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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (December 2008) |
| Colleges and halls of the University of Oxford Regent's Park College |
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| College name | Regent's Park College | |||||||||||
| Latin name | Collegium de Principis Regentis Paradiso | |||||||||||
| Motto | Omnia probate quod bonum tenete, adapted from 1 Thessalonians v.21: "Test all things; hold fast that which is good" (A.V.) | |||||||||||
| Named after | The Regent's Park | |||||||||||
| Established | 1752 | |||||||||||
| Principal | The Reverend Dr Robert Ellis | |||||||||||
| JCR president | Edward Harding | |||||||||||
| Undergraduates | ~120 | |||||||||||
| MCR president | Read Marlatte | |||||||||||
| Graduates | 50 | |||||||||||
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Location of Regent's Park College within central OxfordCoordinates: 51°45′25″N 1°15′39″W / 51.756834°N 1.260792°W |
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Regent's Park College is a Permanent Private Hall in the University of Oxford.
Contents |
History
Origins in London
Regent's Park College has its origins in the days when those who were not Anglicans were not able to become members of Oxford and Cambridge, the only universities that then existed in England. The London Baptist Education Society was founded in 1752. In 1810, the Society became a collegiate institution, opening a Baptist College in Stepney, and in 1856 it moved to The Regent's Park in London, whence the name derives. As early as 1841 Regent's Park College was affiliated to the University of London and its students were able to read for university degrees in the Arts and Law, as well as training for Christian ministry. In 1901 the college became an official Divinity School of the University of London.
The move to Oxford
In 1927, the college moved to Oxford and in 1957 became a Permanent Private Hall of the University. From 1958 to 1972, Regent's underwent dramatic change under the leadership of its eleventh Principal, Gwynne Henton Davies (see Distinguished Old Members below). During this period the college once again started to accept non-ministerial undergraduates and new buildings were erected to accommodate them.
At the end of Trinity Term 2008 Greyfriars, Oxford ceased to function as a Permanent Private Hall and its students were transferred to Regent's Park.
Regent's Park today
Subjects offered
The college admits students to read for undergraduate degrees in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics; English Language and Literature; Jurisprudence; Geography; Modern History; Literae Humaniores; Music; Modern Languages (combinations with German); Psychology, Philosophy, and Physiology; Classical Archaeology and Ancient History; Human Sciences and Modern History and Politics; Theology, and Philosophy and Theology.
Architecture
The main college buildings, incorporating the hall, library and Junior Common Room, as well as a large proportion of student accommodation, are neo-classical, dating from the early twentieth century. The college also owns 17th- and 18th-century houses as well as more recent developments. The Senior Tutor's house is the oldest domestic building on St Giles', dating to around 1600 and Grade II* listed. Next to it stands the Principal's Lodgings, which date from the late 18th century and are Grade II listed. When heads of houses and bursars made a tour of all the JCRs in Oxford they agreed that Regent's Park's wood-panelled common room, recently refurbished in the college colours, was one of the finest in the university. The main quad is particularly beautiful during the Trinity term, when the north wall is covered in red ivy.
Student Experience
The student experience at Regent's Park is identical to that of any other Oxford college, with a very friendly atmosphere, a more outward-looking perspective than usual, and identical tuition.
Social
An elected Entz Rep is responsible for undergraduate events such as bi-termly 'bops', mid-week movie nights and theme evenings after Formal Hall.
Sport
Students are involved with Sport on both a College and a University level. The College continues to be successful in Basketball, Rowing, Football and Netball whilst students also partake in many other wider activities such as Rugby, Hockey, Fencing and Gymnastics. Furthermore, there is always a steady stream of Blues Sportsmen and Women in the Student body. Light-hearted sporting at Regent's includes Ultimate Frisbee, Rounders and an annual Water Assassination Game(!)
