SMCS

Photography by Elsie Lewis

Sandra Ward, SMCS Acting President (February 2022 - present)

Those of us privileged to have spent our University years at Mary ’ s are well aware of the benefits of belonging to the College. I graduated in 1965 with a Chemistry degree; a rich experience of intense study in my favourite subject; a supportive environment for my first time living away from home; more political awareness (October 1962 saw a student march on Palace Green protesting at the risks of the Cuban Missile crisis); a lasting affection for the City; and several lifelong friendships.

Most graduates find it impossible to leave Durham behind completely and Alumni have been revisiting Mary ’ s for more than 100 years. St Mary ’ s College Society (SMCS) has existed under its current name since 1920, having evolved from the Old Students Society established as the first students graduated in 1902. Today, the prime responsibilities of SMCS continue to be providing mechanisms for former students to sustain their links with College; contributing to the College community; and supporting the academic and social development of today ’ s students. Good two-way communication between Alumni and the College is ensured by our Committee ’ s mix of elected Alumni (a President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and up to eight other Alumni members) with the College Principal, Vice Principal, Archivist, JCR, MCR Presidents and previous year ’ s past presidents (for one year) as Ex-Officio members. We are currently planning financial student support for the coming Academic year, including the SMCS Book Fund last run in 2020/21 which enables current Mary ’ s students to buy essential but expensive books when there may be financial barriers. We also hope to re-establish the Travel Bursaries and the Postgraduate Bursaries for conference attendance, neither possible to use during the pandemic, though we are aiming to expand the latter to include virtual conferences. We run an article competition liaising with Student Journalism interns and SMCS is committed to assisting College in helping with student hardship.

We are adapting our approach to communicating with Alumni by continuing to collaborate with College and the Mary ’ s Magazine, as our principal publication vehicle and encourage alumni to submit articles, news and photographs. Important SMCS news and reports will also be directed to the Mary's Magazine. Our Alumni communications policy will make more and more use of social media: the website, Facebook and Instagram.

An Annual Reunion has always been the means for Alumni to re-visit College and Durham. This has not been possible for the last couple of years, but we are exploring what we can do for 2022. The Reunion aims to draw back Alumni making re-connections with old friends whilst enjoying a formal dinner and entertainment. We also have the Annual General Meeting which reports on all facets of the Society ’ s ’ activities, as well as elections to the SMCS Committee. Recently we have held meetings on Zoom and we are keen to encourage further online participation.

From summer 2021 all new graduates have automatically been given SMCS life membership . This cohort and that of 2022 will be invited to contribute to Society Funds following graduation and we will set up mechanisms for attracting donations from alumni.

An Annual SMCS lecture with a speaker in the public eye has been a good route for attracting Mary ’ s alumni and a wider Durham Audience to a Society event. Initially these were face to face in College, but the 2020 and 2021 lectures were virtual ones. In 2021, Fiona Hill, the foreign affairs specialist, who advised US Presidents George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump provided an insightful and objective view of American Politics from her firsthand viewpoint with an audience of 200. Fiona featured on Desert Island Discs (Radio4) in May 2022 .