Mansfield College Magazine Summer 2004

summer 2004 edition

mansfield ieldcollege

magazine

in this issue 1 Principal’s Message

6 A Giving Culture

11 Development Office News

2 New Bursar’s Thoughts

7 Treasures of Mansfield

12 College News

3 Library Developments

9 MCBC

13 Keiran Swan : Travels

5 Annual Fund 2003 - 2004 10 Oil painting of the College 15 Forthcoming Events

1 Principal’s Message

Dear Mansfield Member, At the end of my second year at Mansfield, it is time to take stock. It doesn’t take long. On the credit side, Mansfield is a pretty wonderful place (that much hasn’t changed); on the debit side there is, for want of a better word… the debit! Yes, a little more money wouldn’t come amiss! But our ship is afloat, our sails are set and the stock market winds are blowing in the right direction. As the poet1 said: “One ship drives east and another drives west With the selfsame winds that blow.

‘Tis the set of the sails and not the gales, Which tells us the way to go.”

Our sails are set to take us in the direction of a new building. It will be built here on site and will, planners permitting, provide twenty four en-suite study bedrooms for undergraduates, as well as splendid new seminar rooms and offices on the ground floor. This building is what might be termed the ‘tipping point’ for us. ‘The Tipping Point’ is the title of a book by Malcolm Gladwell, whose subtitle is ‘How little things can make a big difference’. In our case, this modestly-sized building has the potential to begin the transformation of our finances, in addition to enabling us to move towards our cherished ambition of having all our undergraduates living in College for their entire time with us. We’re close to having raised enough money to build without borrowing and we are confident that old members, parents and friends will help us to raise the £0.6 million outstanding. We’ll be in touch!

Academically, we are doing well. Last year’s freshers collectively produced the best ever showing for the College in their end of year exams. Our finalists, too, did well and there were some prize-winning achievements.

Mansfield students continued to dominate the journalistic world of Oxford and, during Michaelmas term, held the editorships of both student newspapers. Our Further Education Access Initiative, too, is going from strength to strength, with the consortium of seven Oxford Colleges which we lead having been awarded additional funding from the Higher Education Funding Council. There can hardly be a better time for Mansfield to be leading the way in helping the University to achieve its widening participation objectives.

And on top of all this, we have had a ball! Forget that May Balls are in June, our traditional November Ball was in January! So ours was the first, rather than the last, ball of the year. The fact that the marquee nearly blew away in the gales was neither here nor there – a great time was had by one and all. As the song so nearly has it: “Oh the weather outside is frightful But the fire is so delightful Since we know where we want to go Let it blow! Let it blow! Let it blow!”

With warmest good wishes to you all.

Diana Walford 1

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

New Bursar 2

“the Kylie Minogue of Oxford colleges is how Mansfield is described in the student prospectus” It’s an odd experience taking up a Bursarial post in an Oxford college deep inside the heatwave of a long summer vacation – no committees, the budget sorted and everything apparently under control. However, the feeling of ordered calm doesn’t last very long, ‘events’ take over, and writing this now deep inside the subsequent summer vacation (no heatwave this time) I have to say that life has taken on a very different tempo.

The ‘hints to the next Bursar’ written by my predecessor, Duncan Forbes, in the Spring edition of this magazine should have given me some warning of what was to come.

The Kylie Minogue of Oxford colleges is how Mansfield is described in the Student Prospectus (a description which I read only after accepting the post). A College which is small but feisty and full of energy – and so far there is every evidence that this is the case.

The legendary friendliness and community feel of the College is very apparent, together with a spirit and atmosphere of development and growth, which builds on the remarkable achievements of the last few years.

My own background was in teaching, local government and most recently the administration of the Bodleian Library. All of these jobs have had similar themes in terms of the challenges of continuing to provide a quality service in the face of increasingly difficult financial circumstances and an unending public sector ‘cultural revolution’. These challenges, obviously, are to be met partly by significant entrepreneurial, fund raising and income generation activities. But how are these things to be done in a way which does not compromise the core purposes and values of the organisation?

The trick, it seems to me, is to try to ensure that ‘managerialist’ approaches to efficiency and economy – which we do inevitably need - do not undermine the ways, based on dedication, trust and loyalty, and a sense of history, in which all college communities function best.

I have been enormously supported by the good-humoured advice and friendliness from everyone I have met – staff, and students - since starting at Mansfield. At the same time the ‘external supporters’ of Mansfield such as the members of the Development Board and the Finance Committee have been a tremendous source of encouragement and wise counsel.

I have yet to hone my croquet skills, and an ambition for a Mansfield staff cricket team is only in the initial planning stages, but I do feel (in the words of Kylie) ‘lucky, lucky, lucky’ to have become part of Mansfield, and to be able to contribute to its future development: both the bricks and mortar and the people within.

Steve Waterman Bursar

3 Library Development : New Libraries, New Technology stock several times over the years, and the core collections in Congregational and non-conformist history, together with related journals, are safely housed in the Gallery of the Main Library.

During the Summer Vacation the whole Library was completely re-furnished with oak tables and light fittings. Gratitude should be recorded to Charles Brock for funding the purchase of new chairs. The Library has now been catalogued electronically, with appreciation to cataloguers, Sheila Glen, Assistant Librarian, and Laura Tomes, Theology student, for this achievement. Access to Ethernet points for laptops is available from study tables positioned centrally, while from a separate work area, tables below the large windows provide access to the new College computers dedicated to student essay writing.