Arts
Drama and Music are at the forefront of the Regent's Park Arts scene. A Summer Play is annually performed in the beautiful quadrangle; most recently 'Twelfth Night' and 'The Importance of Being Earnest' have been produced. Music Evenings are held and well attended and an Advent Choir is active every Michaelmas term. The JCR Arts Theme for 2009 is 'Beginnings' which is linked to an annual Arts and Photography Competition/Exhibition.
Welfare
Regent's Park College has a strong welfare system. The College Dean has overall responsibility for student welfare, but the day-to-day welfare link between the College and JCR is the Junior Dean. A JCR Welfare Officer is elected annually, and occupies a position on the JCR exec. There are also elected Men's, Women's and LGBT Officers and up to six trained peer supporters available to talk. For more information about the college welfare system, please visit the JCR website: http://rpcjcr.ourcs.org.uk/content/welfare.
Libraries
The main library at Regent's Park is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is well stocked in philosophy, theology, English, and law (including a complete set of All England Law Reports). Other subjects covered include history, geography, politics, and economics. Members of the college also have access to the Bodleian Library and the various faculty libraries. Theologians from throughout the university from time to time have cause to visit the Regent's Park library in order to consult numerous non-British publications that have not been acquired by the Bodleian. Regent's also houses the Angus Library, which contains more than 70,000 items relating to the life and history of Baptists in Britain and the wider scene. The Library unites the original collection of historical materials gathered by Principal Joseph Angus in the nineteenth century with the libraries of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Baptist Historical Society, and the archives of the Baptist Missionary Society. It offers printed books, pamphlets, church minute books, manuscript letters and journals from the late sixteenth century to the present century. It contains the largest collection of Baptist periodicals anywhere. Finally, Regent's is home to the David Nicholls Memorial Library. The Nicholls Library contains around 4,000 volumes, especially in the areas of Caribbean studies, political philosophy, and political theology, including rare works that scholars come from around the world to consult.
Traditions
Valediction
The principal ceremonial occasion in the college year is the Service of Valediction, which takes place on the afternoon of the last day of Full Term in Trinity (always a Saturday). The most important part of the ceremony is the signing of the register by members of the Junior and Middle Common Rooms whose periods of study have come to an end. This is different from the practice at other colleges that maintain a register (now a minority of colleges), where the signing takes place at the beginning of a student's course. Two Fellows (usually the Dean and the Bursar) take turns to introduce the candidates, in order of academic status (undergraduates, graduates, ordinands, visiting students), and then alphabetically, naming their previous educational establishments, mentioning distinguishing features of their time at the college, and suggesting their future destinations. The Principal supervises the signing of the name while the next candidate is announced. There are also hymns, prayers, and readings from the Bible, and the Principal reads his annual report. The ceremony is followed by a tea party in the main quadrangle. For many, if not most, members, the college Valediction is a more important event than the university degree ceremony. For both the ceremony and the party, doctors wear scarlet robes, masters and bachelors wear gowns and hoods, and undergraduates wear gowns, all with lounge suit or equivalent. The academic dress of universities other than Oxford may be, and often is, worn.
The College Grace
- For the gifts of your grace and the community of this college, we praise your name, O God. Amen.
In the early days of the college at Oxford there was a Latin grace which was thought to be composed by Dr Aubrey Argyle:
- Agimus Tibi gratias, Omnipotens Deus, pro his et universis donis Tuis quae de Tua largitate sumus sumturi,
- Per Jesum Christum, Dominum Nostrum. Amen.
At one late Michaelmas hall, in about 1965, there was a reading of the Christmas story from the Latin Vulgate.
Conduct in Hall
Not only is there no Latin grace, but it is strictly forbidden for any member of College to speak in Latin in Hall and in the old days offenders were thrown into a bath of cold water. It has also traditionally been the case that there is no Loyal Toast at college dinners. Around the turn of the millennium the Dean (then the Reverend Dr Jane Shaw) remonstrated with guests from a different college in order to prevent the Toast being proposed.
