Alumni Association Report

Making connections

Daniel Tarry (Geography, 2011), President of the Mansfield College Alumni Association (MCAA), reports on significant developments and singular times in the Association’s life during 2020/21.

The past year has been another strange period for the MCAA, with most activities being conducted online. The Association continued to work to ensure that alumni were well-supported by College, while Mansfield was also doing a superb job of helping students remotely. The Committee and I express our thanks to all College staff who have supported the student body through this extraordinary time. The Development Office has provided us with a fantastic programme of (largely) virtual events, and I have particularly enjoyed attending the Mansfield Public Talks series and seeing many of you I would rarely have the chance to meet at in-person functions.

It was great to join the ‘Mansfield does University Challenge’ event in February (in lieu of the annual London Drinks get-together), the 2020 Hands Lecture in November, and one of the Online Reunions held in October with current and emeritus Mansfield Fellows. As a Mansfield Geography alumnus, I especially relished the opportunity to catch up with Professor Tony Lemon, Dr Pam Berry and Professor Derek McCormack during the Geography reunion. At the Alumni Picnic on 26 June, I was able to have a tour of the new Legacy Garden, formerly the Fellows’ Garden: a superb transformation of a previously underused space and well worth a visit.

Over the past year our Committee has worked on two key initiatives: mentoring and alumni ambassadors. The mentoring programme, in pilot form for this year, has been a great success connecting alumni with current students. Particular thanks go to Shahenda Darwich (PPE, 2011) for taking a lead on this. The alumni ambassador initiative aims to create a network of alums across the globe to support the work of the Committee, but through a role that is more flexible in terms of the time commitment required.

The Mansfield College Alumni Association is your association; on leaving Mansfield you automatically became members. Please get in touch at MansfieldCollegeAlumniAssociation@outlook.com if you would like to be involved in the Committee or its activities, helping to widen and maintain the alumni community and the Mansfield family.

Mansfield College Alumni Association Committee

President: Daniel Tarry (Geography, 2011) Secretary: Mike Walton (English, 1956) College representative: Lucinda Rumsey (Senior Tutor and Tutor for Admissions) Committee members: Serena Arthur (English, 2016), Peter Bergamin (Oriental Studies, 2012), Shahenda Darwich (PPE, 2011), Adrian David (Mathematics, 2010), Lydia Felty (VSP, 2015), Adam Kelly (English, 2016), Miriam Kennet (MSc Environmental Change & Management, 1997), Rebecca Loxton (English, 2011), Lucy Mahoney (DPhil Geography & the Environment, 2009), Gerald Moule (MTh Applied Theology, 2004), Donald Norwood (Theology, 1959), Daniel Seiderer (MBA, 2007), Damola Shobowale (Jurisprudence, 2013), Bob Skelly (English, 1965)