Optima issue 9 • spring 2006
CONTENTS
The Master’s message
2 & 3 The Chaplaincy appeal The evolving role of a College Chaplain and ‘Friends of the Chapel’ day.
College choir hope to touch a chord A plea for help from the choir. 4 & 5 United by Fitz, divided by party Three MPs answer questions. Art starts Beginnings of a Fitzwilliam Art Society.
6 Taking strength from early tragedy Sir Bryan Askew’s early life and how it shaped him.
7 A day in the life of a Head Porter David Bannister reports on College changes during his twelve years as a porter.
8 Remembering Fitzwilliam All about legacies and the benefit that can be derived from them.
9 Fitzwilliam Annual Fund An interim report.
One golden bond The golden anniversary row of a veteran squad.
10 Money makes the world go around Zoë Shaw’s degree in English led to a career in banking.
11 In the running Silke and the Ironman Silke Pichler’s aspirations to be an Olympic runner. Chariots of Fire Fitzwilliam’s winning team.
12 Taking the law into their own hands Three law students benefit from work experience placements.
13 The Singapore Chapter Singapore provides a template for overseas chapters of Fitzwilliam alumni.
14 & 15 Students swap Two students, one from MIT and one from Fitzwilliam, change place. Competition Winners of the competitions in Optima VII & VIII and a new one.
16 News and events at Fitzwilliam The diary for 2006 by Emma Camps.
Transforming Tomorrow Dr David Starkey gives the keynote address in New York.
To return to Fitzwilliam, after my own elevenyear absence in other institutions, is to be struck by the College’s remarkable progress on every front. Former students who come back to Cambridge after a much longer gap are initially simply awestruck by what has been achieved. They will need no reminding about how much we all owe to earlier generations whose hard work and personal commitment have contributed to the College’s development. But each new cohort of Freshers has their attention drawn to what we must never take for granted: the extraordinary affection and generosity of Fitzwilliam’s alumni. Time and again they have responded to the College’s needs, whether to fund awards, extracurricular activities or facilities, not least in the wonderfully successful recent Appeal to allow us to construct a new Boathouse. The reinforcement provided by such expressions of loyal support is one of the College’s greatest strengths as it confronts the challenges ahead. Robert Lethbridge has been Master of Fitzwilliam since 3 October 2005. He is Emeritus Professor of French Language and Literature in the University of London. He was made Chevalier des Palmes Académiques in 1998 for services to French culture and scholarship. His first academic post, in 1973, was at Fitzwilliam and he was Senior Tutor of the College for the decade 1982–92. He has been a Life Fellow since 1994 when he was
This issue of Optima is further testimony of what that alumni support means in practice. For the College’s achievements collectively are inseparable from the rich and diverse experience of individual students past and present. They are distinguishing themselves in all aspects of College life, making it unsurprising that they are making major contributions to different ‘real’ worlds beyond Cambridge after they graduate. This takes them not only to rewarding careers but also to many farflung parts of the globe, as befits the international community Fitzwilliam has been since its foundation. We are committed to maintaining what is special about Fitzwilliam. In that respect, 2006 represents a key moment in our collective thinking about the future. The introduction of top-up fees, from this coming October, will obviously increasingly disadvantage many Fitzwilliam students (and their families). The more profound significance of this can only be grasped if it is put in the same frame as the political and financial pressures on the Oxbridge collegiate model of higher education. Does anybody really believe that, in ten years’ time, the taxpayer will consider it a priority to fund the particular experience traditionally offered to its students by the College? And how will Fitzwilliam itself compete in attracting the most promising and the most talented against the richer colleges? These are highly important issues for the College and we are going to have to involve our entire community of lifelong members to ensure that Fitzwilliam continues to prosper. I look forward to meeting many of you as we take forward this great project.
appointed to a Chair at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he was successively Head of Department, Dean of the Graduate School and VicePrincipal. Before his recent return to the College, he was Director of the University of London Institute in Paris. Professor Lethbridge is married, with a son and daughter and two grandchildren (so far!).