However, Regent's is paradoxically more traditional than perhaps any other college in that Grace is said at every meal, with students and dons alike standing behind their chairs until it has been said. Meals are then served by waiter service, again, something that most other colleges have discontinued except at formal hall.
Thomas Helwys
The college's main hall, used for dining as well for examinations and ceremonies, is called the Helwys Hall in commemoration of the witness of Thomas Helwys (c.1550-c.1616).
William Carey
One of the more unusual items of furniture housed in Regent's Park is the couch on which William Carey died at Serampore on 9 June 1834, speaking his last words, "Dr Duff! You have been speaking about Dr Carey; when I am gone, say nothing about Dr Carey - speak about Dr Carey's God." The couch is still in use and is distinguished only by a small plaque announcing that it was the place of Dr Carey's death.
The College Tortoise
The Corpus Christi College Tortoise Fair is one of Oxford's most quintessentially Oxonian traditions. Once a year in late May, the beautiful college gardens play host to the Tortoise Race, which involves the tortoises being placed in the middle of a circle of lettuce leaves, with the first tortoise to reach the edge of the circle being declared the winner.
Regent's Park College's tortoise, named Emmanuelle and now aged around 90, was for many years the fastest tortoise in Oxford and was celebrated as such in the national media, even appearing on Blue Peter. She was eventually overtaken, but another Regent's Park tortoise, named Fred, was given to the college by an undergraduate whose parents' garden could no longer accommodate him after re-landscaping. In Trinity Term 2002 Fred won by a long head from the St John's College tortoise! However, under interesting circumstances Fred had to leave the college after his antics with Emmanuelle!
Emmanuelle was originally named Emmanuel, "God with us", which was more appropriate to the college's religious affiliation, but less appropriate to her sex: tortoises are very difficult to identify as male or female and it was not until a veterinary surgeon came to the college to train for ministry that the error was identified and the name changed.
The Senior Tutor also had a tortoise who lived in his garden and sometimes visited Fred and Emmanuelle in the main quad. Unfortunately this tortoise died after going missing for a year between Trinity 2005 and Trinity 2006.
The current College 'Tortoise Keeper', a highly esteemed position, is English undergraduate Shannon Harrington-Hay.
College Slang
- A subterranean complex comprising a laundry and bathrooms is affectionately called Sheol.
Senior Common Room
Principal
- The Reverend Robert A Ellis MA DPhil (Oxon)
Professorial Research Fellow and Principal Emeritus
- The Reverend Paul Fiddes MA DPhil DD (Oxon) (Professor of Systematic Theology in the University of Oxford): Professorial Research Fellow: Principal Emeritus
Fellows
- Pamela Sue Anderson MA MLitt DPhil (Oxon) (Reader in Philosophy in the University of Oxford): Tutor in Philosophy, Women's Advisor
- The Reverend Timothy Bradshaw MA (Oxon) BTh PhD (Nottingham): Tutor in Christian Doctrine, Senior Tutor, Admissions Tutor
- John H Y Briggs MA (Cantab) FSA FRHistS (Honorary Professor of History, and former Pro-Vice-Chancellor, in the University of Birmingham): Senior Research Fellow in Church History, Director of the Centre for Baptist History and Heritage
- The Reverend Larry J Kreitzer MA status (Oxon) MDiv (USA) MTh PhD (London): Tutor in New Testament, Dean of Degrees, Tutor for Graduates
- The Reverend Nicholas J Wood BA (Manchester) MA (London) MA status DPhil (Oxon): Tutor in Religion and Culture, Dean, Director of the Oxford Centre for Christianity and Culture, Director of MTh Programmes
- The Reverend Myra N Blyth MA: Chaplain and Fellow in Worship and Pastoral Studies
- The Reverend Anthony J Clarke MA BA (Durham) BD (Oxford): Fellow in Community Learning and Pastoral Studies
Others
- Classical Archaeology and Ancient History: Teresa Morgan MA (Oxon) MA PhD (Cantab) DipRAM LRAM (fellow of Oriel)
