Welcome to the summer 2023 issue of the e-newsletter!
  
Above left and right: Flowers in the Christ's gardens. Above centre: Third Court in the summer sun.
An End of Studies Celebration
The 2022-2023 academic year came to a joyful close as students celebrated the end of their studies on 29 June. The rain stopped and the sun came out just in time for the traditional graduation photo in the Fellows' Garden and the procession to the Senate House. We wish everyone who was celebrating the best for the future and are looking forward to welcoming them back to the College as part of our alumni community!
  
Above: Finalists celebrating the end of their studies at Christ's. Thank you to our work experience intern, Heather Whittall, for these excellent photos!
Christ's Awards
Congratulations to Benjamin Knight (m. 2022) and Romany Whittall (m. 2020), who were both recognized at this year's Cambridge Students' Awards! The awards recognized and celebrated the achievements of Cambridge students who volunteer across the University and the wider Cambridge community. Benjamin, a first-year student studying Human Social and Political Sciences (HSPS), won the Academic Rep of the Year award for his work representing the School of Humanities and Social Sciences--meaning he speaks for 2930 students across 11 departments--and Romany, a finalist in Linguistics, was shortlisted for their contribution to access and widening participation. Read more about Benjamin's and Romany's volunteer work on the Christ's website.
 
Above left: Benjamin Knight. Above right: Romany Whittall.
Christ's was delighted to receive a platinum award--the highest accreditation--at the Green Impact Awards in June. The annual accreditation scheme supports and encourages departments and Colleges to act to reduce their environmental impact and to implement sustainable policies. Christ's won a gold award last year, and staff, students, and Fellows all worked hard to achieve the highest award in 2023. This year's submission to the scheme was coordinated by Head Porter Kevin Cash and by the MCR and JCR Green Officers, Maria Ikonomova (m. 2019) and Rachel Doran (m. 2021). Read more about the College's green initiatives and the award on the College website.
 
Above: Head Porter Kevin Cash and MCR Green Officer Maria Ikonomova with the College's Green Impact Award. Above right: Some of the many members of College who contributed to winning the award this year.
May Bumps
We welcomed alumni back to Cambridge in June to cheer on the Christ's College Boat Club in this year's May Bumps. All of the Christ's boats gave great efforts, and while the results might not have been what they had hoped for, we had a lovely day cheering on the crews from the riverbank while enjoying the summer weather. It was a wonderful start to an action-packed few weeks of alumni events!
 
Above left: Alumni gathered to watch May Bumps. Above right: A Christ's boat competes in May Bumps.
Blades Regatta
With regret, the upcoming CCBC Blades Regatta has been postponed from this September to next year. Georgia Denham, CCBC Captain, writes “In the meantime, please do join one of the many CCBC alumni events, and keep in touch via our mailing list for more updates. We are sad not to be welcoming you all home for the Blades Regatta as soon as we hoped, but look forward to the festivities in 2024!”
Development Office Updates
We are excited to welcome Alexandra Rowlands (m. 2003) to Christ's as our new Development Director. Alexandra is coming to the College from the Royal Opera House, where she is the Associate Head of Strategic Funding. Reading Music, Alexandra was an Organ Scholar while at Christ's, and continues her interest in supporting the next generation of choral singers as a Trustee of the VOCES8 Foundation. She will be taking up her role at Christ's on 4 September. We are looking forward to having her!
We were pleased to welcome Owen Brown to the team in June as Development Assistant and interim Alumni Relations Officer. Owen is joining the Development Office from the College Library, where he worked since October 2022.
 
Above left: Our work experience intern, Heather Whittall, with Emily Walsh, Molly Becker, and Robert Smith at the annual Staff Appreciation Barbeque. Above right: New team member Owen Brown.
Ann Farrell (Alumni Relations Officer) left the team in June after almost five years at Christ's, and Molly Becker (Alumni Communications Officer), Sebastian Peel (Development Officer), and Emily Walsh (Development Assistant) will be leaving to take up new roles around Cambridge in July. We wish everyone well in their new positions!
In light of these changes, the College Magazine will likely be published in October or November this year. We apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience.
Music Room Grand Opening
The College celebrated another exciting milestone in June with the grand opening of the Bill Fitzgerald Music Room. The music room, named in honour of former Christ's Fellow Bill Fitzgerald, features a Steinway piano and has been designed and constructed to ensure the best acoustics possible in the space. The opening of the music room was the second event celebrating the completion of our new facilities in Fourth Court, after we celebrated the Grand Opening of Yusuf Hamied Court, where the music room is located, on 1 May.
 
