THE COLLEGE RECORD I
FELLOWSHIP ELECTIONS
The President: Dr Jane Hughes At my interview for a Fellowship at Magdalene in 1987 I was asked the usual questions about teaching and research until we neared the end of the meeting. Having in the intervening years conducted more such interviews than Mr Love has served hot dinners, I can now guess that there had been much advanced discussion about who should ask the final, sixty-four thousand dollar question: David Clary had drawn the short straw. And how, he wondered, would I get on surrounded by all these men? Having not prepared an answer – I was from the very relaxed, co-educational environment of Girton College and it hadn’t occurred to me I’d be asked such a thing – I must have been somewhat unguarded. Anyway, my eyes lit up and I blurted out something like ‘it sounds absolutely terrific’. I was in. Having been the first female Fellow, I now feel immensely proud to be elected to be the first woman President. I am delighted that I shall be surrounded both by all these men and also by our remarkable cohort of women. No President could ask for a better college. It seems to me that the role of President is not one for which there is a straightforward job description. Of course, the President should maintain the values of the fellowship, help the College as a whole and also individuals within it to pursue their academic aspirations, involve the fellowship in the life of the entire institution, from students to staff, from gardens to governance, and represent all the Fellows whether they are here just for a year or two or in for the long haul. To keep what is best about an institution we have sometimes to be flexible, light on our feet and ready to change; at other times we have to fight like tigers to preserve the traditions in all their detail and exactitude. Maybe it is knowing when to do which that is the biggest challenge for a President? And Magdalene is a hard-working College. With a small fellowship, there are so many occasions on which it is very much a matter of all hands to the pump: and the President must ensure that respect for one another includes respect for one another’s time. I think it remarkable that the Magdalene fellowship is not
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