- English Language and Literature: Mark Atherton MA PhD (fellow of the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture), Lynn Robson BA MA PhD
- German: Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly MA (Oxon) MA (National University of Ireland) DrPhil (Basle) (fellow of Exeter and Professor of German Literature in the University of Oxford)
- Geography: Pamela Berry BSc PhD (Liverpool) (lecturer of Mansfield), Michael Freeman BA (Manchester) PhD (Southampton) (supernumerary fellow of Mansfield)
- Jurisprudence: Dapo Akande LLB (Ife) LLM (London) (fellow of St Peter's and University Lecturer in Public International Law)
- Modern History: The Reverend Canon Jane Shaw MA (Oxon) MDiv (Harvard) PhD (Berkeley) HonDD (GTF) HonDD (EDS) (fellow of New College)
- Psychology: R M A Martin MA DPhil (Oxon) (fellow of St Edmund Hall and Professor of Abnormal Psychology in the University of Oxford)
- Theology (Pastoral Studies): The Reverend Carol Murray BA (Bristol)
- College Librarian: Revd Emma Walsh BMin
- Assistant Librarian: Mrs Sheila Wood
- Archivist: Dr Julian Lock BA DPhil (Oxon)
- Chaplain: The Reverend Myra Blyth MA (Oxon)
Distinguished Old Members
- Professor Robin Attfield MA (Oxon) PhD (Wales), Professor of Philosophy in Cardiff University since 1992; read Greats at Christ Church and theology at Regent's Park; member of the Council of the Royal Institute of Philosophy; co-opted member of the Executive Committee of the British Philosophical Association; chair of the Cardiff Branch of the Royal Institute; member of the Unesco working party on environmental ethics; author, Environmental Ethics: An Overview for the Twenty-First Century (Polity-Blackwell, 2003) and Creation, Evolution and Meaning (Ashgate, 2006)
- Professor Malcolm Evans, OBE Professor of International Law and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law in the University of Bristol
- Malcolm Bishop, QC, Deputy High Court Judge, Recorder of the Crown Court, Chair of the Isle of Man Legal Services Commission, Bencher of the Inner Temple, member of the Family Law Bar Association Committee, former member of the Bar Council, distinguished criminal lawyer belonging to 2 Paper Buildings, the Chambers of Desmond de Silva QC
- The Reverend Simon Bailey, priest; author of Still with God (1986; 2nd edn. 1993), Stations: Places for Pilgrims to Pray (1991), A Tactful God (1995), The Well Within: Parables for Living and Dying (1996); his biography, Scarlet Ribbons: a Priest with AIDS (1997), by his sister, Rosemary Bailey, is highly recommended
- Professor Samuel E. Balentine DPhil (Oxon), Professor of Old Testament at Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education (USA)
- Professor Stephen Brachlow DPhil (Oxon), Professor of Spirituality at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (USA)
- William Brock (pastor) (1807–1875), first minister of Bloomsbury Chapel, London, abolitionist and supporter of missionary societies
- Dr Isabella Bunn, Vice Chair of the Central Committee on Human Rights and Global Corporate Responsibility of the American Bar Association, Associate Director of the Oxford Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture
- The Reverend Wayne Clarke, award-winning religious broadcaster.
- The Reverend Gwynne Henton Davies DD (Glasgow), Professor of Old Testament Studies in the University of Durham (1951-8), Principal of Regent's Park), President of the Old Testament Society (1966), President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (1971-2)
- The Reverend Paul Fiddes MA DPhil DD (Oxon), Professor of Systematic Theology, Principal of Regent's Park College, and Honorary Fellow of St Peter's College in the University of Oxford
- Steve Hall, British comedian, member of We Are Klang
- The Reverend Dr R T Kendall, Minister of Westminster Chapel); prolific writer; he completed his DPhil thesis, 'The nature of saving faith from William Perkins (d. 1602) to the Westminster Assembly)' at Regent's Park in 1977
- Tamsin Kendrick, British poet and writer. Charismatic Megafauna, Penned in the Margins and Chambers Publishing, Spring 2008.
