Congratulations to Dr Janet O’Sullivan and Peter Fox on the 20th anniversary of their becoming Fellows of Selwyn College. Dr O’Sullivan is Director of Studies for Law and was recently appointed Dean, while Mr Fox is a former University Librarian and currently a member of the College Council.
Selwyn musicians took part in a light-hearted rendition of music from “Lord of the Rings” in their first Sunday night event of the new academic year. The College Music Society has decided that its Sunday concerts will be free of charge with immediate effect so that the music can be enjoyed by the widest possible audience.
This term’s programme includes:
October 19th: Organ recital in Selwyn Chapel by Senior Organ Scholar, John Bachelor
October 26th: Freshers’ recital (Hall)
November 2nd: Wilfred Owen Poetry Reading with Music (Chapel)
November 16th: Baroque Recital (Chapel)
November 23rd: Instrumental Award Scheme Recital (Hall)
November 30th: Christmas Orchestral Concert (Hall)
The concerts begin at 8.30pm and all are welcome.
Eight new Fellows were installed on Tuesday October 7th. The ceremony sees each of the new Fellows making a declaration of their responsibility to the College and then being led to their stall in Chapel. Pictured are 7 of the 8. They are from left to right, with their main area of interest: Mike Nicholson (Development Director); Dr Emily Charnock (History); Dr Bryan Cameron (Spanish); Dr Lauren Wilcox (Gender Studies); Dr Alan Howard (Music); Dr Anita Briginshaw (Scientific Computing); Dr Marta Halina (Philosophy of Psychology and Cognitive Science) with the Master, Roger Mosey. Also admitted was Dr Filipe da Silva (Sociology). We warmly welcome them all to Selwyn.
Selwyn’s new students were formally introduced to the College and University on Monday October 6th. Undergraduates began their day with a welcome in Hall from the Master, Roger Mosey (photograph below) and from the Senior Tutor, James Keeler.
They were then led through the Matriculation process that confirms them as members of the College and of Cambridge University by Selwyn’s praelector David Chivers. Afterwards, they joined our new graduate students – who matriculated last Friday – for the traditional photograph in Old Court. There was some anxiety about the weather, with heavy rain forecast.
Fortunately, the worst of the rain held off; and the pictures were taken on schedule. You may notice the wet flags, but our students showed they can keep smiling even in the autumnal damp of Cambridge.
Now their work begins. This week will be a flurry of meetings with Directors of Studies and Tutors, and the start of lectures – though with some time, of course, to get to know each other and to enjoy the Freshers’ events across the city. There’s useful information for new students on the University website, which includes a guide to what happens in their early weeks here: http://www.cam.ac.uk/current-students/new-students/first-few-weeks
It was the turn of students who joined Selwyn in 2004 to come back to the College last weekend for their ten-year reunion. There was an excellent turnout, with more than 50 from that year-group attending – and finding time to visit the College bar before and afterwards.
It was also Alumni Weekend in Selwyn and across the University. Lectures and talks were available across the city, and our events included German Fellow Dr Charlotte Woodford talking about her new book on feminist literature in Germany before the First World War.
Members of the Selwyn Association joined with the 2004 guests for dinner in Hall. Speakers included the Association President, Prof David Newland, and Alice Howell, marking the 10-year reunion. Our video, posted on Facebook, captures the event with some time-lapse photography. “Like” the College Facebook page to get regular updates from Selwyn.
Congratulations to the College’s Hugh Shilson-Thomas (on the right in the picture below) who today officially became one of the two University Proctors. Hugh is Selwyn’s Dean of Chapel and Chaplain.
The Proctors are nominated by their Colleges, and they act as formal representatives of the University’s governing body, the Regent House. They oversee degree ceremonies, ensure that examinations are properly conducted, oversee discipline and public order and defend freedom of speech within the University. Our photograph shows Hugh with senior Proctor David Woodman, from Robinson College, leading the University’s Proctors and Constables through Selwyn after the ceremony marking the start of the academic year.
Selwyn has welcomed back alumni who first came to the College in 1984 and 1994. The 30- and 20-year Reunion was marked by a dinner in Hall on Saturday, with short speeches by Alastair Rimmer (on behalf of those who matriculated in 1984) and Liz Ross Martyn (1994). Our pictures show guests in Hall and in the New SCR.
Graduates are invited to keep in touch with us by social media: our Twitter account is @selwyn1882, and there is a LinkedIn group for members: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=1080167&trk=anet_ug_hm. We're also looking forward to seeing students from 2004 as part of next weekend's Alumni events.
The College has appointed a new Director of Studies for Music, and Fellow-elect, following the retirement of Andrew Jones. He’s Dr Alan Howard, a former Selwyn student and College Choir member, and most recently a lecturer at the University of East Anglia. Alan is a musicologist with a primary research interest in the music of Henry Purcell and his contemporaries in Restoration England. The Master of Selwyn, Roger Mosey, said the appointment reflected the importance of music in College life: “We’re very proud of our choir, led by Sarah MacDonald, and our music-making traditions; but we also want to maintain our reputation for scholarship and academic excellence in Music. Andrew Jones has done a wonderful job for us in those areas, and we’re delighted that Alan will be joining us this October to teach new generations of students.”
After two years of extensive refurbishment and expansion work, the College took possession of a renewed Cripps Court at the beginning of September. The finishing touches are now being put to the building and its gardens, and it will be fully operational for the new academic year beginning in October. The total cost of the project was £13m, and the College is grateful for the generous support it received from the Cripps Foundation.
The new building has 203 rooms, including 54 new rooms on the newly-created fourth storey, substantially all of which have en-suite facilities. The building will house all first year undergraduates, and two of the seven staircases will be reserved for postgraduates. The work also included major refurbishment of the MCR and the Diamond Room, as well as a new College gym.
Our photos show the Diamond as it was:
And as it now is:
The room is used for conferences and meetings, but has also been well used by generations of students for a wide range of social activity. It has improved external signage too:
Selwyn has some of the best accommodation in Cambridge now that the refurbished Cripps Court joins Ann’s Court and the historic Old Court. All undergraduates and most graduates are able to live in the College. You can read more about our accommodation at http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/study-selwyn/college-accommodation/
The Selwyn choir has a growing reputation for its musical excellence; and this autumn it will be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War with a number of special events. A highlight will be bringing together the poetry of Wilfred Owen with music in the College Chapel on Sunday November 2nd, in a performance supported by the Wilfred Owen Association. It starts at 8.30pm, and admission is free.
There will be a Great War display in Chapel for the following week, ahead of the singing of the Duruflé Requiem on Remembrance Sunday at 6pm. This is the occasion when all the names from the war memorials are read out, in what will this year be a particularly poignant moment.
Other choir events in early November include:
All Saints' Day: Saturday November 1st at 3.30pm, Choral Evensong in Norwich Cathedral (free)
Armistice Day: Tuesday November 11th at 6.30pm, Choral Evensong in chapel
You can read more about the Selwyn Choir at http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/selwyn-college/chapel-choir/choir-organ/choir/
