Winter 2021 Message from the Master
As we prepare for the Christmas break and the uncertainty caused by the Omicron variant, I look back with relief that we were able at least to return to near normality during Michaelmas Term.
I've always believed that as long as we could do it safely, it was vital to have our students on-site, taking a full part in Pembroke life, for their mental and academic well-being.
So in October, we were able to welcome and matriculate the new undergraduate and postgraduate cohorts, including 30 Fall Semester students in person. This also meant that the 2020 matriculands could finally have their Matriculation photo taken in front of the Old Library, just ahead of this year's Freshers. (With precisely bad timing, the Freshers were doused in a sudden downpour of rain at the very moment the camera first clicked!) In addition, most supervisions and lectures were held in-person, although with precautions.
The Matriculation Dinners also took place, as did Formal Halls. Unfortunately, these latter were restricted to three times a week throughout Michaelmas due to a severe shortage of catering and hospitality staff in Cambridge. It looks like this scarcity will continue into Lent Term, so any Members wishing to exercise their dining rights should note that it is only possible to book in on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays for the foreseeable future and depending on availability.
The Junior Parlour and Graduate Parlour Committees did an excellent job in shepherding the new arrivals and organised various activities for Freshers' Week. A marquee was erected on Library Lawn (with heating) for activities such as pre-dinner drinks, parties and University Challenge try-outs in a suitably aerated space. The clubs and societies squash was also run there, rather than in the New Cellars, with older students enthusiastically advertising activities ranging from rowing to public speaking, from acting to board games, vying for the attention of the Freshers.
Our women led the way on the water, with the 1st IVs winning Fairbains and the men's VIII finishing sixth. Contact sports were back, and the Pembroke/Girton rugby team (Pirton RFC) had a solid term, including wins against Downing, Catz and Exeter College Oxford and a narrow loss to the mighty St John's. While there isn't a comparable women's college league, we have several students in the mix for the women's Blues team.
Our groundsman Trevor Munns tells me that a lacrosse team has been set up by the students this term, the first he can recall during his time at Pembroke – maybe someone out there can tell me if/when Pembroke last had a lacrosse team?
Away from the pitches, the revival of Pembroke College Music Society continued, under the guidance of alumnus Andrew Morris (2000). The reputation of our choir and our Director of Music, Anna Lapwood, meant that there was a bumper number of students from across the University that wanted to trial for the College Choir. It is the largest I can ever recall it being, and the sound is fantastic, even more so when the Girls' Choir accompanies them. If you want to listen yourself, I recommend watching a recording of one (or all!) of the three Carol services run this year on the Chapel's Facebook page. Anna herself has had a hectic year, and both presented and performed at the BBC Proms. She also released her first solo album, Images, recorded on the organ at Ely Cathedral.
Early in the term, Pembroke was fortunate to host Irish author Claire Keegan as the Briena Staunton Visiting Fellow. The fellowship happened to co-ordinate with the publishing of her new novel, Small Things Like These. Alumnus Richard Beard (1985) kindly holds regular writing workshops with students who aspire to be authors and in the second half of this term's workshop, Claire spoke about how she sets about writing.
In this year's Martlet, you may have read about the dangers of fake news and steps taken to counter it by PhD student and Gates Scholar Melisa Basol. Melisa was invited to discuss the future of democracy and the threats posed by misinformation about her research at the British Embassy in Paris in November, just days after talking about her research to fellow members of the Graduate Parlour at a meeting of Pembroke Papers.
I always take great pleasure in watching Pembroke students grow during their time here, so it was a pleasure to award this year's Riley Declamation Prize to Toby Chesser (2018). Entrants to this competition, set up by Nicola Riley in honour of her father Brian Riley (1959), have to prepare a composition on any topical subject with a European theme. Those shortlisted are asked to ‘declaim’ their essay in front of a live audience in the Master's Lodge. Toby first entered this competition in his first year. This year, returning as an MPhil student, he finally won with 'The Wide-Eyed Continent'. Although the competition wasn't filmed, you can read his essay here.
The Admissions process had to be run online again, this year; but the College sent out tablets to those interviewees who didn't have access to reliable IT equipment, to ensure that no-one was disadvantaged. This year Pembroke received the largest number of applications ever and our Admissions team worked very hard to ensure that the process ran as smoothly as possible for all interviewees.
Pembroke & COP26
In November, the College hosted a discussion on the ethics of climate change with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres. Mr Guterres was visiting Cambridge to collect an Honorary Degree from the University, and afterwards I had the pleasure of hosting him as my guest, in the Master's Lodge. The following morning Mr Guterres joined Professor Richard Sennett, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Anjum Nahar, President of the Cambridge Graduate SU and Pembroke undergraduate, Maryam Grassly, in a roundtable in the Old Library with an audience of students. Having just been at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, Mr Guterres was keen to hear the opinions of Pembroke student and take questions from them. The students on stage and in the audience were brilliant; and a recording of the event is online. I encourage you to watch what was a very thoughtful and inspiring discussion.
2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Corporate Partnership Programme. “Climate Rescue” has been its theme this year and the William Pitt Seminar focused on COP26 and asked the panellists what they wanted to come from the intergovernmental conference. One of the panellists was Pembroke student James Miller, a climate activist who organised the climate clock projected onto Glasgow’s Tolbooth Steeple during COP26. This was the first time that any student had sat on the William Pitt Seminar panel, and he did us proud. Again, the Seminar can be viewed on the link here. Even after 25 years, we are still the only college to run a Corporate Partnership Programme. We have ten partners, including Dell, who joined this year. One of our longest-running partners is BT, and the 2021 lecture, given by Trevor Linney, looked at how BT harnesses discovery-led research for breakthrough commercial success.
