Selwyn had a hard-fought victory over Manchester University in the first edition of the new series of University Challenge, shown on BBC Two on Monday, July 14th.

The lead changed hands a number of times during a close contest, but Selwyn moved ahead in the final stages to make it into the 2nd round of the competition. The score was 190-160.

 

 

The team, pictured with quizmaster Jeremy Paxman, is from left to right: Afham Raoof, a first-year scientist; Hannah Warwicker, a second-year classicist; team captain Joshua Pugh Ginn, who’s in the second year of a PhD in Classics; and Charles Cooper, a second-year scientist. Their average age, as announced on the programme, is 20.

The University of Manchester are past champions with a tremendous reputation on University Challenge: winners in 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2013. Joshua Pugh Ginn described it ahead of the game as "a tough draw"; and Selwyn had lost by a big margin to Manchester in their last appearance on the programme.

University Challenge is usually the most-watched programme of the week on BBC Two, with around 3 million viewers per episode.

 

 

Selwyn’s Choir has received a 4-star review in The Times newspaper for its performance of Rachmaninov’s Vespers “All Night Vigil”. The concert was given as part of the City of London Festival at the Church of St Bartholomew the Great in East London.

 

Neil Fisher’s review (extract) said the choir director Sarah MacDonald had “led a beautifully sustained performance in which intonation remained secure — no mean feat — and the blend of voices was cool, elegant and textually responsive. Selwyn doesn’t have the gravelly Russian basses Rachmaninov probably imagined singing the low B-flats (don’t students smoke fancy French cigarettes any more?) but the particularly resonant solo alto brought a velvety gravitas to the proceedings. This is another classy choral outfit to add to the more established names on the Oxbridge roster.”

 

You can read the full review here (note The Times online is a subscription service): http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/music/classical/article4143987.ece

 

Selwyn had one of its busiest periods of the year for visitors, with Graduation on June 27^th (story below) followed by the Open Days beginning on July 3^rd and the College Garden Party on July 5^th.

 

Hundreds of people came through the College – in mostly glorious weather, though there was the need to dodge the occasional shower. Below, prospective students are being welcomed to the Open Days at the main entrance to the College. We had guests from schools across the UK, some accompanied by their parents.

 

They were shown round Selwyn by student volunteers. Pictured below are three of them: (left to right) Tom Andrew, Laura Makhoul and Fergus Oakley.

 

Last Friday the College had a service and dinner to commemorate its benefactors: usually just referred to as “Commem”. A service in Chapel included some members of the choir who have now graduated, and these leavers are pictured here:

 

This was followed by dinner in the College Hall, attended by many past members of Selwyn – some of whom studied here as far back as the 1940s and 1950s.

 

Our final surge of visitors was for the Selwyn Garden Party on Saturday. Tea and the live band were moved into Hall because of a pessimistic weather forecast, but a crowd congregated on the lawn of Old Court with no need for umbrellas: 

 

They included many children, who had entertainment laid on for them.

 

You can see pictures from the Garden Party, from the Open Days and from these and other recent events on our Flickr pages.

 

 

The latest school visit to Selwyn was by the Lower Sixth-form of Caterham School in Surrey. They’re pictured in the garden of the Master’s Lodge with Roger Mosey. The director of Learning and Teaching at Caterham is Kim Wells, a former Selwyn student himself.

Selwyn hosts numerous school parties from a wide range of institutions each year, giving potential students a chance to look around the College and meet its current members. Another recent visiting group was made up of over sixty students from schools across Leeds, hosted by our Schools Liaison Officer Ellen Slack and Admissions Tutor (Sciences) James Keeler. West Yorkshire is one of the areas where we’re developing special links between schools and the College. Key figures from Selwyn also travel round the UK visiting schools, and encouraging pupils to think about Cambridge when they’re applying for University.

Next week the University and the College will be hosting Open Days, and you can read more about what Selwyn is offering here: http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/open-days/. Our Friday session is fully booked and very few slots remain across Cambridge this year, but there’s a wealth of material on this site http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/ about applying for Selwyn. You can read too about our Access and Outreach programmes, including the email address for further information: http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/access-outreach/.

 

 

Selwyn has a new Development Director – the role which raises money for the College to secure its financial future. Mike Nicholson joins from Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, where he’s been in a similar job; and he will become a Fellow of Selwyn and begin his work in Cambridge on September 1^st. He is an alumnus of the University of Wales at Aberystwyth, where he read History and Classics.

