The college is delighted to announce that it has selected a new chaplain and dean of chapel. She will be the Rev’d Dr Arabella Milbank Robinson, currently associate rector in the parish of Louth in Lincolnshire.

Arabella went to school in Nottinghamshire and Virginia, USA, and then to New College Oxford where she was awarded a first in English and modern languages. She later studied for a PhD in medieval English literature at Emmanuel College Cambridge; and has also completed an MPhil in Christian theology with a dissertation prize from the faculty of Divinity.

Arabella will join the college in September ready for the next academic year, taking over from Hugh Shilson-Thomas who has served the college so well over the past 14 years.

We welcome Dr Anita Balakrishnan as the newest member of the Selwyn fellowship. She was elected by the college council at a recent meeting.

Dr Balakrishnan is a consultant liver and pancreas surgeon, and an affiliated assistant professor with the university. She will now also be a college lecturer in medical sciences. Her formal installation as a fellow will take place on March 1st.

You can read more about Dr Balakrishnan's work here:

http://cambridge-pcc.org/anita.html

Selwyn has announced the creation of a new role of Schools Liaison Officer based in the north of England. Joe Stanley will take on this position from his base in Yorkshire with the aim of showing school students across the north that Cambridge is open to everyone with the right talent, irrespective of their background.

The college wants to break down some of the myths about Cambridge, and it has already demonstrated the breadth of its recruitment with a record 81% of prospective home students this autumn coming from state schools. This new post represents a major boost to the college’s existing outreach work, especially in West Yorkshire; and the northern post will work in association with an existing role based in Cambridge.

Joe Stanley (pictured) said: “I was born and brought up in Rotherham, I attended my local state comprehensive, and I was the first in my family to go to university so I know first-hand the barriers students from similar backgrounds as myself face when considering Higher Education. In the role of Selwyn’s Northern Schools Liaison Officer I want to act as a role model to show to talented young people that Cambridge is the right university for them.”

The Master of Selwyn, Roger Mosey, adds: “Selwyn and Cambridge have transformed their student body in recent years, with a massive increase in diversity and a rise in the number of students coming from tougher economic backgrounds. An important part of our commitment is seeking to attract students from all across the United Kingdom, and – as someone from Yorkshire myself – we are very keen to boost our efforts to recruit more applicants from the north of England, where we feel there is an under-representation amongst our student body.”

Dr Mike Sewell, Senior Tutor at Selwyn, explains: “West Yorkshire is already one of our link areas where we help lead on behalf of the Cambridge Colleges, but the pressures of the pandemic – including the difficulty of arranging travel to Cambridge – have meant that our north of England contingent has remained at best static. We want to change this. It’s a major investment for us to have a new post specifically dedicated to Selwyn and Cambridge outreach in the north, which we believe is justified. Joe will continue to live and work in the region, and he is precisely the sort of person who will help demystify Cambridge and Selwyn, challenging the stereotype that ‘Cambridge isn’t for me’. Selwyn is determined to remain in the vanguard of colleges which are open to everyone with the right talent, and this appointment is a sign of the seriousness of our commitment.”  

The college is running its annual telephone campaign this December, with current students calling alumni and friends in the UK and around the world to update them on developments at Selwyn. This year we’ve produced a special video which shows some of the projects underway across the college. These include the conversion of the old library into a study centre; the upgrading of hostels to provide new rooms for graduate students; and a continuing focus on bursaries and grants for students from lower income backgrounds.

You can watch the video here:

https://youtu.be/Dg1T_ok4jgE

One note: the heat pump that we mention is the subject of further logistical reviews, because of some technical challenges that have emerged, and the college council will make a final decision on it soon. The other environmental improvements are going ahead as planned.

If you’d like to know more about our plans, or support us financially, then you can contact development@sel.cam.ac.uk or you can donate online by clicking on this link: https://www.selwynalumni.com/makeagift. Thank you.

New presidents have been elected by the MCR, representing our graduate students, and the JCR which is made up of our undergraduates.

The next MCR president will be Elsa Kobeissi. Elsa is a 2nd year PhD student in Medical Science at the MRC Epidemiology Unit. She completed her undergraduate degree in Lebanon, her home country, before pursuing her Master of Public Health at Imperial College in 2017-18. She worked at the Global Health Institute in Lebanon before joining the University of Cambridge in October 2020.

The JCR’s choice of president is Bella Cross. She is a student of History and Politics. Bella is from West London and is the current JCR Gender Equality Officer.

The two presidents will join the college council and the governing body from January, and we congratulate them on their election.

Our alumnus Tom Bartlam (SE 1966) returned to Selwyn on October 20th for the official opening of the new Bartlam Library.

Tom studied law at Selwyn and he has been a major benefactor of the college for many years, before becoming a key figure in enabling the library and auditorium project to happen. Tom's children Ed and Hattie and his sister Caroline also attended the opening celebration. He is seen (centre, in front of the pillar) with a range of current Selwynites – including three Masters: Richard Bowring (left) and Sir David Harrison (right) along with Roger Mosey.
 

The library, part of a construction project totalling £13m, is already proving highly popular with students; and we are grateful to all the alumni and friends who contributed to its funding.

Please additionally see the COVID-19 documents page.

