A Year in the Life of the Trinity Hall Community Rinity Hall Review 2018/19 2018/19 T Trinity Hall CAMBRIDGE
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TRINITY HALL CAMBRIDGE Trinity Hall Review 2018/19 Academic Year 2018/19 Academic Year Trinity Hall Trinity A year in the Hall life community of the Trinity 2018/19 2018/19 Trinity Hall 2 Reports from It has been a wonderful year in the Alumni and Development Office. We have met our Officers over 800 of you at events in the UK and in 12 cities overseas; launched our online community LinkHall; and awarded the Cambridge Social Innovation Prize to four businesses making a positive social impact in the UK. Judging from the alumni news section of the Review (pages 36-37), it has also been a great year for many of you too. It is always a pleasure to hear how our alumni are and what you’re getting up to, so thank you for sharing your news with us. Your support has been keenly felt in the past year. Thanks to your generosity we have been able to provide financial aid to undergraduates; offer studentships to postgraduates; help cover the costs of the wellbeing team; support access initiatives; and refurbish student facilities. Your support is invaluable to our students and is hugely appreciated across the College. Thank you. Kathryn Martin-Chambers (née Greaves) Alumni Communications Officer Note: You may notice there is no report from Andrew Arthur, Director of Music, in this issue. Andrew was on sabbatical leave in the academic year 2018/19 but has reprised his role for 2019/20. Stay in touch with the College network: 32 Alumni @TrinityHallCamb News inside Reports from our Officers 2 The Master 2 The Bursar 4 The Senior Tutor 7 The Graduate Tutor 8 The Admissions Tutor 10 The Dean 11 The Development Director 12 The Junior Bursar 14 The Head of Conference and Catering Services 15 The Librarian 16 College News 18 The JCR President’s Report 20 The MCR President’s Report 21 Student Reports 22 News of Fellows and Staff 26 Seminars and Lectures 28 Fundraising 30 18 Alumni News 32 THA Secretary’s Report 34 College News Alumni News 36 In Memoriam 38 2018/19 Information 40 List of Fellows 42 College Statistics 46 List of Donors 50 Get Involved 59 40 2018/19 Thank you to all who have contributed to this edition of the Trinity Hall Review. Information Cover picture: Camilla Read (2006) entering the Chapel 2 REPORTS FROM OUR OFFICERS Caption The Research, discovery, Master’s Report scholarship – that’s the foundation of Cambridge’s worldwide reputation ambridge has been in the the face, sometimes, of considerable news a lot over the last year difficulty. There are also many good and as you’ll be aware, much admissions stories. Cambridge Cof the attention has been has students here from all social critical or even hostile. It began with the backgrounds and from many different scandal over Cambridge Analytica but countries. The student body is not the has gone on to embrace admissions homogenous white, southern, middle- and outreach, pay, investment policy, class ‘block’ you might sometimes freedom of speech, legacies of slavery, imagine from the press. That’s not to and student disciplinary processes, say that there aren’t significant access amongst other things. Some of these challenges remaining or that some media ‘storms’ have scarcely been social groups aren’t under-represented. just – the mere name was enough to But it is to say that the widest The Revd Canon Dr Jeremy Morris taint the University for a time in the possible variety of people do come case of Cambridge Analytica, despite to Cambridge. Everyone can have a Master no concrete relationship between hand in encouraging school students the University and the company. to think about applying to Cambridge, The College is always affected by whatever their background, if they’re these things. The outside world often able and prepared to work hard. That’s “Everyone can – unsurprisingly – finds it hard to something that you as alumni can do, distinguish between the colleges and as well as something into which the have a hand in the University. Criticism of the University College pours a great deal of resource, spills over into criticism of the College, through the work of our admissions encouraging and vice versa. office and Schools Liaison Officer; through the work we do with schools Yet in amongst the negative press are school students and charities such as the Brilliant many good news stories. I’m always Club; and through Open Days and struck by how often a report will begin to think about school visits. by saying something like ‘Cambridge applying to scientists have discovered…’ So if there is sometimes frustration here or ‘Scholars at Cambridge have at the way Cambridge is depicted in the Cambridge, identified…’. Twice