Greetings to all Mansfield alumni who remember the year 1976!

Philip Franks had just graduated, Guy Hands had not matriculated and it would be eleven years before Donald McDonald captained the Oxford boat to an epic victory. It was also the year of my appointment. Dr Caird was the College Principal and Oxford still had separate sex Colleges. The Librarian’s Office was a makeshift construction on the Library Landing, but the jewel in the crown then, and now, remains an exquisitely beautiful Library.

To all Mansfield students and friends who remember the Snooker Room, the Middle Common Room and the Council Room/T.V. Room being on the same level as the Library Landing, times have changed …

Oxford University Press gave each Oxford College Library, ten thousand pounds a year from 1 April 1998 for five years ‘to spend the money as it sees fit to benefit students’. Such an injection of cash, specifically for Library use, has resulted in extensive improvements to Library facilities.

The Main Library has two on-line catalogues and twenty four hour electronic self-issue borrowing facilities. The book collections on the ground floor have all been catalogued electronically and cover all disciplines except Theology and Law. In addition, small tables have been provided to fit in the bay windows with access to Ethernet points for laptops. Custommade oak chairs, with commemorative plaques, continue to be donated by alumni and friends of Mansfield to replace and extend the original ageing stock.

The former Middle Common Room is now a handsome and expanding Law Library. Specially designed shelves and spacious tables, now with Ethernet points, were installed three years ago.

Law students have also benefited from the purchase of a full set of Law Reports from Magdalen College through the generosity of Roger Finbow. Stephen Sayers also generously provided funds to enable Frederick Cooper, the College binder, to overhaul and refurbish the volumes to prevent further disintegration of loose bindings and leather casings. This important collection is in constant use by Law students who have twenty four hour access to the Library. The long-term support of other alumni is also gratefully appreciated; their gifts to the College subsidise the escalating cost of subscriptions to Law Journals.

The former Council Room and JCR/T.V. Room is now the Theology Library. Theology tutors have culled and updated the

Space in the Main Library is again at a premium. Plans to provide a separate Science Library for the significant number of Mansfield students reading Maths, Engineering, Physics and Metallurgy are under consideration. These subjects which began from a starting ‘kit’ of a few books in the late nineteen seventies and early eighties now occupy two Library bays. All books in Engineering, Metallurgy and Physics were re-classified over the Summer Vacation, with the help of Neale Harvey, Physics student, to accommodate the rapidly increasing accessions in these subjects.

There are also ideas to develop the Library Landings to further extend student facilities. The Oxford University Press donation has now been consumed so new funding will be required for these projects.

If you have not been able to visit the College in recent years, please contact me. If possible, please come to see the improvements for yourself; I enjoy giving personal guided tours.

You may also like to contribute to the extensive archive of Mansfield Memorabilia. Apart from the College Records and official documentation, I have a collection of student photographs, cartoons and ephemera. This year I received a unique and very precious collection of caricatures showing the first College tutors, a gift from Mr David Stevens, the son of Alan W. Stevens, a student here in 1907. The caricatures are by W.H. Coates, also a former student. While you may not be in possession of such an unusual collection, there may be photos of your student days, programmes of events, or other ephemera which you may like included in the archive. I look forward to hearing from you!

Alma Jenner Librarian alma.jenner@mansfield.ox.ac.uk

Elizabeth Radburn, Assistant Librarian for thirteen years, died in service in December 2001.

Her good humour, love of life and pleasure in taking care of the Library, made her a valued friend and colleague.

The Theology Library : A Transformation 4

1896

2004

‘In the Beginning …’it was a Junior Common Room; Turkish carpet, writing desks, cane chairs with buttoned velvet covers, Mansfield wanted to look like an Oxford College. The architect, Basil Champneys, achieved this with style, but could not have imagined its metamorphosis from 1890’s JCR to an automated Theology Library.

Post Second World War, the room became a student dormitory. Work cubicles, which the Admiralty had left behind after its occupation of the College, became sleeping cubicles for students. Gone was the beautiful Turkish rug; a grey floral carpet took its place. Its next incarnation was a Council Room by day and T.V. Room for students by night. Beer and snacks were brought up from the bar below and students reclined on non-reclining vinyl-covered chairs until the backs fell off and the black metal legs become strangely distorted.

Dignity was partially reclaimed in 1983 when it became a Library Reading Room and acquired four tables and an island bookcase to house the Law and Geography collections. The floral carpet remained, but the beer and snacks mostly stayed in the Snooker Room among very dusty and disintegrating Theology Journals that lined the shelves around the walls. Shelves and journals were eventually purged and moved into the Library Reading Room in 1989. By 1993 the Main Library had again reached capacity and a more logical arrangement of the collection was required. Rapidly expanding new disciplines needed more space and the Theology stock needed a radical overhaul. Theology tutors culled the stock and a modern Theology collection emerged which was moved to the Library Reading Room, now the Theology Library. The old grey carpet still survived for a few more years and was joined by some uncomfortable but functional grey plastic chairs, borrowed from the store of Conference furniture. College poverty, rather than policy, dictated this hand to mouth existence and consequently improvements to Library facilities were slow.

