Selwyn College, Cambridge

George Augustus Selwyn (1809–1878)

The college was founded following the death of Bishop George Augustus Selwyn, who had played an important role in the establishment of New Zealand as its first bishop. Selwyn was a scholar of St John's College, Cambridge, and a member of the Cambridge crew which competed in the inaugural Boat Race in 1829. He came out second in the Classical Tripos in 1831, graduating Bachelor of Arts (BA) 1831, Master of Arts (MA Cantab) 1834, and Doctor of Divinity (DD) per lit. reg. 1842, and was a fellow of St John's College from 1833 to 1840.[7]

After graduating, Selwyn first taught at Eton College. In 1833, he was ordained deacon, and, in 1834, a priest. Selwyn displayed leadership talent and, in 1841, after an episcopal council held at Lambeth had recommended the appointment of a bishop for New Zealand, Charles James Blomfield, Bishop of London, offered the post to Selwyn.

He returned to England in 1867, and accepted the post of Bishop of Lichfield, which he held until his death on 11 April 1878, aged 69.

After Selwyn's death in 1878, a number of scholars from Cambridge launched plans to establish a college to honour his life.[7] The Selwyn Memorial Committee was founded with Charles Abraham (Bishop of Wellington) as secretary, and it proposed that a Cambridge college should be established as a memorial. The college's first Master, Arthur Lyttelton, was formally elected on 10 March 1879, the Archbishop of Canterbury Archibald Tait was invited to become Visitor on 28 June 1878 and building of Old Court, as it is now known, began in 1880.

First Master of Selwyn College, Arthur Lyttelton

The foundation stone of the college was laid by Edward Herbert, 3rd Earl of Powis in a ceremony on 1 June 1881, following a lunch in King's College, Cambridge. A Charter of Incorporation was granted by Queen Victoria on 13 September 1882, and the west range of Old Court was ready for use by the college's official opening (with the Master's installation) on 10 October 1882, in time for Michaelmas term. Selwyn's first 28 undergraduates joined the original master and 12 other Fellows at the then Public Hostel of the university in 1882.

The first master of the college was Arthur Lyttelton, who sought to establish the college on a firm academic and financial foundation. Lyttelton had been senior tutor at Keble College, Oxford. He came from a well-established family with strong connections in both Church and State, his mother being the sister-in-law of the prime minister, William Ewart Gladstone, who became a major benefactor of the college. Lyttelton was himself a life-long supporter of the Liberal party and was familiar with many politicians in Westminster, his wife Kathleen, a women's activist, being the daughter of the Liberal MP George Clive. Lyttelton persuaded Gladstone to make a personal gift to the college of the louder of the two chapel bells. Gladstone reportedly believed that Cambridge students needed to be well woken if they were to get up at a productive time in the morning. Today, the chapel bell is known as 'Gladstone's Bell' by students.[7]

Selwyn College Clock Tower

The college was founded by donations and subscriptions, with a distinctly religious character. The royal charter for the college, reproducing the terms of the charter of Keble College, was sealed on 13 September 1882. The charter declared that the college was "founded and constituted with the especial object and intent of providing persons desirous of academic education and willing to live economically with a College wherein sober living and high culture of the mind may be combined with Christian training based upon the principles of the Church of England". Initially, only baptised Christians were accepted as students or scholars. The original foundation charter specified that the college should "make provision for those who intend to serve as missionaries overseas and ... educate the sons of clergymen".

Selwyn was not yet a full college of the university, but a "Public Hostel", with its undergraduates regarded as non-collegiate and marked with the designation "H. Selw." on Senate House lists.[7]

In 1926 the "Public Hostel" status was abolished, replaced with that of "Approved Foundation", granting more security to the college. The distinction of the college as "H. Selw." on Senate House lists had also ceased from June 1924.[7]

On 14 March 1958, Selwyn was granted full collegiate status.[7]

Selwyn, in common with most other Oxford and Cambridge colleges, originally admitted only men, but was one of the first colleges to become mixed when women were admitted from 1976. In that year, women lived only on E and H Staircases, but in subsequent years could live anywhere in College. In 1999, Selwyn appointed the first female Director of Music in an Oxbridge College, Sarah MacDonald, and in 2009, Selwyn became the first Cambridge college to appoint a female head porter, Helen Stephens.[8]

The Dining Hall, with the tables laid for Formal Hall

Selwyn holds Formal Hall on every Tuesday and Thursday evening during Term at 7:30 pm with a capacity of 120, tickets for which can be bought by students for themselves and up to two guests. An additional Formal Hall was held on Sunday evenings at least until the early 1990s.[15] There is also a special, extra Halfway Hall Formal for second-year students to mark the middle of their time as undergraduate students at the college, and a Christmas Formal for all students at the end of every Michaelmas Term. Selwyn holds several JCR Dinners and MCR Dinners specifically for undergraduate and graduate students each term.