Hellos and Goodbyes
This term saw the arrival of eight new Fellows. Dr Robert Mayhew came to us from the University of Bristol and has taken over as Senior Tutor from Dan Tucker. After five busy years in the role, Dan has renewed his focus on his research into the control of infectious diseases that threaten food chain security. I'm pleased to say that he remains a Pembroke Fellow.
The other Fellows admitted were:
Dr Marcus Colla (History, Mark Kaplanoff Research Fellow)
Dr Nicolò Crisafi (MML – Italian)
Dr Catherine Kamal (Mathematics, Stokes Research Fellow)
Dr Surer Mohamed (Politics & International Studies, Harry Frank Guggenheim Research Fellow)
Professor Renaud Morieux (History)
Dr Steven Ward (International Relations)
Professor Wei Xiong (Economics)
In October, we sadly lost Honorary Fellow Sir John Chilcot. Sir John read English and MML at Pembroke, then had a distinguished career in the Civil Service, finishing his time as Permanent Under-Secretary of State in the Northern Ireland Office, where he played a significant role in the Northern Ireland Peace Process. He went on, of course, to chair the Inquiry into the Iraq War.
Last month, we also lost Emeritus Fellow Tony Nutbourne at 93. Tony followed a less conventional route into the Fellowship than his contemporaries. He was initially sent to Pembroke in 1947 by the Royal Navy to do his degree in Mechanical Sciences and later an advanced course in control engineering. He returned to the Navy to work on the control of ship-based guided missiles, only resigning in 1968 to take up a lectureship at the Engineering Department, focusing on computer-aided design control engineering.
Many alumni will have fond memories of Savino (Savio) Cafagna, our Head Butler and Front of House Manager, who carried out his duties in inimitable style. He was with us for 15 years, but decided this past summer that he wanted to leave and set up his own business. We wish him well with his new venture, Soap Pedlars.
Other departures have included the Senior Tutor's Assistant Sally Clowes after 22 years, Danny Sewell, Assistant to the High Table Butler and Catering Assistant (32 Years), and last Friday Frances Kentish, Graduate Secretary (although to judge from Nick McBride's heartfelt description in the Gazette, she was a Swiss Army Knife to half the Fellowship!). We wish them all the best and hope they will keep in touch. Likewise, we warmly welcome Dee Kunze, the new Senior Tutor’s Assistant, Sarah Claydon, the new Head Gardener, Romain Barron, the new Front of House Manager, and we congratulate Moira Hassett on moving from College Registrar's Assistant to Graduate Secretary.
Our longest-serving staff member, Nick Firman, retired as Head Gardener in January, just shy of 56 years at Pembroke. Unfortunately, lockdown meant that we couldn't mark Nick's departure at the time. However, thanks to the generosity of an alumnus, Nick was invited to choose a plant for the gardens. He selected a long drop wisteria, which he and I ceremonially planted outside the Gardeners' Yard last month. (He did more of the real work than I did!)
That staff have stayed so long and are held in such respect and affection speaks to the kind of place that Pembroke is. Their professionalism, especially during the past two years, has been exceptional and I must reiterate my thanks to all the departments who have kept Pembroke running, whatever they have had to weather.
Alumni Affairs
While our Melbourne-based alumni were able to squeeze in a modest gathering between lockdowns in the state of Victoria, we didn't start in-person events until September, when we welcomed back our 1964-1966 and 1995-1997 years for their Foundress's Feasts.
Although these were slightly smaller gatherings than usual and, sadly, shorn of overseas Members, the alumni who did attend were delighted to be back - and reassure themselves that the College had not changed in spirit. In October, we were able to hold a Matthew Wren Society lunch and in November held the Scottish Dinner in the New Club and the London Dinner at the Drapers' Hall, the latter being to a record attendance.
Thank you to all the alumni who attended for following the protocols we asked you to and ensuring their peers and the staff at Pembroke and elsewhere remained safe.
Next year we hope to welcome back a bumper 15 year groups for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 year dinners, which has delayed the next Foundress' Feasts to 2023.
Recently our Honorary Fellow Bill Janeway and his wife Weslie have made an incredibly generous gift in support of music at Pembroke, endowing the work of the Director of Music into the future. This is all in addition to their support for the wider University, where they have funded The Janeway Institute, to advance innovative approaches in economics.
I would also like to acknowledge the hard work and generosity of the family and friends of Dr Ian Mason (1984), who have raised money in his memory to help support the Cambridge Foundation Year.
Mill Lane
Hopefully, you will have received the recent Mill Lane “e-newsletter” and have had a bit of a flavour of what has been achieved since work started on site in June. It is a great thrill to see our plans beginning to take real physical shape. Already, a hodge-podge of outbuildings has been demolished, opening the area up into what will become a modest but beautiful new court. Work has also begun on transforming the interior of the United Reform Church, which will become our wonderful auditorium. And this week the University are transferring the Mill Lane Lecture Rooms to us, so that work on Phase 2, with the building of the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Court, can follow seamlessly on. We are aiming for completion of the whole site in the next three years.
Thank you to everyone who has supported this project – and continues to do so. We are within touching distance of our £75 million minimum target. I would remind anyone who has been hesitating about making a gift that the Dolby match is in place for another 12 months and will double any gift made.
After what has been another tiring and challenging year, I'd like to wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas; and let’s all hope for an easier 2022!
With very best wishes,
Chris Smith (Master)