Fortunes changed in 1998 when the Library received a large donation. Oxford University Press gave all Oxford College Libraries £50,000 each over a five-year period, specifically for improvements to benefit students. The final tranche of money, due in April 2003, was destined to refurnish and automate the Theology Library. The College had just approved a plan to provide an Essay Room with new computers for students in the John Marsh Building, but it was realised that by combining the two projects the potential reward could be a superb modern student facility. With the Principal’s encouragement and further Governing Body approval, planning went into overdrive.

Tutors again weeded the theology collection to release more space and several hundred theology tomes were amended and moved to the Gallery. Existing Library tables were re-cycled to Merton and Teddy Hall; the floor was excavated and ageing power circuits replaced; ethernet routes for laptops were planned; tables with light fittings specially designed; the automation of five thousand theology books was begun. Finally, in the last week of September, after a Summer Vacation of intense activity, a new carpet was laid; solid oak tables with lights were fitted; ethernet points were connected and the new essay computers were installed.

All praise to Library staff, and to College IT, Maintenance and Domestic Departments for a great combined endeavour. Praise also to ‘Crowdys’ of Faringdon for the design and production of Library furniture, ‘Absolute Computers’, Oxford, and to the College Electrician. Michaelmas 2003 welcomed students to a Library transformed.

The donation from Oxford University Press has dramatically improved Library facilities for Mansfield students and our appreciation to the Delegates of the Press is gratefully recorded.

5 Annual Fund 2003 - 2004 Report The new blinds in the Library

Mr Kenneth Sears (1948) and one of the chairs he has donated to the Library in memory of his father.

This year’s Annual Fund projects went to the heart of what it means to provide an exceptional education for exceptional students. The projects were aimed at enhancing facilities within the College, particularly for the benefit of our students.

The centrepiece of this year’s Fund was the computerised Essay Writing Room. This was to provide networked facilities in the quiet environments of the Theology Library and the Main Library. The project comprised new handmade oak tables, in keeping with the character of the libraries, new computers, software and printers.

Staying with the libraries, we realised that the new computer screens would fall victim to the glare from the sun coming in through the windows of both the Main Library and Theology Library. We have therefore sought funds to provide blinds that would allow the students to use the computers regardless of the glorious English weather.

The photograph on the left shows the transformation that has been brought about to the library, through the generous response to the annual appeal and through other donations. In particular we are grateful to the estate of Dr Gordon Baker, formerly of St John’s College, Oxford for the new blinds in the library, which are proving extremely effective at reducing the glare.

Two other projects focused on the safety and comfort of those at the College. A new CCTV system will provide seven cameras around Mansfield to ensure the safety of the College’s students, staff, visitors and buildings. While our Chapel Chair Fund will provide the Chapel – such an integral part of Mansfield’s past, present and future – with 50 new wooden chairs to replace the worn-out raffia-bottomed chairs currently in use.

Bursaries featured once again this year in the Annual Fund. We sought further support for bursary provision, having raised over £100,000 to date, against our target of £200,000 for the Oxford University Bursary Scheme. The Scheme, launched in October 2002, provides all undergraduates whose tuition fees are paid in full by their local authority with bursaries worth £1000 in a student’s first year and £500 in each subsequent year of an undergraduate course.

The Annual Fund 2003/4 runs from September 2003 to August 2004. If you would like to support one of the projects listed above you can find details of the Annual Fund, along with a donation form, on the website or contact the Development Office for further information. Next year, there will not be an annual fund due of the launch of the second phase of the Access to Excellence campaign.

The total raised for the Annual Fund 2003/4 to date is:

£ 29, 764

A Giving Culture 6 Contrary to what many may think, raising funds for Mansfield is a far cry from simply asking some of our wealthier alumni to give large gifts containing four, five or even (hopefully!) six figures. Participation is one of the most important and influential elements of a successful campaign, be it the Annual Fund or a Capital Project such as providing new student accommodation.

Why is every gift so important and influential? Surely the tenner I gave five years ago didn’t make much of a difference? The point is small gifts do make a difference and they are influential. For a start, that tenner turns into nearly £13 once we have reclaimed the tax on the gift. These gifts and others like them increase our giving rates, particularly at a College with a relatively small number of students, and therefore alumni, such as Mansfield. These figures do much to enhance our case for support from outside the College community, such as from Trusts, Foundations and corporate donors. Being able to demonstrate significant support from our alumni and current members of the College does much to strengthen our approaches to these bodies by highlighting the loyalty and generosity of our alumni.

With this in mind, we thought that we would take a look at our giving rates (the percentage of alumni from a particular year that have donated) for Mansfield alumni matriculating between 1960 and 2000 and create our own Mansfield Fantasy League.

As you can see, the sixties and seventies are dominating the upper reaches of the league tables at the moment (as they would be in any college), but the positions can soon change. The best way to make sure your matriculation year is moving up and challenging for honours is to organise a class gift. For instance, should 1999 gain ten new donors, tax-efficiently giving £10 per month for 3 years, not only would they climb into the second division but they would raise over £4,500 towards a fund of their choosing. Similarly, if 1963 found 15 new donors giving gifts of £20 per month over 5 years they would raise over £23,000 - as well as sitting proudly on top of the Premiership!

Of course, participation is just the start. There are many different ways of making a donation that will be of great benefit to Mansfield. A class gift is just one way, but it also offers a chance for you to get back in touch with your contemporaries.