Formal Halls are for students, Fellows and the Master of the college; however, members of other Oxbridge colleges may attend, as well as a limited number of guests from outside the university. Formal hall meals are three- or four-course meals which are fully catered and served by college staff. During formal hall, the fellows and the master of the college sit at the High Table near the front of the hall, while students sit on benches or chairs at the long tables.

The college Grace is recited in Latin by a Fellow or Scholar (a student who achieved a First Class mark overall in the previous year) at the beginning of Formal Hall, and is as follows:

Benedic, Domine, nobis et donis Tuis, quae de Tua largitate sumus sumpturi; et concede ut iis muneribus Tuis ad laudem Tuam utamur, gratisque animis fruamur, per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Translation:

Bless us, O Lord, and all thy gifts, which of thy goodness we are about to enjoy; grant that we may use these generosities to thy glory, and enjoy them with thankful hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

When the High Table rises, the following concluding Grace is said Benedicamus Domino (Let us bless the Lord), with the response being Laus Deo (Praise be to God). This response was changed in the 1990s, from the previous response Deo gratias (Thanks be to God).[15]

Selwyn has a tradition in which senior fellows and members of the college commonly remain seated for the college's loyal toast during formal hall. This tradition is not observed out of disrespect or irreverence for the sovereign, but rather, out of courtesy and remembrance of the former Master of the college, John Selwyn, who could not easily stand for the loyal toast owing to the limited use of his legs in later life. John Selwyn (son of George Augustus Selwyn) served as the second Master of Selwyn College (1893–1898).[7]

Selwyn College hosts an annual lecture named in honour of Ramsay Murray, an alumnus of the college during the 1930s. The Ramsay Murray Lecture Series was established in 1994 following a significant bequest from the Murray estate.[16] Lecturers have included many high-profile politicians, academics, and journalists including Onora O’Neill, Niall Ferguson, Michael Howard, Ian Kershaw, Roy Porter, Ian Clark, Lawrence Freedman, David Cannadine, Keith Thomas, Jonathan Riley-Smith and Quentin Skinner, former Regius Professor of Modern History.[16] The 2018 Ramsay Murray lecture features the journalist Frank Gardner.[17] The lectures are free and open to the public.

Selwyn College Junior Combination Room (JCR) is the students' union for undergraduates students. Elected in Michaelmas term, it organises social and welfare events, negotiates with the college on the students' behalf, and represents Selwyn on Cambridge University Students' Union (CUSU) Council. JCR is affiliated to CUSU and by extension to the National Union of Students. In recent years, four presidents of Selwyn College JCR have become CUSU president, one of whom, Wes Streeting MP, went on to become president of the National Union of Students and a Labour Member of Parliament (MP). Another JCR President, Simon Hughes, went on to become a Liberal Democrat MP and candidate for Mayor of London.

The Middle Combination Room (MCR) comprises the graduate students of Selwyn College, and is similarly represented by the MCR Committee (MCRc). The MCR is located in Cripps Court. The presidents and treasurers of the JCRc and MCRc have sat on College Council, the main decision-making body of the college, since it was reformed in 1989.

Selwyn College Boat Club (SCBC)

The college is host to a number of student organisations, including the Hermes Club, Selwyn College Music Society and Selwyn Jazz, and on the stage by amateur dramatics society The Mighty Players.[19] Selwyn College Boat Club is the official rowing club. Selwyn has the longest continually running students' magazine— of any Cambridge College; Kiwi has been published from 1982 to present.

The chapel choir is a mixed choir that sings three weekly services during full term,[20] has toured widely and has made over 15 commercial CD recordings under their professional director, Sarah MacDonald.[21] The Choir has also included members of the neighbouring women's college, Newnham College, since before the integration of women to Selwyn.[22]

Like many Oxbridge colleges, Selwyn is home to several secret societies and dining clubs including The Controversialists, The Cromwells, and The Templars. Some of these societies function as de facto discussion and debate clubs while others are better known as drinking societies and for raucous parties. In recent years, several of the secret societies at Selwyn have been accused of elitism, and have been involved in sexism and hazing scandals. In 2014, members of the Selwyn Templars were involved in a scandal where sexist and misogynistic messages were sent out to members of the society.[23][24]