- The Hon. Alexandra Knatchbull, great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, third cousin twice removed of the Queen, and god-daughter of Diana, Princess of Wales
- The Reverend Christopher Ellis MA (Oxon) MPhil PhD (Sussex), Former Principal, Bristol Baptist College from September; representative of the Baptist World Alliance at the 1998 Lambeth Conference; member of the Council of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, Moderator of the Faith and Unity Executive, and delegate to conversations with the Church of England, and to the Worship and Spirituality Commission of the Baptist World Alliance
- The Reverend William Jaeger), pioneer of Moral Re-Armament
- The Reverend Dr Alan Kreider BA (Goshen) AM PhD (Harvard), Associate Professor of Church History and Mission at the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary
- The Reverend Rex A Mason PhD (London) MA DD (Oxon), sometime Lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew, University of Oxford and President, Society for Old Testament Study
- Frederick Brotherton Meyer (1847–1929), evangelist, writer, and moral reformer
- The Reverend John Morgan-Wynne PhD (Dunelm) MA BD (Oxon), sometime Lecturer in New Testament and Greek, University of Oxford and Principal, Bristol Baptist College
- Gregory Norminton, novelist (The Ship of Fools, Arts and Wonders, and Ghost Portrait) and dramatist (The Third Half)
- The Reverend A A Peck MA BEd, General Secretary, the European Baptist Federation.
- The Reverend (James) Martin Preston MA (Cantab) MA (Oxon), Anglican priest (1988) and former Baptist minister (1959); World Council of Churches Scholar, Virginia Theological Seminary (1957); founding member of the Gay (now Lesbian and Gay) Christian Movement and of Brighton Metropolitan Community Church; worker for the Campaign for Homosexual Equality; Joint Director of the Lovemore Trust, Zimbabwe, until 2004, when the Trust shared the fate of other NGOs closed down by President Mugabe
- Professor W. Wesley Pue LLM DJur, Nemetz Professor of Legal History at the University of British Columbia past President of the Canadian Law and Society Association[1]
- The Reverend Edwin Robertson, DD (Archbishop of Canterbury), Writer and broadcaster
- The Reverend the Honorable Dr Olin C Robison, thirteenth President, Middlebury College, Vermont); President Emeritus (1990); Chairman, US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy); President, Salzburg Seminar); broadcaster, Vermont Public Radio; member of Council, Royal Institute of International Affairs; Senior Advisor, Academic Leadership Associates
- Deborah W Rooke MA (Cantab) MA DPhil (Oxon), Senior Lecturer in Old Testament Studies, King's College London; one of two people in the history of the university to win university prizes in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: the other was Thomas Arnold (Oscar Wilde won Greek and Latin, but not Hebrew)
- The Right Reverend Dr Dhirendra Sahu, Lord Bishop of Eastern Himalaya; General Secretary, National Council of Churches of India; author, The Church of North India: a historical and systematic theological inquiry into an ecumenical ecclesiology (1994) and United & uniting: a story of the Church of North India (2001)
- The Reverend Canon Jane Shaw MA (Oxon) MDiv (Harvard) PhD (Berkeley) HonDD (GTF) HonDD (EDS), Official Fellow, Chaplain, and Dean of Divinity, New College, Oxford; Honorary Chaplain and Honorary Canon, Christ Church, Oxford; Director, Oxford University Summer Programme in Theology; theological consultant to the House of Bishops of the General Synod of the Church of England; consultant to the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement; frequent contributor to The Guardian and Church Times
- The Honorable Dr Cecil Staton, Georgia State Senator (18th District), Secretary, Higher Education Committee; Secretary, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee; Member, Appropriations, Science and Technology, and Transportation Committees