We shall be updating the league tables regularly on the website, with details of the big climbers and fallers. Rewards (non-financial!) will be on offer for the year that has the most improved giving rate, and also for the Premiership leaders, by the time the Summer 2005 Magazine goes to print.

For more details on organising a class gift, please contact the Development Office.

Top Sixties Top Seventies 1966 : 2nd in Premiership 1974 : 1st in Premiership

As of 27th July 2004 the results are as follows:

PREMIERSHIP 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th

1974 1966 1960 1964 1972 1962 1970 1973 1977 1975

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th

1967 1971 1976 1965 1978 1968 1979 1963 1961 1982

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th

1988 1984 1980 1983 1985 1991 1995 1969 1989 1994

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th

1993 1986 1987 1990 1997 1998 2000 1992 1996 1999

50.00 % 44.70 % 44.40 % 44.30 % 36.60 % 35.00 % 32.20 % 32.20 % 29.70 % 27.30 %

DIVISION 1 27.00 % 25.80 % 24.30 % 24.30 % 22.60 % 22.60 % 22.00 % 21.40 % 22.80 % 18.50 %

DIVISION 2 17.10 % 16.10 % 15.20 % 14.75 % 14.70 % 13.30 % 13.00 % 12.50 % 11.40 % 09.56 %

DIVISION 3

Top Eighties 1982 : 10th in Division 1

09.50 % 09.20 % 08.30 % 06.50 % 05.40 % 03.50 % 03.40 % 03.30 % 02.20 % 01.00 %

Top Nineties 1991 : 6th in Division 2

7

Silver Christening cups donated by J Knight Bostock

treasures of mansfield

Portrait of George Whitefield

Even before you start reading this, it is likely that you are already wondering how on earth a college as poverty-stricken as Mansfield can possibly have anything that might answer to the description of ‘treasure’. Of course, it may be that we are talking about Hugh Flint and Mike Sherwood, the two college porters who are well in the running for long-service medals. If there was a Norrington table college for porters, we would surely be at the head of it. In Hugh and Mike we have two veritable treasures.

What prompted this piece, however, was the realization, after poring over some of the college archives, that in the very first decades of its life, Mansfield was the recipient of a remarkable range of gifts, including books, pictures, busts and silver. In recent years, the college has been trying to trace these gifts and to draw up inventories of what survives and what has disappeared. In parallel, initial steps are being taken to conserve some of this heritage, notably where items have suffered the tests of time.

There is now newly hanging in the SCR a distinguished portrait of the Anglican dissenter, George Whitefield (17141770). For years it languished on the wall of the Council Room, its canvas masked in layers of nicotine and general grime, not to mention a nasty gash made by a flying chair leg. The portrait has now been restored by Ruth Bubb, one of the Ashmolean’s regular conservators, and it is revealed as a remarkable picture, right down to Whitefield’s characteristic squint.1 Oil portraits of Whitefield are uncommon (there is a smaller, less attractive example in Pembroke). The name of the artist remains unidentified at present, but the style is not unrelated to the school of Thomas Hudson, the famous eighteenth-century portraitist. The picture came to the college from Lord Winterstoke, the member of the Wills Tobacco family who endowed much of the stained glass in the Chapel. It was presented in 1895, plainly as a reminder of the dissenting tradition that Mansfield marked out in late nineteenth-century collegiate Oxford. Whitefield now has the pleasure of gazing across at a dissenter from an earlier century, Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell’s portrait has been hanging above the SCR fireplace almost since the time of the college’s opening. Some fellows long for it to be removed and consigned to some less prominent position. However, the picture has an interesting history. The gift of a Liverpool non-conformist, William Crosfield, in 1889, it is a copy of the picture of Cromwell that hangs in the Pitti Palace in Florence. The copy was done by a Florentine painter and it is set in a characteristic Florentine frame (which, curiously, is probably worth more than the picture). The original portrait was commissioned by the Grand Duke of Tuscany to commemorate Cromwell’s successful petitioning of the Pope to halt the persecution of the Waldenses.

8

Examples from the folio of W.H. Coats who studied at the College from 1903 to 1907

Among items of silver gifted to the college over the years are two remarkable christening cups. They were made by a Birmingham silversmith in the 1870s and were given to the college in 1950 by J. Knight Bostock. They are inscribed with the initials of William and Caroline Elizabeth Bostock of Ashton-under-Lyne and dated 1893 and 1897. William Bostock was one-time superintendent of the Sunday School at Albion Congregational Church in Ashton.

An altogether different kind of treasure was recently received by Alma, the College Librarian. It is a folio of cartoon images done at the very beginning of the twentieth century. The cartoons were the work of W.H. Coats who was a student from 1903 to 1907. They mostly depict senior members of the college in various poses and settings. It is hoped to use some of the images in future appeal memorabilia. The folio was presented by David Stevens whose father, Alan Stevens, was up at Mansfield at the same time as Coats.

One compelling reason for drawing college treasures under the spotlight has been the discovery that, fifty years ago, the college authorities sold off three paintings and a crayon drawing by Thomas Gainsborough. The pictures were gifts of one of the artist’s descendants, Miss Emily Browne of High Wycombe. They included a portrait of Gainsborough Dupont, the artist’s nephew, which once hung in the SCR. Financial exigencies are ever-present in a college like Mansfield, but it is clear that the sale of the pictures in the early 1950s was ill-advised (they fetched just £1746). Now that the college has a clearer idea of the nature and worth of its remaining treasures, it is hoped that similar mistakes can be avoided in the future.