Above left: The new grand piano. Above right: The musicians who performed at the opening with Prof David Trippett, Director of Studies in Music at Christ's.
Alumni Survey on Mapping Christ's Future
MICA Architects has been appointed by Christ’s College to review and prepare a long-term strategy for the College’s Domus site, in an exercise known as ‘Mapping Christ’s Future.’ The strategy ensures that carefully planned interventions in existing buildings and potential new development align to a cohesive vision that provides a pathway towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions, provides universal access for people of all abilities, and enhances spatial efficiencies across the College.
Above: Recording feedback for the 'Mapping Christ's Future' space planning exercise.
Over the course of Easter term, the team has met with around 300 members of the College, including staff, students, and Fellows, conducted four workshops and around 25 in-person meetings, and received over 130 anonymous suggestions. The outline emerging strategy was presented to the Governing Body on 4 July, and will now be developed into a detailed document with further consultation, the outcome of which will be presented at the first Governing Body meeting of the 2023/24 academic year. The MICA team were delighted to engage with alumni from across the years at the Alumni Association day on 1 July.
MICA have put together a short survey to gather the views of alumni from across the years and around the globe. We encourage you to fill this in and let the college and MICA know your views on mapping Christ’s future!
 
Above left: Jessie Turnbull from MICA holding a space planning workshop in the Buttery. Above right: Jessie presenting the space planning exercise at the termly all staff meeting.
Life Sciences Network Update
Late March saw the return of the Christ's College Life sciences Network with an event in London, kindly hosted at Kilburn & Strode by alumnus Duncan Bull (m. 2005). The Life Sciences Network was established in 2020 to promote connections between undergraduates, graduates, Fellows, and alumni in the life sciences field, encompassing a broad swathe of interests in biotech, pharma, diagnostics, regulation, research, green biotech, and others. Gatherings are organized from time to time to enable Christ’s alumni to share their interests and experiences in the field with each other, current undergraduates and graduates, and Fellows.
The event was well-attended with a diverse and enthusiastic audience. Engaging and enjoyable talks were given by Jackie Mulryne (m. 1999) and PhD candidate Arqum Anwar (m. 2015), on matters ranging from regulation of drugs and devices to entrepreneurial adventures in biotech from a student's perspective. Networking over light refreshments gave the perfect opportunity for students, alumni, and fellows to connect and share learnings.
 
Above left: Jackie Mulryne (m. 1999). Above right: Arqum Anwar (m. 2015).
Our thanks go to Susan Hill (m. 1992), a member of the Development Committee who coordinates the Life Sciences Network. The next meeting of the CCLN will take place in Christ's College on Thursday 2 November at 5pm, with speakers to include: Alessio Ciulli (Former Fellow), Professor of Chemical & Structural Biology, Director of the Centre for Targeted Protein Degradation at the University of Dundee and founder of Amphista Therapeutics; Sally Curran (m. 1996), Global Head of Pharma Patents at GSK; and Holly Giles (m. 2014), PostDoc at the Millner Institute. Invitations for this event will go out soon, all are very welcome.
Alumni Events
This has been a busy few weeks for alumni events at Christ's! In June, we welcomed back 1990-1994 matriculants for a garden party in the Fellows' Garden. We were happy to have the choir join us to sing before they left for their tour around Canada this summer.
 
Above left: The choir singing at the Garden Party. Above right: Alumni from matriculation years 1990-1994 back at the College.
On 1 July, over 80 alumni and guests joined us for the annual Association Dinner, which is open to all alumni of the College. The following day, over 100 alumni, Fellows, and staff members, along with their families, joined us for the Family Day Picnic. Families were treated to an afternoon of treats, games, face painting, and (for our younger attendees) jumping in the bouncy castle.
 
Above left: Alumni in the Master's Garden before the Association Dinner. Above right: Alumni, staff, Fellows, and families enjoying the Family Day Picnic.
As always, it has been wonderful to see so many old members back at College to catch up with old friends and revisit university memories. We are looking forward to welcoming more alumni back this September at this year's reunion dinners.
Wanted! Independent Committee Members
The College benefits greatly from the participation of alumni on various College committees, offering their independent professional advice.
We are currently looking for suitably skilled and experienced alumni who might be interested in filling a number of roles.
Remuneration Committee – we are looking to increase the independence of this Committee by recruiting an independent Chair and several new committee members. An understanding of the context for salaries in the higher education or wider public sector would be important for at least some of the members. The Committee meets 2-3 times a year. The Master, Bursar and Senior Tutor attend to advise the Committee, but are not members of the Committee.
Finance, Audit & Risk Assurance Committee – we are reviewing the remit of this committee, and as part of that review are looking for a qualified accountant / auditor to be an independent chair. The Committee is likely to meet approx. 3 times a year – including a meeting in September with the College’s external auditors to consider the Annual Report & Accounts.
If you are potentially interested in any of these roles and would like to find out more, please email Michael Parsons, Bursar@christs.cam.ac.uk with some information about your relevant experience.
|