The master Roger Mosey wrote to all students at Selwyn on September 22nd about the term ahead:

"Dear all

We’ve already welcomed a number of students back to the college – joining the small community that’s been here throughout the health emergency – and now we’re prepared for the full contingent of undergraduate and postgraduate students to arrive in the next couple of weeks. We’re delighted that the college is buzzing with activity again; but I have a very important message to share.

If we are to continue through this academic year with the maximum activity and the minimum disruption, it will require all of us to live our lives as safely as possible. We must take the greatest possible care of ourselves as individuals, and also think continuously about our responsibilities to others. That applies to me as master, to the fellows and staff and to every single student. Only by doing so will we minimise the risks.  Looking after each other, a key part of Selwyn since its foundation, is now more important than ever.

So please read thoroughly and carefully all the latest guidance. This gives an overview across Cambridge:

https://www.cam.ac.uk/coronavirus/stay-safe-cambridge-uni

And this section, as an example, explains one of the main ways we’re going to organise ourselves within colleges – by having student ‘households’ who are able to socialise safely with each other:

https://www.cam.ac.uk/coronavirus/stay-safe-cambridge-uni/living-in-cambridge#households

As in other colleges, student households will be the foundation stone for living together at Selwyn. A household is defined by the sharing of kitchen and, where appropriate, bathroom/toilet facilities. In general this means that your household will be formed by the other students on the same landing as you in a staircase or those with whom you share a hostel kitchen. In a number of cases - staircases C to F in Old Court, ground floor of H, parts of J and K, ground floor and first floor of N, ground floor and first floor of P,  ground floor and first floor of Q, ground floor and first floor of R - students will be part of a household with others on the floor above/below. In Selwyn the smallest households consist of four students; the largest of 11. The vast majority include between six and eight students. Specific guidance on which students will make up your household will follow very shortly.

Generally the university-wide advice is supplemented by a lot of detail that we have developed here within the college. We’ve been working with student and staff representatives – and taking the latest external advice – through the past months; and there is a full reopening plan that has been approved by the college council. Let me highlight three key points:

• We have adopted a colour-coded status system to allow us to react quickly to national and local developments.  Any move to a new status will be agreed by the college council, which includes JCR and MCR representatives. A copy is attached.
• We have also developed a student protocol to summarise the key things you can do to help everyone stay safe at Selwyn. It will be circulated later this week, along with more details about testing and isolation. Attached is the college social distancing and face coverings policy which is now in operation.
• Along with most of Higher Education we have come to the view that we cannot responsibly allow overnight visitors in the college for the foreseeable future, because all the advice we receive is that this would significantly increase the risks to everyone and it wouldn’t be possible to operate safely and fairly within a household system.  

While you will notice that a lot has changed here at Selwyn to keep everyone safe, a lot is also still the same. Provided national guidance continues to allow it, in-person small group teaching wherever possible will remain a cornerstone of our approach. We have put a marquee in Old Court and screens in the servery to make sure we can still offer sit-down meals; and college bar is open, with the marquee doubling up as extra social space in the evenings.  

More will follow later this week. It's important to say that the guidance nationally and locally will change, sometimes at short notice. We will update you whenever it does. But the responsibility sits with each one of us to know what the college is asking of everyone, either because it is legally required or because it is best practice; and because of the seriousness of Covid, as a community we will not be able to tolerate any wilful breaking of the rules.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your tutor or with the senior tutor, bursar, vice-master or me direct if you have any immediate questions. But in the meantime, despite these challenging times, a warm welcome whether you’re new here or returning; and I’ll look forward to seeing everyone again very soon.

Roger Mosey"

The college has welcomed its 2021 undergraduate freshers with a series of induction events – and then a group photograph taken in Old Court on the morning of Monday October 4th. The location moved from the Hall steps to outside Chapel because of the marquee which is still in place on the lawn, and older members will remember this as the traditional place for matriculation photos.

The college is planning as much in-person activity as possible in the coming weeks, underlining Cambridge’s commitment to small group teaching – and a full range of societies and sporting activity. We are delighted that our new students are with us, and we wish them all the best in their studies.

Photograph by Howard Beaumont.

The college has welcomed hundreds of people to events at Selwyn in September. This included the graduation day on September 11th, but the greatest number of people were attending reunions. The year groups recognised ranged from 2010 and 2011 – for their 10th anniversary get-together – right back to 1960 and 1961, who were marking 60 years since they matriculated. We also hosted alumni who have pledged a legacy to Selwyn at the 1882 Society lunch. Given the success of these events, we are aiming to run a full programme of reunions and meetings in the coming academic year. Please keep an eye on this website and on our social media accounts for the latest information.

The college is delighted to have hosted its second General Admission of the year – this time principally for the undergraduates whose degree ceremony was postponed in 2020.

Cambridge University was one of the first in the country to reintroduce in-person graduations, and the ceremony for this year’s undergraduates took place on schedule in July. On September 11th we were able to catch up with the students who had previously missed out, and Selwyn offered them a formal leaving dinner hosted by the Master and Fellows - and then a day when they and their families could celebrate their achievements.

In the university Senate House there was a mix of some degrees being awarded in the usual way; but also some students being “congratulated” if they had previously taken their degree in absence. The ceremony was the same for all, except for a slightly different phrase in Latin!

Our photographs show the traditional graduands’ photo being taken in Old Court; then the procession making its way down West Road; and finally families and friends enjoying a picnic provided by the college.