The tradition of making gifts in kind continues in the twenty-first century. The college, and the SCR especially, has recently been presented with a pair of cut glass decanters. They were the gift of Donald Sykes, a former Principal and someone who remains very active in the college. Likewise, a gift of money from the family of the late John Marsh (another former Principal) has enabled the commissioning of a second oak dining table for use in the SCR. Crafted by Crowdys of Faringdon, it closely follows the design of the oak furniture made for the SCR in the late 1880s. I am sure that, after another century has passed, it will still be in situ. Or perhaps that is tempting fate?

Michael Freeman Supernumerary Fellow and Lecturer in Human Geography, Senior Tutor

9 MCBC

rowing at mansfield is (once again) on the up!

Over recent years the boat club has been fortunate enough to have had a succession of hard-working and enthusiastic captains. Through endless hard work the foundations of the club have been strengthened both in terms of the number of members and the level of interest within college. Thanks also to the number of successful fundraising events, the bank balance has been given a renewed lease of life, allowing money to be spent replacing the club’s ailing equipment. For the first time in years, rowers at Mansfield can now slip their feet into decent rowing shoes, with no need to tape their feet onto the footplate of the boats! Mansfield, despite being small, has a big presence on the river, with many colleges fearing the sight of the mighty red and yellow blades cruising up and down the Isis.

came in the form of a debut by Chris Martin, the Dean of College who took his seat in the Men’s 1st VIII! With a good start to training the Men’s 1st VIII could celebrate success at Shrewsbury, with an overall win in the Novice VIIIs. Confidence restored. A good atmosphere within the club and the thumbs-up from Bill Thompson, our Senior Consultant, the scene looked set for Summer VIIIs.

2002-03 again built on this reputation! So many keen freshers attended the introductory event during freshers week that some unfortunately did not manage to get an outing on the day, such was the demand to get in the boats! This enthusiasm was maintained throughout the whole of Michaelmas, despite the appalling weather, with the club managing to select five novice boats for the Christ Church Regatta. Once again rain stopped play, but this resulted in there being a large pool of keen freshers for the captains to choose from to make up the Hilary Term squads.

Following the purchase of a new (to us) boat, a naming ceremony was held on the first day of racing with guest of honour, boat club Old Boy and all-round legend Donald MacDonald pouring champagne over the bow of the “Charles Brock.”

Hilary Term was more of success if only in terms of the weather! Although the rain lashed down for many of the days early on in the term, the rest of the term remained relatively dry so that outings could continue. In all, 3 boats raced for the men’s boat club with a single boat racing for the women’s club. Despite rowing into the Second Division on the first day, the next two days of racing saw the Men’s 1st VIII bumped back down two places in what was, to be honest, a rather poor performance. Thankfully the 4th day of racing was cancelled and the rowing could once again be laid to rest for Hilary (the unspoken) Term. This is not to take away glory from the Mansfield Men’s Beer Boat, however, who went on to bump 3 days in a row, narrowly missing blades due only to the cancellation of the fourth day.

In Trinity Term things were looking up with a return to the water by many of the “fair weather” rowers. As a result we were able to assemble boats that were made up of many of the rowers from the VIIIs from last year. An added bonus

Three men’s crews and two women’s crews made up Mansfield’s naval assault against the other colleges. The Men’s 3rd VIII and Women’s 2nd VIII were unhappy casualties to “Rowing On” not managing to secure positions, but Mansfield was still able to enter three boats into the final competition.

This started the celebrations for the week and happily it can be reported that the Men’s 1st VIII did the unthinkable and continued the party, managing to bump up five places over four days. This was much to the delight of the huge Mansfield following that had lined the banks offering great vocal support. The Men’s 2nd VIII backed up this result with a further 3 bumps, leaving Mansfield rated statistically as one of the most successful boat clubs of the year. With the Men’s 1st VIII managing the hallowed 5 Bump Blades, taking out: Sommerville, Oriel II, LMH, Worcester, Pembroke II, over 4 days of exciting racing and the Men’s 2nd VIII impressive performance, the dinner on Saturday was, needless to say, a great occasion.

The end of the year saw 1st VIII established in the 2nd Div, with no college 2nd boats ahead of us. The pecking order had been restored!

For more information on the successes and antics of the Boat Club please consult website; www.friendofbill.com

Andrew “Des” Walker Captain of Boats 2002-2003

oil painting of mansfield college 10

Those of you fortunate enough to have had the chance to enjoy one of those hot summer days at Mansfield last year may well have noticed an artist stationed outside the Porters’ Lodge. Richard Klein (PPE 1982, past JCR President) commissioned Peter Brown, an artist from Bath who has painted many Oxbridge Colleges, to paint in oils, Richard’s alma mater.

Richard and Peter have very kindly given the College permission to reproduce this fantastic piece of work as a limited edition print with the proceeds generously being donated to the College.

There are only 500 available so buy now to avoid disappointment - there has already been a great deal of interest in them.

The prints are 600 x 430 mm and priced at ÂŁ 150.

Further details are available from the Development Office.

Development Office Mansfield College Mansfield Road Oxford OX1 3TF Telephone: 01865 270998 Fax: 01865 270970 E-mail: anu.dawson@mansfield.ox.ac.uk

11 Development Office News How time flies. This time last year I was working at “the other place” and had just been offered the job of Development Director at Mansfield College. Challenging was one word that came up when I told colleagues in the know about where I was heading. They weren’t wrong either! But I don’t think I could have found a better place to be challenged.

