered 4 bumps. But to read more about M1’s week, and all other boat club matters, click here https://www.facebook.com/SelwynCollegeBC or here https://selwynrowing.wordpress.com.

A number of the blade-winners from M1 were among alumni and friends who attended an open day at our new Boathouse on Sunday June 12^th. The photo shows Marcos Gallego and Nigel Coburn (centre).

More than 100 people came to the EU referendum debate held in Selwyn’s Chapel on Friday May 27^th. It was a passionate contest between the ‘Remain’ and ‘Leave’ sides, but conducted in a friendly spirit and with none of the personal attacks that have been part of the national campaign. Speaking on the pro-EU side of the argument were Sir Stephen Wall, a Selwyn alumnus who was the UK’s representative at the EU; Belinda Brooks-Gordon, representing Cambridge In Europe; and graduate student Genevieve Simpson. Opposing them were Simon Heffer, the journalist and historian; David Campbell-Bannerman MEP; and former MCR president Josh Maher. Speakers from the floor included undergraduates James Martin and Theo Demolder, along with a number of alumni and Friends of the college. Listen here to the whole 90 minutes of debate:

The result was a victory for ‘Remain’, who received 77 votes – against 19 for ‘Leave’. 14 people abstained. The photo below shows Simon Heffer and Stephen Wall outside Chapel after the debate, along with the broadcaster James Naughtie (centre) who did an excellent job as chairman.

You can now watch online the brilliant lecture given by Professor Theda Skocpol about the impact of Barack Obama’s presidency. She also discussed the emergence of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as the presumptive nominees for this year’s election. It was the latest in Selwyn’s annual series of Ramsay Murray lectures, and a packed audience was there for the event in early May. Professor Skocpol is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University, and is one of America’s most distinguished political scientist. We were delighted to welcome her to the original Cambridge, and we hope you enjoy her lecture as much as those attending on the night.

Selwyn will be staging a debate on Britain’s membership of the European Union on Friday May 27^th. It will take place in Chapel, and will feature leading speakers from the ‘Remain’ and ‘Leave’ campaigns. The chairman will be the BBC broadcaster, James Naughtie. Introducing the case for ‘Remain’ will be alumnus Sir Stephen Wall, a former British permanent representative to the EU and an adviser on foreign and European affairs to John Major and Tony Blair; and his opposite number for ‘Leave’ will be Simon Heffer, the journalist and historian who is one of the featured commentators in ‘Brexit: The Movie’. Also speaking for ‘Remain’ will be Belinda Brooks-Gordon, a Liberal Democrat county councillor; and Selwyn graduate student Gen Simpson. For ‘Leave’ we will be joined by David Campbell-Bannerman, Conservative MEP for this region; and former Selwyn graduates’ president Josh Maher.

The event is open to Selwyn students, staff, Fellows, alumni and members of our Friends programme. It starts at 6 for 6.30pm, and will finish by 8pm. Alumni and Friends can book a place online here http://www.selwynalumni.com/eventscalendar; and others should RSVP to the Master’s assistant. There will be a vote on the night to gauge opinion within the College. To register to take part in the referendum itself, click this link: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

We’re deeply saddened to hear of the death of Sarah Corp, who studied at Selwyn from 1994-97. She went on to become one of the best television news producers of her
generation. We offer our condolences to Sarah’s husband Charles and to her family and friends.

The Vice-Master, Michael Tilby, who was Sarah’s Tutor at Selwyn, said: ’Sarah made her mark at Selwyn as both a fine student of history and a devoted member of the
Chapel Choir. The College takes great pride in her distinguished career and feels immense sadness that it should have been brought to such a premature end.’

The funeral will be held at All Saints’ Blackheath on Friday 27 May at 11am, and all are welcome to attend.

This is the tribute video to Sarah, broadcast by Channel 4 News:

The College has admitted its first three Fellow Benefactors. This is a new category of recognition for our major supporters: people who have been exceptionally generous in their donations to Selwyn. Their benefactions go towards strengthening our teaching and to supporting new generations of students, through bursaries, scholarships and outreach. We’re enormously grateful to them for helping Selwyn look to the future with great confidence.

An admission ceremony took place in the Master’s Lodge on Tuesday May 10^th, followed by dinner in Hall. Pictured together in the College garden are our inaugural Fellow Benefactors. They are from left to right: Katya Speciale, Jim Dickinson and Robert Martin.