6 minute read
VMC Trust
Van Mildert College Trust
The Van Mildert College Trust was established in 2009, with the aim of supporting excellence across all areas of College life, with a particular focus on promoting the energy and talent of our students.
Advertisement
The Trust has four key aims: Enhancing Research Promoting Learning Facilitating Career building Enabling Cultural Enrichment
Following on from the Trust’s 10th Anniversary celebrations in September 2019, the Van Mildert Trust hosted a virtual Wine Tasting in February.
The session, led by Abigail Bennington, Van Mildert College Trustee and who was recently awarded a Diploma from Wine & Spirit Education Trust, brought together members of the College’s alumni and wider community for an insightful and engaging evening. Guests sampled a delightful selection of Argentinian wines, and it was wonderful to catch up on guest’s experiences of the past year, via Zoom.
A highlight of the College’s Epiphany term was certainly the annual Trust Lecture, hosted virtually this year in collaboration with the Van Mildert Dimensions programme.
The Trust was delighted to welcome Dame Jane Francis, Director of British Antarctic Survey, who gave a fascinating talk entitled ‘Antarctica: The Global Impact of a Changing Environment’. The Lecture can be viewed on the Van Mildert College YouTube Channel.
The talk was followed by a discussion with University executive, College alumni and colleagues from the Departments of Geography and Earth Sciences, which provided further fascinating insight into the complexities of this changing landscape.
Following on from the Trust’s 10th anniversary celebrations in 2019-20, the College Trust has continued to provide financial support to the College across three key areas; our Scholarships and Bursaries programme, support for key College Common Room initiatives, and the College environment, namely the College Anniversary Garden, which has continued to thrive this year. In particular, a key success for the Van Mildert College Trust in the past academic year, was the election of a new Van Mildert College Trust PhD Scholar, Matthew McCullough, following a rigorous application process.
The VMCT provides three years of support for students undertaking a postgraduate research doctorate, covering tuition, accommodation, living costs and other expenses. We are delighted to have Matthew, undertaking a PhD in Music, join our College community.
Overleaf, Matthew McCullough provides an insight into his first year as the Van Mildert College Trust PhD scholar, and the College projects he has been a part of in the past year.
Looking ahead, the next academic year offers further opportunities for the Trust to support excellence in all areas of College life, and we look forward to welcoming guests who have supported the College’s Trust in person again soon.
Elizabeth Ryder
Introducing the VMCT PhD Scholar, Matthew McCullough
In what is now my fifth year in Durham, it has been an honour and privilege to ascend the hill and join the community as this year’s Van Mildert College Trust PhD Scholar.
My research focuses on British composers’ responses to WWI and the ways in which they helped to shape a collective and cultural memory of the conflict.
Whilst largely based in musicology, my thesis is disciplinarily nomadic in its wider observations on death, trauma, and memory, providing a stimulating intellectual challenge and one which I hope will furnish readers with thoughts about the complex role that music plays in the development of our cultural and human condition.
It has been an unusual year, no doubt, but the battles with technology and closer proximity to the ether than each other haven’t stifled college activity.
In December we gathered around the feather for some impromptu carols. Assembling musos and mildertians from a quiet Durham, we witnessed rousing voices in an array of harmonies sounding against college buildings and the cold winter’s hoarfrost.
For those unable to join us, there was of course the Mildert Carols by Candlelight; this year online. I was delighted to accompany Sam Hill and Ben Thompson in some beautifully sung carols.
We also had contributions from Associate Fellow, Matthew Morgan, our Prowse Fellow, David Wakeham, and a particularly inspired rendition of O Little Town of Bethlehem by ‘Household 7.’
Music again took centre stage in a Dimensions programme interview with choral conductor, Ralph Allwood. I talked with Ralph about his career, the power of music, and the importance of arts education – the first in a series of ‘Choral Conversations’ to grace the Van Mildert YouTube Channel.
On a more scholarly note, it was a joy to organise an online conference on the themes of Music, Mortality, and Ritual for The Centre for Death and Life Studies; an unforgettable and inspiring day.
As I write I am preparing for a visit to Cambridge where I hope to resurrect some music by Alan Gray from the university archives.
It’s been an utter delight to witness Mildert’s refusal to silence the arts in a time when the very depth of our sensitiveness, that thing which art reflects and for which it is a vehicle, is being tested by lockdowns and periods of isolation.
I’d like to express my gratitude to the College Trust for their generosity in allowing me to share in Mildert’s voice.
Matthew McCullough
Support Van Mildert College Trust
You can support the work of Van Mildert College Trust online at www.dunelm.org.uk/donations/colleges/vanmildert
Post can be sent to: VM Principal’s Office | Van Mildert College | Durham University | Mill Hill Lane | Durham | DH1 3LH
Environment
In the most recent edition of The Mildertian, the College’s Green Committee and College staff team noted that they would be making efforts to reduce the use of single use plastics in College as part of the College’s PastSIX to Go Campaign.
Whilst the Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly posed new challenges to this aim, the College has continued to advocate for the reduction of single-use plastic, introducing reusable plastic cups for the Van Mildert College Bar.
In addition, all new students have continued to receive a reusable water bottle and takeaway mug, alongside the Van Mildert College ‘Bag for Life’. The key environmental initiative for the College this year has undoubtedly been the new ‘Mildert Meadow’.
The College community has continued to raise awareness of key environmental issues, particularly the Van Mildert College Trust Lecture focusing on the global impact of Antarctica’s changing
environment, led by Professor Dame Jane Francis, Director of British Antarctic Survey.
The Meadow was developed as part of the University’s re-wilding project, which aims to convert areas of maintained grassland across key sites across the University campus, from Colleges, to Lower Mountjoy and areas within Durham City centre, to wildflower meadow.
The project in Van Mildert, spearheaded by Principal Professor Dave Harper and Community Operations Leader, Ian Jackson, aims to boost biodiversity of flora and fauna on the College grounds, particularly in creating a more bee and insect friendly environment.
Our dedicated Green Committee and Environmental Conservation Committee, alongside College staff and students living in College, came together in May to cultivate, plant and build our Mildert Meadow! got involved in the project, with one member of the team, Kevin, building a series of bird boxes that have been placed across the College grounds.
The Mildert Meadow on Middleton Lawn features a path, designated seating area and a Bug Hotel (or Palace), with the overall aim that in the future, as the meadow continues to thrive, it will become a space, not only for the College’s wildlife, but also for our student and staff community.
Looking ahead, the College aims to develop existing environmental initiatives, particularly with the launch of the Harper Fellowship, following David Harper’s retirement as Principal, to support environmental sustainability at Van Mildert. We always welcome from the College community on how we can improve our sustainability. If you would like to get involved, please email the Green Committee at
