PART THREE
isolating. The students were magnificent too, enduring isolation in their rooms for what was then fourteen days – but at least they did not have to worry where their next meal was coming from. By November things were improving a little and we were able to bring some of the spirit of Formal Hall to ‘household suppers’ (this year, students were grouped into ‘households’ of about eight that they could mix freely with). These were hosted by the Master and Fellows and focused initially on fresher undergraduates and postgraduates. This was followed at the end of term by household suppers for everyone, which just happened to have a Christmas menu, and for which extra festive cheer was provided by a generous alumnus who metaphorically ‘put his card behind the bar’ and made them all half price – although sadly the usual rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas was strictly verboten by the Covid ban on public singing. The Christmas vacation saw more students in College than usual, as a lot of international students in particular could not go home, but Christmas Day saw Matt Rowe personally don his whites and produce canapés to enjoy with drinks hosted by the Master in a socially-distanced gathering for everyone still here. I cannot deny that Lent Term – and the third national lockdown – was a bit of a low point. Few students were able to return initially and, although we kept the Library and study spaces open, activity both inside and outside College was largely curtailed. Again the rhythm of Hall, with its hot lunches and dinners every day, and the opportunity to eat and converse, felt like an important thread in keeping the life of the College going. My own small contribution at this point was to organise a Fellows’ wine tasting, although inevitably it was on Zoom. I am currently half way through exams for the WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Diploma in Wines, so obviously I put this down as ‘revision’. The College butlers came up with an ingenious solution to providing tasting samples to avoid leaving participants with lots of half-empty bottles: containers left over from the last Snowball were pressed into service to pour (generous!) portions and seal them into boxes for Fellows to collect and take home. A good time was had by all – at least everyone was polite enough to say so, although it is really quite hard to go wrong with wine tasting, unless you do not like wine of course. The longer days of spring brought with them the first steps in the government ‘roadmap’, though not the warmth we experienced in 2020. Even so, our hardy students (and equally hardy Fellows) leapt at the opportunity in April to come to the Master’s garden and huddle in sixes on evenings so cold the white wine chilled itself, but we were all grateful for the small mercy. I asked the students in my groups what they would most like the College to do when restrictions permitted, and the almost unanimous answer was: ‘Formal Hall!’ So it was that, on Monday 17 May, Formals returned triumphantly for the first time in fourteen months. In tables of six, with reduced capacity, it may have been, but it was back – and four nights a week rather than the regular two. Despite exams, bookings were regularly full right through to the last one on 30 June. This article would not be complete without mentioning graduation day on 2 July. The lengthy negotiations with the City Council over how we would safely accommodate guests were not a highlight of my year, but getting agreement most definitely was. Quite simply, your children’s graduation only happens once and if you are not there, you are not there. Selwyn is fortunate in having such spacious and beautiful grounds in which
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Selwyn College Calendar 2020–2021
