FROM THE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Matthew Moss MVO, Director of External Relations and Development

It always astonishes me how beautifully the Charter Choir sing at our annual Alumni Reunions in September, when they are always meeting and performing together for the very first time. It’s a reminder that our community refreshes and replenishes itself constantly, and that the institution we call Homerton (displaying the paradox variously known as Theseus’s Ship, the Philosopher’s Axe, or Rodney’s Brush) is never and yet always the same.

This September we welcomed nearly 200 alumni back – some for the first time ever, and all for the first time since the pandemic scuppered normal operations. We were treated to a poetry workshop, tours of rooms and gardens, and a showing of what we really must stop calling the Lost Film, along with a panel discussion on ethnic diversity in the student body, chaired by the Principal with our wonderful alumni Beverley Cowan (1974) and Ali Azeem (2002) and our current student Afope Ogunremi. After two ‘virtual’ years, it was terrific to see people in three dimensions again.

We hosted a mini-reunion too for the 40th Anniversary cohort. This group is something of a miracle of self-organisation – a kernel of friends who initially rallied together to support their contemporary, Sister Bernadette Chabongora, and who ended up (through the magic of wordof-mouth and word-of-WhatsApp) rebuilding almost their entire year group. In July 53 of them descended on Homerton and were among the first to eat in our new Dining Hall.

Dedicated readers of the Annual Review will know of Sister Bernadette already – a remarkable nun, teacher and mathematician who led her convent and school in Zimbabwe through Covid, before her untimely death this year. An obituary appears on page 92. Her name was on our lips too in November, when Homerton hosted a colossal dinner for Black History Month (see cover), and she received a posthumous award from the College, collected by her friend Sally Hyde Lomax (1981).

It was a mammoth year too for MA graduations, as we welcomed back 257 young alumni over three separate graduation ceremonies, catching up (almost) on the Covid backlog. It was heartwarming to see so many back in College for the first time since graduation.

Bringing together themes of academic excellence, our alumni community and contribution to society, we were thrilled and grateful to Dr Erica Hirsch (1965) for a superb and generous donation which will be deployed to support a PhD student in science and education – two intersecting topics which help our society to function, and right in the sweet spot for Homerton’s expertise.

Finally – DRAMA! This is not so much looking back to 2022, but a call out to all alumni who were involved in drama at Cambridge: whether in Homerton or in town, whether as an actor or behind the scenes, whether as part of a BEd or simply as part of what doctors call a balanced lifestyle. We have so much strength in our alumni base in this area, we are keen to make sure we have decent records.

Every good wish to all 19,958 of you for 2023 and beyond! n