The College is committed to access for all students irrespective of their financial background, and it also wants to build further on its academic strengths. Roger Mosey, Master of Selwyn, said: “To deliver all our ambitions, we need someone who cares about a College community and can also raise funds to make sure we offer the best possible support to this and future generations. The Fellows and I believe Mike is extremely well-qualified to do this, and we’re delighted he’s taking on the role.”

Mike Nicholson said:

“The opportunity to work with Fellows and alumni in helping to deliver the College’s aspirations is both a privilege and tremendously exciting.  Undoubtedly, these are challenging times for students at all levels so the role of the College in supporting individuals and allowing the most gifted to flourish has never been more important.   Selwyn’s alumni are generous and the College already has an impressive record in attracting their support as well as others who are inspired to help.    Building on the considerable achievements of my predecessors, I look forward to exploring new ways in which we might widen participation still further.  So, I’m keen to hear ideas about how Selwyn might play an important, enjoyable and life-long role in the lives of all its alumni and friends.”

 

The College congratulates Jeremy Sanders, one of its Fellows, on being awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. You can read more here:

 

http://www.ch.cam.ac.uk/news/jeremy-sanders-awarded-cbe

 

Selwyn's second women's crew had the College's best results in this year's May Bumps. These historic races, which take place in June despite their name, pit Cambridge Colleges against each other on the River Cam – with glory for the crew that manages to bump the boat in front of them. The W2 Selwyn boat managed three bumps in the four days of competition. The men had a more mixed time, but our first crew ended the week +1 and are at the top of the second division.

You can read a full round-up of the results here: http://bumps.camfm.co.uk/

Many of our rowers had never taken part in the sport before arriving in Cambridge, but Selwyn has had a reputation for rowing since its foundation. Indeed, The Spectator magazine in 1881 said that this “frugal” sport was likely to be particularly successful here at a time when the newly-established College would have more students from poorer backgrounds:

 

“A College where the men are all poor is likely to be a College where the love of corporate amusement will be highly developed. For example, if they cannot afford to hunt, they will throw the more energy into the College boat or the College eleven. At a rich College the passing fashion may make against these comparatively frugal pleasures ; and if the wealthy men—the men who give its social tone to the College —do not care to row or play cricket, the poorer men will seldom keep up the College reputation in these ways by their own unassisted energy. They are more likely to loaf about, unable to join in costly amusements, and having no others in which they can join. This is a case which is precisely met by a College of the type of Selwyn or Keble. There are enough Undergraduates there to make success on the river or in the cricket-ground possible, while their means are sufficiently restricted to make their recreation naturally take these forms. Altogether, therefore, a young man who goes to one of these Colleges with very little money to spend is more likely to spend it wisely—that is, to get the most profit and the most enjoyment out of it—than he would be at the majority of the older Colleges.”

These days rowing is somewhat less frugal as a sport. The College is currently raising money for a new boathouse, to be shared (as is the case in the current building) with King’s, Churchill and the Leys School. You can read a news story about the plans here: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Plans-for-two-new-boathouses-alongside-River-Cam-floated-by-rowers-20140513071500.htm.

 

Selwyn’s men and women rowers are taking to the water this week in the May Bumps. These historic races, which take place in June despite their name, pit Cambridge Colleges against each other on the River Cam – with glory for the crew that manages to bump the boat in front of them.

Selwyn has multiple crews taking part. Our top women’s boat is in Division 1, and our leading men are in Division 2. You can follow what happens by turning up riverside, with the latest information on timings here: http://www.cucbc.org/mays/times. Or follow the College Twitter and Facebook feeds, which are relaying the highlights of the week. The full list of Selwyn crews is:

M1: Division 2

M2: Division 3

Hermes Crew: Division 4

W1: Division 1

W2: Division 3

W3: Division 4

 

The official re-opening of Cripps Court has been set for December 3rd, but the building will be fully operational again in time for the academic year starting this autumn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The building dates from 1968, and originally had 170 rooms. This refurbishment, costing just over £13m and taking the best part of two years, has made the vast majority of accommodation en-suite; and it has added an extra level with 52 new rooms including kitchen and communal areas with views over Cambridge. With its two other main Courts, this means that Selwyn offers affordable housing on-site for virtually all its undergraduates and graduates; and the new Cripps will make better use of light and colour to create a great living and working environment.