If the past 11 months are anything to go by, the College is certainly heading in the right direction to meet its challenges head-on. However, the distance that remains to be covered is still considerable, but with the tremendous support that Mansfield receives, and the attitude and application of everyone involved in College life, I’m sure that these challenges will be met and our goals realised.

Having had time to acclimatise, it would seem that the College certainly punches above its weight in many areas. The students seem to acquit themselves most impressively both in their academic lives and in their extra-curricular activities. The Fellowship is incredibly committed, not only to their subject areas but also to the College as a whole and to its vision. The staff are friendly, honest, hard working and ready to enjoy a jar or two should it happen to be your birthday. The thing that has struck me most, and I know that this is a feeling shared amongst the staff arriving last summer, is the incredible community spirit that seems to envelop you as soon as you come through the gates. Having worked in a Cambridge College previously I thought I was prepared for the family atmosphere that the unique collegiate system seems to generate, but Mansfield seems to have refined it to the nth degree, or maybe it’s just an Oxford thing?

As you may have gathered, I rather like the place, and I feel privileged to be able to contribute to Mansfield by helping to secure its long-term future.

The family certainly doesn’t end with those currently at the College. Parents of students both present and past, current and former staff and most importantly our alumni all do, and hopefully will continue to, play a major role in the future of the College.

Our alumni are key to helping the College provide Mansfield’s current students and staff with what they no doubt richly deserve for their incredible efforts in ensuring Mansfield continues to overachieve.

Three ways of directly ensuring this come in the form of the new on-site accommodation, Bursaries and the efforts to endow a number of academic posts.

Our new on-site accommodation building will enable us to house another 24 students here at the College. This will not only bring one third of the students currently ‘living out’ back to Mansfield, but will also provide a new stream of income

for the College through increased conference facilities which will be incorporated in the building. This landmark project will cost £1.8 million, of which we have already raised £1.2 million. Our aim is to try to secure all the remaining funds without having to borrow from the bank. We shall be approaching Trusts and Foundations for grants but we hope that alumni will give to this cause with characteristic generosity.

With the introduction of Top Up Fees in 2006, it will become even more important for Mansfield to be able to provide bursaries for our less well off students. We are aiming to raise funds for a number of bursaries valued at £3000 per students which will be worth £1000 for the three years of an undergraduate course. This is a further step forward in Mansfield’s ongoing campaign to widen access to Oxford.

The endowment of academic posts will ensure that the tutorial system, one of Oxford’s key strengths, will continue to provide the same fantastic educational experience.

Government funding of the tutorial system continues to reduce and Mansfield is particularly vulnerable owing to the small size of its endowment. Endowing existing tutorial fellowships in subjects such as Politics and Law, amongst others, will not only continue to secure teaching of the highest level in the future but also release funds, currently used to support the tutorial system, for other essential educational purposes.

As you can see, our task remains great, but we are confident of success. My thanks to those who have already contributed and continue to support the College so generously. I hope that Mansfield will be able to count on the support of many more alumni and friends long into the future.

development departure.....

Unfortunately, Eve Robert finally decided to leave Mansfield after five and a half years at the College. Initially as a student reading Theology, taking in the JCR Presidency along the way, and then as Development Officer. I know I speak for all at Mansfield when I say a big thank you to Eve for her magnificent contribution to Mansfield in both her roles. I know I couldn’t have managed without her knowledge of, and dedication to, the College.

Filling Eve’s shoes is Anu Dawson, who joins us from St Clare’s College on Banbury Road. Anu arrives here from a position similar to Eve’s, having studied and worked at St Clare’s. Her first task was the design and production of this publication which, I’m sure you’ll agree, looks excellent.

Andy Wood Development Director

College News 12

Professorships We are delighted to announce that two of our Fellows, Stephen Blundell, Professor of Physics and Ian Sargent, Professor of Reproductive Science, have been awarded the title of Professor by the Distinctions Committee. The Professorships were awarded through the “Recognition of Distinction Exercise”.

This is held approximately every two years and individuals have to submit detailed descriptions of their undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, examining, administration, College duties, advanced study and research including grants and publications and future plans for research.

The criteria for the title of Professor are: 1) research of outstanding quality 2) significant international reputation 3) comparable in distinction with that expected of a Professor in other major research Universities 4) teaching and administration Stephen Blundell’s research interests are in condensed matter physics and quantum mechanics, particularly in their application to problems in magnetism and superconductivity and especially in low-dimensional and organic systems. His work uses a combination of high magnetic fields and also a technique called muon-spin rotation. Positively charged muons

form a major part of cosmic rays (several hit you every second!) but his group uses the world’s most intense beams of these particles to study a variety of problems, particularly concerning organic magnets and superconductors, and various oxides. The muons are used to provide information about the magnetic fields that exist inside materials at the atomic level, which in turn helps to elucidate the way in which the various materials work.

Ian Sargent says: “I have been given the title of Professor of Reproductive Science. I am also Scientific Director of the Oxford IVF Unit. I have two main areas of research which are centred around the immunology of pregnancy. Basically the question we are addressing is how does the fetus avoid being rejected by the mother’s immune system and are certain types of infertility and problems in later pregnancy caused by immunological mechanisms? I therefore work both on human embryo implantation failure and a disease of later pregnancy called pre-eclampsia, which can affect up to 1:10 of all pregnancies and is a major cause of fetal and maternal death worldwide. We are trying to unravel the mechanisms involved in these processes with the aim of developing treatments for these distressing conditions.”

