News Articles

The College is deeply sad to report the death of Ruth Chadwick. Ruth’s service to the College over the years in partnership
with her husband Owen was immense; and they were a welcoming presence for generations of Selwyn students during Professor
Chadwick’s long Mastership. It was heartwarming that, even with her illness in recent years, she was able to come to the most
recent Carol Service in the College Chapel. Funeral arrangements will be made known in due course; and we send our most
sincere condolences to Owen and his family.

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Selwyn supplied its choir and a number of musicians for a Cambridge University Musical Society concert in King's College Chapel on Saturday January 17th. They were joined by the choirs of Caius, Clare and Jesus Colleges; and the CUMS orchestra was supplemented by members of the University Chamber Orchestra. They performed Dvo?ák's Symphony number 8, and then the demanding "Ein Deutsches Requiem" by Brahms under the direction of Howard Shelley. The event was sold out, and the student musicians received a prolonged ovation from the audience.

Our pictures are of rehearsals for the event, showing some of the Selwyn students alongside their University colleagues. They were taken by our development officer Andrew Flather. Traditionalists should be assured that for the concert itself the chorus wore black tie!

On Saturday 20th June, the grounds of Selwyn will be transformed as the May Ball Committee welcomes students, alumni, staff and guests to celebrate the end of May Week in style. This marks the restoration of a May Ball to the College calendar after a number of years’ absence.

Ticket applications will open for Selwyn members and alumni from 9am on Sunday 18th January at www.selwynball.com. Those that are eligible for the Selwyn priority sale may also purchase tickets for their guests but are recommended to apply early as demand is expected to be high.

Ball-goers can look forward to an eclectic mix of live entertainment across a number of stages within the College, and a fabulous variety of food and drink throughout the night.

In addition to Non-dining tickets, two upgraded ticket types are available, VIP and Dining. Holders of upgraded tickets will be invited to attend a Champagne reception in the Master's Garden prior to the start of the Ball, whilst Dining ticket holders will also enjoy a four course formal dinner.

The Master of Selwyn, Roger Mosey, appeared on Radio 4’s Today programme in an item about the
proposed television
debates during the 2015 General Election campaign. In a live discussion with Lord Grade, he said
that he hoped all the party
leaders would take part, but that a single party leader’s refusal to do so should not be allowed
to scupper the whole idea.
You can hear an extract from the broadcast on the BBC website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02gr53k

There is a news report about it here:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jan/12/debates-go-ahead-without-cameron-roger-mosey-ex-bbc-executive

And there is also an article written by Roger Mosey for The Guardian on January 14th:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/14/tv-debates-broadcasters-david-cameron-empty-chair-treatment

The former Labour education and home secretary, David Blunkett MP, visited the College on Thursday January 8th. He spoke to students in the Master’s Lodge about his career and current issues, and then had dinner in Hall with some of the Fellows.

This is the latest in a series of visits by high-profile guests from the worlds of politics and the media. Shortly before Christmas, there were similar student events featuring James Naughtie, presenter of the Radio 4 Today programme; and Lord Deben, a Selwyn alumnus, better known as the former environment secretary John Gummer.

The Selwyn choir returns to Cambridge to face two demanding events. The first is a recording session of Christmas music. It will take place in the College Chapel and aims to capture the success of the choir's pre-Christmas engagements in Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds and London. The recording will be on sale towards the end of 2015.

Then on Saturday January 17th, Selwyn will be joining forces with the choirs of Clare, Caius and Jesus Colleges for a performance of Brahms' German Requiem in the King's College Chapel. This is a Cambridge University Musical Society concert, and details about the event - and how to obtain tickets - can be found at http://www.cums.org.uk/whats-on/concerts/

The photo below shows the choir at Bury St Edmunds in December.

Selwyn are out of this year’s University Challenge after losing 235 points
to 100 against St Peter’s College, Oxford. It was a second round match, and Selwyn
were unable to capture the form that saw them knock out previous champions Manchester in
round one. There are now just two Cambridge Colleges left in the competition: Trinity and
Caius. Below is a picture of the Selwyn team on a happier occasion in the College gardens,
and we congratulate them on putting up a good fight on behalf of the College.

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This year’s Selwyn College Christmas card has an image created by one of our undergraduates, Nicky Collins. He is studying natural sciences, and is also a keen photographer. He explains the picture, which he titled “A Song of Fire and Ice”, chosen for the card:

“This composite image of Selwyn Chapel was taken on an overcast, snowy and somewhat chilly morning in Old Court. To give the scene some colour and flare I decided to produce a composite image replacing the sky with a high dynamic range shot of a sunset. I think the combination of deep oranges and yellows contrasted with the crisp white of the snow makes this a striking and interesting image of Selwyn.”

You can see more of Nicky’s work at https://www.youtube.com/user/nickycollinsfilm

The Selwyn College Choir completed five Carol Services in less than a week during its busiest period in December: two in Cambridge, two in London and one in Bury St Edmunds.

Our first photograph shows the service in the College Chapel, after the lights had been dimmed and the candles lit for the final Carol “Hark The Herald Angels Sing”.

Below is the congregation at the service for alumni in St Botolph-without-Aldgate in London on Tuesday December 9th. More than 200 people attended. The following night the Choir performed at the NSPCC’s Carols by Candlelight in Spitalfields, with the celebrities in attendance including actors James Norton and Christopher Eccleston.

To hear the Choir singing one of Music Director Sarah MacDonald’s arrangements of a traditional Carol, just click here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qizaB6Og5I

Selwyn College is pleased to announce that it will be offering six Graduate studentships with effect from the next academic year. They will be:

2 Selwyn/AHRC PhD studentships (fees and maintenance for three years)

1 Selwyn/EPSRC PhD studentship (fees and maintenance for four years)

1 Selwyn/NERC PhD studentship (fees and maintenance for 3.5 years with possible extension to 4 years)

2 Selwyn/Newton Trust MPhil scholarships (@£12k)

This is a new initiative which reflects the College’s wish to continue to attract the best graduate students, and to strengthen what it offers to the graduate community. To be considered for one of these graduate studentships, candidates need to make it their first choice College on their GRADSAF. Useful information can be found on these links:

http://www.ahrcdtp.csah.cam.ac.uk/

http://www.epsrc-cdt.group.cam.ac.uk/

http://essdtp.esc.cam.ac.uk/

http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/5070/

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/studentregistry/fees/funding/ahrc/index.html

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/studentregistry/fees/funding/chess/mphil.html

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/studentregistry/fees/funding/chess/

Details on how to contact our graduate office are also on this website:

/prospective-students/graduate-admissions/contact-us/

Students in the Selwyn College Gardens