Farewell to David Harper

Farewell to the Principal Professor David Harper

On a warm July day, friends and colleagues gathered on Tees Lawn to say farewell to Dave and Maureen before their move to pastures new.

We woke that morning to thick fog and my heart sank as I came to the conclusion that our weeks of careful planning might have all been in vain, but I need not have worried as the sun soon broke through.

Before long we were sharing a celebratory glass of fizz with friends and colleagues on Tees Lawn in glorious sunshine. Of course, at the time we were still in the earlier phase of COVID-19 restrictions and we had just concluded an Easter Term like no other with a revised but still ambitious series of post-exam student experience activities.

Indeed, many will remember that the much anticipated ‘freedom day’ in mid-June had been postponed so it was necessary for more COVID-19 restrictions to be in place at the event than initially planned. Despite this, we enjoyed the happiest of days and it was wonderful to see current students, long-standing alumni, colleagues and friends reunited in-person after all of the challenges of the last academic year!

It was a fitting farewell and celebration for Dave and Maureen after a decade in the Principal’s House. I consider it a privilege to have had the opportunity to work alongside, and learn from, Dave since I was appointed as Deputy Principal in 2014.

Our partnership over the last seven academic years has seen us navigate the challenges and unpredictability of College life, largely with good humour and hopefully, some success.

The invasion of Tyne block by a gaggle of inquisitive Swans on a Saturday afternoon, a series of unfortunate incidents involving (minor) errors of judgement by sports teams, the arrival of the great Mildert fatberg (a story for another day!), and the College Porter, Kevin Stephenson, coming to the rescue of a disorientated terrapin found in the lake, were all memorable moments.

Dave’s time as Principal has also seen him steer the College through numerous challenges including negotiations regarding major refurbishment works, significant governance changes across the Colleges and Student Experience Division and, of course, a global pandemic.

The College is significantly richer for his leadership and his focus on building an ethos-led community based around commitments to outreach and volunteering, environmental sustainability, and intellectual curiosity, has seen the College affectionately referred to as the ‘College with the biggest heart’.

Over the course of a decade Dave has ensured that every student knows the College motto, sic vos non vobis, and everyone is proud to be a

Mildertian. As a former JCR President once said, ‘when Dave speaks, the student’s listen’. These are fitting words which reflect a relationship with the student community based on mutual respect and meaningful collaboration.

Dave’s leadership is, without doubt, characterised by kindness. It is in his ability to make others, including his most junior colleagues, feel valued and heard that he gets the very best out of those around him.

Getting the job done without ceremony but always to the highest of standards and with thanks and gratitude to the team are qualities that I and others will almost certainly remember and hope to emanate in our own leadership in the future.

The elation of having won the UK and Ireland Green Gown Award Finals, the joy in seeing hundreds of alumni return for the College’s 50th anniversary celebrations, consistently recording the highest number of student volunteering hours of any Durham College, the University’s success with environmental sustainability initiatives, the growth of widening participation initiatives and development of a wide ranging College scholarship programme, and the extravaganza that was Opera by the Lake (#1 and #2) with Sir Thomas Allen are just a few examples of this.

When Dave and Maureen joined Van Mildert in 2011, they brought with them a much-loved four-legged friend, Holly the Collie! Holly and Maureen were regularly seen around College and quickly became popular newcomers.

But it is Maureen who has quietly, often without recognition, supported College activities. Whether it be driving the College mini-bus to ferry students to and from outreach activities, initiating the hugely successful College Book Club, editing the College’s 50th anniversary book ‘A Place of Water’, taking part in College volunteering days, organising SCR walks or supporting lectures, formals and other student-led activity, Maureen has been a much-loved and crucial part of life at Mildert.

As the celebrations at Dave and Maureens’s farewell event came to a close in July 2021, a surprise treat for Dave and Maureen arrived on stage; an ABBA tribute band! With Dave soon encouraged up onto the stage with the group, it was a wonderful atmosphere as some of Dave and Maureen’s closest supporters danced along into the late evening as the light faded.

A final rendition of ‘Thank you for the music’ was a fitting end to a special day.

Dave and Maureen, from everyone at Mildert, thank you for the music, go well, it has been a blast!

Victoria Brown