North American Reunion 2004 This year’s University North American Reunion was held, once again, at the magnificent Waldorf=Astoria Hotel in New York on the 16th & 17th April. The events began on the Friday evening with a reception for all University guests in the elegant surroundings of the hotel’s Grand Ballroom. The Mansfield table was even joined by one of our current Scholars – Isabel Regan, a second-year Geographer on a field trip to New York! This was followed on the Saturday by a series of talks and lectures on many interesting and varied subjects.

The Saturday evening saw the Mansfield Reunion take place in the Morgan Suite of the Waldorf=Astoria. A good number of alumni and friends attended the reception and the event was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Over the weekend, plans for a North American alumni group were discussed and met with a very positive response. The aim of the group will be to provide a network for Mansfield alumni, which will initially be based in New York, to give them the opportunity to arrange various events with the help of the Development

Office. Further details of this group will be available later in 2004 and we hope to report on the inaugural Mansfield North American event in our next issue in early 2005.

If you are interested in assisting the Development Office in this venture please get in touch.

Attendees at the 2004 North American Reunion: Rachel Adams (Social Studies 2001) & guest, Sidney Blankenship (Theology 1967), Clayton Bond (Environmental Change and Management 2000), Sara Cross (Women’s Studies 1998), Diane Dunne (Parent of Dana Dunne, Visiting Student 1983), Diana Glassman (Visiting Student, Zoology 1986) & guest, Thea Hashagen (Visiting Student) & guest, Josh Kurtzig (Visiting Student History and Politics 1999), Mia McDonald (Visiting Student, English 1985), Isabel Regan (Current Student), Martin Rowe (Religous Studies MA 1991), Teena Shetty (Visiting Student, English 1993) & guest and John Zolidis (Visiting Student, Philosophy 1993).

13 Keiran Swann, Geography 2003

One of the hardest things I had to do was to decide where I should go. I wanted to visit so many places and had bought a round-the-world air ticket that would pretty much let me do just that. I decided I’d spend the majority of my time in Asia but that I’d get the maximum mileage out of my ticket and spend a little time in several countries. I wanted to experience other cultures and see different people and see how they lived their lives in such different condition to those at home. Asia was the place I could do this and the difference within the continent meant that each time I crossed a border there was a whole new experience awaiting me. It wasn’t until I had given up my soul-destroying Gap Year job, packed my bag and said my goodbyes that I started to wonder what form these experiences would take.

Two days later I was on a rooftop garden of a guesthouse in Agra, India, overhung by a huge tropical tree. Looking closely at the tree I saw a large, red faced monkey with a huge tail curling over its head, climb up and look straight over to where I was sitting with my friend, enjoying a clandestine Kingfisher Beer and eating from a huge bag of fruit bought in the market minutes before. Hearing a noise in the background we turned to see a man on a rooftop whooping at a circulating flock of parrots and hurling a lassoo around his head. It seemed a bit strange, but no one else appeared to be interested. As I turned back to the table, I saw the Taj Mahal gleaming white in the hot sun and it hit me then that I was really there, living out the trip I’d been planning for months. I thought that the memories I’d have, like this one, would be of little things like just enjoying the view of the surroundings. I went to get a banana from the plastic bag and again looked at the modern wonder of the world in front of me. Out of the corner of my eye something seemed to be approaching at quite a speed, before I could work out what it was I pushed back from the table and watched as the huge monkey bounced over the wall with the entire bag of fruit. I picked up the emptying bottles and thought; memories of the views? Maybe it’s going to be a bit more dramatic than that.

In Agra, like everywhere in India people are employed in vast numbers to do the job of one person. In each shop

there were at least 15 assistants who would ask if you required any help with a friendly smile that had commission written all over it. Road maintenance workers were required to use basic tools in order to create more jobs, and people seemed to be employed to work in jobs that seemed to not really require 60 hours a week of a person’s time. The man with a catapult patiently sitting on a wall in the corner of the garden waiting to take out fruit-hunting monkeys worked in this particular sector. He was asleep at the time of the attack, and looking for a new job when he woke.

The next time we were to come in close contact with animals was in Udaipur, Rajasthan. This time it was one of the many holy cows that grace the wastelands, pavements and major highways in Indian cities. The cows and people generally live in harmony and both appear satisfied by that relationship.

Indians show respect to the cows to maintain Hindu spiritual purity, and the cows show respect to the people in hope of old sugar cane and corn leaves. The only time trouble occurs is when two bulls meet. When this happens in a crowded street the drill amongst passers by seems to be to run for cover. From a shop, a safety-conscious two metres from street level, we watched as the bulls locked horns and grappled, hitting shops and holding up the traffic. After 10 minutes of combat, some experienced locals attempt to split the beasts apart. The first attempt was made with a can of water. The next by a brave guy with his sandal which he forcefully took to the back of one bull, again failure. Attempt number three with an iron bar made little headway in separating the animals but did a great job infuriating them.

Thankfully one of the drivers of the blockaded traffic decided enough was enough and clicked his feet together making his elephant walk through towards the bulls, one of whom saw his chance and ran away at full speed down the road.