Programme for a 1914 smoking concert of the Controversialists

The Controversialists are the oldest secret society at the college and one of the oldest at the university, being founded by a group of all-male students during the Lent Term in 1893. The society's name is believed to pay homage to both their leftist political leanings and their discussion and debate of poetry and literature. The purpose of the Society, according to rules printed in 1909, was "the reading and discussion of English poetry and drama". The Society membership is made up of both undergraduate and graduate students at Selwyn College. Female students have been able to join the society since women were admitted to the college. The total number of Controversialist members is not allowed to exceed twelve. Meetings have traditionally been held on Sundays in the Michaelmas and Lent terms, as well as in May if a quorum of five members can be arranged. The badge and symbol of the Controversialists is a purple lyre.[25]

The Controversialists commonly organise smoking concerts where poetry and verse is recited by members before the political discussions begin. The Controversialists are said to drink only port during their meetings.

The Selwyn College Templars are the second oldest secret society and the largest at the college. The society was initially only open to wealthy, upper-class Anglican students. The membership of the Templars Society are often involved with campus politics and are often members of the Cambridge University Conservative Association. Membership is decided by nomination from two current members and election at the society's Michaelmas meeting. New members of the Templars are reportedly 'knighted' with a ceremonial sword in a bizarre initiation ceremony that takes place on the Autumn equinox each year.[7]

In 2014, British newspapers reported that the Selwyn Templars Society were involved in a scandal where sexist and misogynistic messages were sent to members of the society. The college took disciplinary action against all students involved in the incident.[23][24]

The Hermes Club, founded in 1920, exists to encourage, fund and improve sport at Selwyn College – a task it accomplishes by offering financial grants to individual sportsmen/women and college teams, through the lobbying of college, and by generally raising the profile of sport in Selwyn. Members of Selwyn are eligible for invitation to the club if they have been awarded a Full Blue or Half Blue by the university, if they have captained a Selwyn College team in a 'First Class sport', or if they have competed on behalf of Selwyn in two 'First Class' Cuppers competitions.[7]

Alumni of the club fund two major sports grant schemes which award thousands of pounds in grants every year – the Hermes Fund and the Vickerstaff Sports Bursary Scheme. Many members of the Hermes Club have gone on to become prominent in public life, particularly as politicians, actors and authors.[26]

Selwyn College May Ball Survivors (1948)

Selwyn is unique among Oxbridge colleges in that it holds an annual Winter Ball known as the Selwyn Snowball, which traditionally takes place on the night of the last Friday of Michaelmas term. In recent years the Snowball has developed into a larger event than it had been in the mid-1990s and now runs three full stages, with recent headliners including Mumford & Sons and Tinchy Stryder, and caters for around 850 guests. The Selwyn Snowball has often become bigger and more subscribed than its May Ball which is usually held in June of each year once students have finished their examinations.

The May Ball tradition at Selwyn began on 14 June 1948, as hundreds of students dressed in black tie to attend the all-night celebration. May Balls continued to be held at the college throughout the second half of the 20th century with a highlight being the performance of The Who in 1967.[27] In recent years, May Balls have been replaced by the Snowball with notable exceptions: 2008, to celebrate the college's 125th anniversary; 2015 and 2017.[28]

The Selwyn College Boat Club (SCBC) is the rowing club for members of the college. The boat club was founded in 1882, during the Michaelmas term. During this early period, the Selwyn Boat Club trained several rowers who would go on to become Olympic Rowers and University Blues in the annual boat race against Oxford. The SCBC also achieved intercollegiate success during its early days, winning a second in the Lent Bumps of 1934 and third in the May Bumps 1931. The dedication and work of the early Selwyn rowers was all the more fitting given that George Augustus Selwyn had rowed for Cambridge in the first Boat Race at Henley-on-Thames in 1829. The SCBC still has one of the highest participation rates of novice rowers of any Oxbridge college. Notable alumni of the Selwyn College Boat Club include Hugh Laurie, Tom Hollander and Richard Budgett.

In 2014, Selwyn, King's and Churchill colleges announced plans for a new, state-of-the-art combined boathouse located on the River Cam. The boathouse features double-length beams and extensive gym and training facilities for all Selwyn College rowers and student athletes. This facility was completed in 2015–16 and now provides world-class rowing and training facilities for SCBC rowers and students across the University of Cambridge. The project was largely funded by donations and contributions from alumni and the Hermes Club. The two-storey combined boathouse is larger than its 1968 predecessor and provides facilities for socialising, training and boat maintenance in addition to an observation deck. The combined boathouse was designed by RHP Architects at a cost of approximately £2.20 million and was the winner of the 2017 RIBA East Award for Outstanding Architecture.[7][29]