- Professor Michael Sullivan, MA (Oxon), PhD (Wales), FRSM, Director, National Centre for Public Policy and Professor of Policy Analysis in the University of Wales Swansea; Special Adviser to the First Minister, Welsh Assembly Government; first Sabbatical president of the Oxford University Student Union (OUSU)
- Professor James Sully, Grote Professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic, University College, London
- Michael Symmons Roberts, poet: Soft Keys (Secker and Warburg 1993, republished Jonathan Cape 2009), Raising Sparks (Cape 1999), Burning Babylon (Cape 2001), Corpus (Cape 2004), 'The Half Healed" (Jonathan Cape 2008, Patrick's Alphabet (Cape 2006); "Breath" (Jonathan Cape 2008. Winner: Whitbread Poetry Award (2004), Eric Gregory Award (1988), Poetry Book Society Recommendation (2001 and 2004), Sandford St Martin Premier Award (2002), K Blundell Trust Award (2003), Arts Council Writers Award (2007); shortlist: T S Eliot Prize (2001 and 2004), Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year) (2004), and Griffin International Poetry Prize (2005); Professor of Poetry, Manchester Metropolitan University
- The Reverend Professor Thomas Vincent Tymms DD (St Andrews), President and Professor of Theology, Rawdon College, Leeds); President, Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland (1896); Angus Lecturer, Regent's Park (1903); author, The Mystery of God (1885), The Beauty of God and Other Sermons (1891), The Ancient Faith in Modern Light (1897), The Christian Idea of Atonement (1904), The Private Relationships of Christ (1907), The evolution of infant baptism and related ideas (1912)
- Edward Maltus Wells, former JCR Vice-President. Winner of over £9000 on the ITV quiz show 'Pokerface'. Edward also appeared alongside two other former students of the college (Richard Aubrey and Susannah Pickering) on the Channel 4 program Codex on Saturday 10 November 2007.
- The Reverend H. Wheeler Robinson DD (Edinburgh), Old Testament scholar; President and Acting President of the Society for Old Testament Studies
- The Reverend Dr Nicholas J. Wood, Fellow in Religion and Culture and Director of the Oxford Centre for Christianity and Culture, Regent's Park College; President Christian Muslim Forum (Archbishop of Canterbury); Chair, Joppa Group - The Baptist Interfaith Network.
- Dr Philip Ryken, pastor of the historic Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. A prolific writer, he has written 25 books dealing with the Christian faith and life. Some of his books are Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope, The Message of Salvation, Exodus: Saved for God's Glory, Tenth Presbyterian Church: 175 Years of Thinking and Acting Biblically, Written in Stone: The Ten Commandments and Today's Moral Crisis, and When You Pray: Making the Lord's Prayer Your Own. He completed his Ph.D at Regent's in 1995, gaining a Blue in basketball along the way.
Further information
- Robert E. Cooper, From Stepney to St Giles': the Story of Regent's Park College, 1810-1960 (London: Carey Kingsgate Press, 1960) (148 pages, illustrated)
References
- ^ "W. Wesley Pue (Canada)". profile at faculty.law.ubc.ca. http://faculty.law.ubc.ca/ilac/Profiles/pue.htm. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
External links
- Regent's Park College website
- Staff details
- Junior Common Room
- University of Oxford Faculty of Theology
- Colleges in the Baptist Union of Great Britain
- John H Y Briggs, The Revd Dr Cox of Hackney: Educator, Theologian and the best Principal that Regent's never had
- 60-61 St Giles
- Excellent pictures of Principal's Lodgings, Wheeler-Robinson House, and the Oxfam bookshop
- Detailed information and pictures of Principal's Lodgings
- Detailed information and pictures of the Senior Tutor's house
- St Giles' Café, popular with Regent's Park students since 1937!
- The friendly local purveyor of news
- Holford House and Regent's Park College, London, Google Answers
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