After two wonderful months and the inevitable illness that India affords to every western tourist (except my superimmune travel buddy), we left the crowds, noise, cows and curries behind and headed towards the south east of the continent.

Gap Year Travels 14

After three weeks reacquainting with the west in Malaysia and a few days seeing the ‘sights’ of Bangkok we journeyed by train to the border heading towards Vientiane, capital city of Laos.

Laos is undeveloped. Few buildings in the capital, home to only 225,000, exceed 2 or 3 stories. One thing that did, however, was the Victory Monument, erected by the Pathet Loa Communists in 1975. Made from concrete donated by the Americans for the resurfacing of the landing strip of the national airport, it is know locally as the “vertical runway”. But to experience the real Laos we travelled into the north. I had read a warning in the travel guide about the safety of the route, and picked up a Foreign Office report on a website detailing the murders of tourists in the previous months by armed bandits. I was a little apprehensive before we set off on our 9-hour bus ride along the notorious ‘national route 13’. This apprehension was made worse by the thick fog that set in as we ascended the mountains at a crawl, however I did feel a little better in the knowledge that we had an armed guard in the seat across the aisle, machine gun across his lap. I got a bit jumpy every time he sprinted to the front of the bus with his weapon ready to go and his eyes fixed on something ahead. I thought he looked worried. After several of these forward lunges I concluded that his AK47 was new and he was just keen to try it out.

We had a great week on the river, visiting tribal villages, and seeing enough Buddhist temples to last a lifetime. After the week we didn’t want to leave - mainly because it entailed a less than relaxing trip back down route 13 to Vientiane.

After a 36 hour bus journey (22 hours according to the leaflet!) in an old Russian bus with hard seats (a deluxe and comfortable coach, again according to the leaflet) I arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam - the most beautiful and friendly city that I had the pleasure of seeing in the entire trip. We ended up spending an extra 4 days there visiting the open Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, various war museums, several local parks and eating some great food, most memorably, pig brain soup. Even the pickpockets were friendly. After a failed attempt to grab my friend’s watch, one particularly

scruffy individual smiled and nodded politely before walking off down the road.

Next stop was the hill tribes in the north, close to the Chinese border. Here they are very traditional, in H’mong tribal clothing with large piercings and hand crafted jewellery that must not have changed much for centuries. The market sold various locally grown vegetables, fruit and meats including a delicately quartered dog and fish kept in a bucket and killed to order. The method of killing was to pick the fish from the bucket, chop its head off with a cleaver, gut and bone it before cutting it into smaller portions, all which happened seemingly before the fish had ceased moving. This bond to the culture was shown nicely by three young H’mong girls in their tribal wear, picking leaves near a path we were walking. As soon as I produced my camera for a quick snap one said ‘Mr, one picture, one dollar!’ The more of Vietnam I saw the more I liked it. It was so diverse. In the month we were there we saw the amazing formations of the Halong Bay scenescape, the torn-up battle zones of the DMZ, the beaches of Nha Trang, manic streets of Ho Chi Minh City with millions of motorbikes and street stalls, but best of all was the brand new Saigon water parks complete with Vietnam’s tallest (and I’m sure only) waterslide!

Now with only one month remaining I wondered what other experiences I would have before I went home, and suffice to say I had my fair share. The most memorable involved a hired motorbike and a Cambodian minefield! I was also lucky enough to have a few days in Australasia including a dive on the barrier reef, a day watching whales and dolphins in Auckland, and a week in a beach hut in the tropical paradise of Western Samoa. This was followed by a night in Hollywood and a few days in Washington DC. It was the most amazing and the fastest six months of my life, and when I think about all those things that I did and all the places I visited I feel so lucky to have the chance to travel and see the world. I was just sorry that many of the people who made this trip the wonderful experience it was would never have the opportunity to live in as much comfort as I do.

events at mansfield 2004 Saturday 18th September Thursday 11th November

Seventh Annual Parents Dinner Drinks Evening in London

2005 Saturday 22nd January April July September

Gaudy for Matriculation years 1965 - 1975 Hands Lecture Gaudy for Matriculation years 1995-2000 Eighth Annual Parents Dinner

For those who asked for a re-think of the arrangements for Commemoration we hope to announce details in the next edition of the Magazine.

weddings at mansfield We would like to offer all our former members the opportunity to hold their wedding receptions at Mansfied College.

Mansfield College is able to offer a unique location for a wedding reception. We can cater for between 30 and 85 people in the Dining Hall and for up to 300 people in a Marquee in the quad. Anything from a BBQ to a Banquet can be catered for and a cash bar can be provided at any event. Evening receptions can be held in a Marquee or in the JCR. If you would like more information on holding your wedding reception at the College, please contact Chris Morris, The Conference Administrator.

tell us your news‌ In the next edition of the Mansfield Magazine, we will include a section of alumni news alongside the regular news items you are used to reading. We hope this section will help people to keep up to date with what their contemporaries and other graduates of Mansfield have gone on to do since leavings the College We want to hear what you have been up to! Use the enclosed Update Form to tell us about a new job, births, marriages, promotions and other significant events. This section can include photographs as well as short items of news for those alumni from whom we have heard.

If you would like your news to be included in the next edition of the Mansfield Magazine, please complete and return the Contact Form which should have been sent to you with this magazine. We will do our best to include as many items of news as we can.