In Loco Parentis

IN LOCO PARENTIS A light-hearted look at the role of a Cambridge Tutor KEN RILEY ———- April 7, 2013———- Text copyright c 2013 Ken F Riley All Rights Reserved To all my Tutorial Pupils, without whom this book would not have been possible Contents In Loco Parentis vi 1 Jack of All Trades 1 2SpreadingtheWord 27 3 Leading the Way 41 4TutorswhoLunch 63 5 LittleRoomforManoeuvre 85 6BroughttoBook 113 iv CONTENTS v 7 ToBuildorNottoBuild 131 8 GettingonwiththeNeighbours 149 9ALawUntoHimself 158 10 All Work and No Play Makes Jack . 179 11TheTriposStakes 208 12TheStewards’Enquiry 251 13BackattheStables 274 14 Having a Ball 297 ALetterfromNigeria 311 B Am I All Right, Jack? 314 C First Class Scrawl 324 In Loco Parentis My dictionary gives two meanings for loco, and neither of them is the one I had in mind when giving this book its title. The first is, as expected, as an abbreviation for a railway engine; this does, at least, have some connection with the Latin for ‘place’, though the ending of locomotive does rather work against any sense of the stability that a parental substitute is meant to bring. The second dictionary entry is even further from what is re- quired, though no doubt the phrase as a whole has often been mischievously translated as ‘driving the parents mad’. It is only when the whole phrase is sought, under I rather than L, that the real meaning of in loco parentis is revealed; and it is in this sense of taking on some of the responsibilities usually associated with parenthood that the role of a Cambridge Tutor was defined. To be strictly honest, the phrase is not really appropri- ate any longer. Ever since the age of majority in the UK was vi vii reduced from twenty one to eighteen,1 nearly all university students have been, technically, at least, if not always in their be- haviour, grown-ups and there has been no reason for Oxbridge Tutors to take on quasi-parental roles. However, I have had this erudite-sounding title in mind for a book such as this for well over twenty years and am extremely loath to give it up — de- spite the fact that it was well past its sell-by date by the timeI thought of it! Nevertheless, even though the strictly parental aspects of a Tutor’s job may no longer exist, his or her role as a student’s guide, mentor and, if the worst comes to the worst, friend at court, remains as important as ever. Within any one college, and at any one time, up to about ten of its senior academic staff2 agree to take on the role of a Tutor for, typically, some fifty students of that college, officially known as their pupils. These tutorial commitments, which carry largely nominal mon- etary reward, are undertaken as an addition to the Fellows’ nor- mal duties of teaching, examining and research associated with his or her University appointment. Perhaps I should explain that nearly all Cambridge academics have two allegiances, one to their College and another to one of the University’s depart- ments; however, the balance between the two varies significantly from person to person. 1In 1970. Footnotes such as this one are added both to provide relevant background and to give the impression of a scholarly piece of work, rather than a simple collection of reminiscences, some accurate, some perhaps less so. 2Collectively, and officially, referred to as the Fellows of the College. viii IN LOCO PARENTIS One of the more experienced Tutors is declared ‘first amongst equals’ and given the title of Senior Tutor. When I first started, the latter was known simply as The Tutor and the others as ‘As- sistant Tutors’. But, in keeping with a move to give many more University Lecturers a title including the word ‘Professor’3, all Assistant Tutors were upgraded to Tutors, and The Tutor be- came The Senior Tutor; grander titles, but no change in duties or pay! Some of what is entailed in taking on a Tutorship can be judged from the rest of this book. It is also hoped that the reader will gain, at the same time, some insight into the workings of Cambridge University. For many, if not most, of its members, both academic and non-academic, they remain something of a mystery. With about ten thousand undergraduates and about half that number of postgraduates, spread across some thirty self- governing Colleges, Cambridge University can only function if well-defined procedures and channels of communication are fol- lowed. For nearly all of a student’s dealings with the University, that channel is his or her Tutor (or, for technical matters related to a particular academic discipline, a Fellow of the College who directs the studies of students in that subject). Whilst most college-based matters involving Tutors and their pupils are dealt with by word of mouth (or, increasingly these days, by an informal email), those that involve the Uni- versity have nearly always to be committed to paper. Com- 3And largely carried through in the Other Place. ix posing and replying to such correspondence, aiming to be both persuasive and, at the same time, polite, was one of the most challenging, but enjoyable, aspects of my twenty two years as Tutor or Senior Tutor. Subject to some limitations imposed by necessary confiden- tiality, the recollections which follow will give you a number of chances to judge both the successes and failures of my endeav- ours. In them I have, so far as possible, avoided giving people their real names and have referred to them by the University or College post that they held at the time, as this best describes what might be expected to be their various standpoints and actions.4 Similarly the names of the individual Colleges are not even hinted at, except where I judge they could not be the least bit offended or embarrassed by being identified. The identity of my own College, Clare, could hardly have been disguised, and even if I had tried to conceal it, any reader, even one who has had no previous dealings with Cambridge, could have discovered it within a few minutes if they so wished. It is my own College, not with any sense of ownership, but because I have held some sort of position there, undergraduate, research student, Fellow, etc., for nearly sixty years.5 4Although in many cases one would not do so in ordinary text, I have also capitalisedthe names of the posts, so that the readermight more imme- diately anticipate the actions of their holders. I have also capitalised some less specialised words, e.g. Scholarship and Hostel, where in the Cambridge context they have particular or somewhat non-standard meanings. 5With a concurrent post as a Cambridge University Teaching Officer for thirty four of them. x IN LOCO PARENTIS When it comes to recollections concerning students or senior academics, in most cases there is nothing to be gained by naming them – and quite often I do not know their true iden- tities – but if several are involved, and have to be differenti- ated, I have given them fictitious names. However, in order that credit should be given wherever it is unequivocally due, all names given in footnotes are genuine ones; apologies to all those totally blameless University Members, both Junior and Senior, who appear only in the main text, and therefore only as suspicion-arousing pseudonyms. My period of office as a college Senior Tutor came to an end in the late 1990’s, though I did continue to serve as a ‘Financial Tutor’ for a further ten years. However, I intend these reminiscences to reflect mainly on my time as a Tutor in the sense in which the word is normally understood. Consequently, whilst passages aimed at helping the reader to understand background that is still relevant today are usually written in the present tense, those relating to specific events that occurred during my time as a Tutor are set in the past. Chapter 1 Jack of All Trades May I may start with the ending? Of my twenty two years as a Cambridge Tutor, all but two were spent as Clare College’s Senior Tutor, and so it is largely from my experiences in that post that these reminiscences are drawn. Why begin at the end? Well, when I was first approached by the Master of Clare about taking over this role from another Fellow of the College, who himself was due to take over the post of College Bursar, I thought of it only as a single part-time job. And it was only when I came to relinquish it, and my immediate successors – note the plural – were appointed, that I properly appreciated just how many sides there had been to it. At the time I was asked, my main occupation was as a Uni- 1 2 CHAPTER 1. JACK OF ALL TRADES versity Lecturer in the Department of Physics, having previously been a Research Fellow at Clare and a Physics Demonstrator.1 I was aware that taking on the Senior Tutorship would restrict the time I would have to undertake research, and, to reflect this, be- yond a certain level my University stipend (salary) was reduced by one half of whatever the College paid me.2 The other duties associated with being a University Lecturer were not reduced at all; lectures, practical classes, examining and administrative duties3 in the Department were all unaffected. In fact the ‘Bursar Elect’, who took twelve months of sab- batical leave prior to the intended take-over,4 did not return to Cambridge and during the year accepted a professorial appointment at another university.

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