a term I have an media, nonetheless there’s also quiet informal seminar in the Lodge where satisfaction – not, I hope, complacency whatever their Fellows talk briefly (for five minutes!) – at the fact that the University and the about their research. It’s amazing colleges continue to work away at the background, what extraordinary things they’re up things that they’re supposed to do: their to! Research, discovery, scholarship core activities of education, learning and if they’re able – the foundation of Cambridge’s research. That’s what keeps Cambridge worldwide reputation. When it comes one of the great world universities. and prepared to to graduation, there are of course Once we set the noise to one side, many, many individual success stories, this has been an excellent year for work hard.” with triumph through hard work and in 3 the College. We have yet again had an outstanding run of results in the summer exams. I’ve already mentioned the remarkable work done by our Fellows. Work has begun on the new music building in Avery Court, designed by award-winning architect Niall McLoughlin, with thanks to the generosity of the Avery-Tsui Foundation. The Boat Club triumphed in the Lent Bumps and in the Mays. Other College sport has thrived in cricket, mixed netball and the women’s football team yet again, for example. Music has gone from strength to strength, with a third commercial CD about to be recorded by the choir as I write. Financially, as you’ll see from the Bursar’s Report, the College has continued to do well in difficult circumstances and amidst all the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. And whilst our fundraising has also thrived, thanks to our dedicated team in the Alumni and Development Office, we are looking forward to exciting plans and increased activity in the years ahead. There’s a lot going on, in other words! I ought to close by thanking all those many staff members and Fellows who’ve contributed to the year, and to wish you all well. @TrinHallMaster Pergola as seen from the main entrance 4 REPORTS FROM OUR OFFICERS BuThe r s a r ’s Report It has been an unbridled honour and privilege to be part of the College community hen I arrived in September the next ten years the top universities 2004 as Bursar, one thing will have to go private in some form or W was immediately clear to other – at the very least they will have me. The system governing Higher to be allowed to set their own fees. Education funding was irredeemably flawed and was not fit for purpose: put Realisation #2: my job was not simply, it could not last. This led to two just to manage the College’s further realisations. non-academic operations, but to make it wealthier and more Realisation #1: that top able to control its own destiny universities would have to go Trinity Hall’s endowment was almost ‘private’ (whatever that means) completely gone in the early 1970s. At first, the apparent increase in Somehow the College managed to university fees was covered by get itself caught up in the secondary government forcing the cost onto banking crisis of those years. By the students. However, the same Paul ffolkes Davis Bursar time I arrived in 2004, the College’s government withdrew more than was investments had recovered to £62 being added by the increased student million, though £15 million of that was fees. The growing funding gap was actually cash being held to pay for born by the universities, which did one “The hallmark of the prospective Wychfield student of two things. They either (i) greatly housing project. However, even increased student numbers while our approach has £47 million spoke very favourably offering less tuition and facilities (the of the courageous line taken by the so-called ‘pile it high, sell it cheap’ been a willingness Investment Committee. It committed model) or (ii) they did what Oxbridge the vast bulk of our resources to the and any university with a reasonable to accept levels equity market, in particular to the endowment did and put more of their brilliant care of our now Honorary own money into the mix to subsidise of risk that might Fellow Nigel Thomas, at a time when – or as we prefer to term it at Trinity conventional wisdom in managing Hall, invest in – their students. In a traditionally have endowments suggested playing it safe commercial venture this would be akin been regarded in the bond markets. Amazingly, Trinity to paying for your own product. Hall has not owned any Gilts since the The first graph on the next page shows as high.” 1950s and, on the whole, it has been a how our ‘investment’ in students (ie remarkably effective strategy. the deficit on our education account) Whatever happens in the forthcoming We set about increasing the value has grown over the last ten years.