Selwyn College, Cambridge

Colleges of the University of Cambridge Selwyn College
College name	Selwyn College
Named after	George Augustus Selwyn
Established	1882
Admittance	Men and women
Master	Prof. Richard Bowring, Master
Undergraduates	350
Graduates	200
Sister college	Keble College, Oxford
Location	Grange Road (map)
ΑΝΔΡΙΖΕΣΘΕ (Ancient Greek, "Quit ye like men")
College website
Boat Club website

Coordinates: 52°12′03″N 0°06′20″E / 52.20083°N 0.10556°E / 52.20083; 0.10556 Selwyn College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It was founded in 1882, in memory of the Rt Reverend George Augustus Selwyn (1809–1878), the first Bishop of New Zealand (1841–1868) and Bishop of Lichfield (1868–1878). The college was founded by subscription, with an explicitly Christian mission. The Selwyn College coat of arms incorporates the arms of the Selwyn family impaled with those of the Diocese of Lichfield. In 2009, Selwyn became the first Cambridge college to appoint a female head porter.^[1]

Selwyn is less wealthy for a traditional Cambridge college. In 2006 it had an estimated financial endowment of £22 million, and in 2004 fixed assets were worth £70 million. The college was ranked 16th out of 30 in an assessment of college wealth^[2] conducted by Varsity in November 2006. Selwyn has, in recent times, excelled academically. In 2008, Selwyn was ranked 1st out of the 29 undergraduate colleges which admit undergraduate students on the Tompkins Table^[3] (3rd in 2009, 4th in 2007, 7th in 2006).

History

Selwyn's first undergraduates joined the original Master and twelve other Fellows at the then "Public Hostel" of the university in 1882. Formally approved as a College on March 14, 1958, Selwyn, in common with other Cambridge colleges, originally admitted only men, but was one of the first colleges to become mixed when women were admitted from 1976.

Six acres (24,000 m²) of farm land, between Grange Road, West Road and Sidgwick Avenue, was originally acquired from Corpus Christi College and is now home to Selwyn's three main courts, Old Court, Cripps Court, and Ann's Court, with some ancillary buildings, including houses serving as student hostels on Grange Road, West Road and Sidgwick Avenue. The site was originally considered somewhat remote from the centre of the University (indeed, an alternative site on Lensfield Road, where the Catholic church now stands, was rejected as being too small), however, with the growth of departmental buildings, libraries and new faculties, Selwyn (along with Newnham College) now neighbours the Sidgwick Site, affording Selwynites (and Newnhamites) the easiest access of any Cambridge college to the many arts faculty buildings housed there.

Old Court, whose construction began in 1881 and is built in red brick in the Victorian Gothic Revival style, was largely designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield and comprises seven staircases (A to G), together with a tower and gateway, Master's Lodge, Chapel and Hall. Cripps Court, named after the Cripps Foundation that donated most of the funds to build it (and which also funded developments at St John's College and Queens' College), was built and formally opened in 1969 on land on the opposite side of Grange Road which was originally owned by Jesus College. It comprises a further seven staircases (H to N) and is home to all of Selwyn's first-year undergraduates as well as a mix of other undergraduates and postgraduates. Ann's Court, built on the land to the north of Old Court and south of West Road, is the newest court: it is named after Ann Dobson, who together with her husband Dr. Christopher Dobson (who matriculated at Selwyn in 1957) formed the Ann D Foundation, which is one of the principal donors towards the construction costs of Phases I and II. Phase I was completed in July 2005 and consists of 43 ensuite rooms and 15 administrative offices, forming two staircases (O and P) at a cost of £7.5 million. The second phase, including 40 en-suite bedrooms forming staircases Q and R and a new JCR, was completed in Summer 2009.^[4]

The College has planning permission to add a further three phases to Ann's Court, planned to be built over the next twenty years, which will extend the college's red-brick façade along Grange Road to the corner of West Road, adding two further accommodation blocks, a new library and an auditorium.

Arms

Selwyn College began to use its Arms long before an official grant by the College of Arms (they are displayed above the main gateway, built in 1881, and on the Common Seal, first used in 1882). Arms were finally applied for and granted in the 1960s, and are emblazoned as follows:

Per pale Gules and Argent a Cross potent quadrate Argent and Or between four crosses paty those to the dexter Argent those to the sinister Or For the See of Lichfield inpaling Argent on a Bend cotised Sable three Annulets Or for Selwyn all within a Bordure Sable And for Crest On a Wreath Or & Purpure In front of a Book erect bound Gules edged clasped and garnished Or a representation of the Pastoral Staff of Bishop Selwyn.

The dexter half of the arms (those of the See of Lichfield) are unusual, with or (gold) countercharged on argent (silver), violating the rule of tincture, which prohibits a metal to be charged with another metal. This is thought to refer to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which also famously violates this rule. The Pastoral Staff of Bishop Selwyn is based on a hardwood Māori staff which is held in the College Chapel.

The College was also granted a badge, A Mitre Or within an Annulet Purpure.

The College motto is a biblical quotation from 1 Corinthians, chapter 16, verse 13, in Greek, "ΑΝΔΡΙΖΕΣΘΕ",[1] translated in the King James Version as "Quit ye like men"[2] (alternatively, in the Douay Rheims version, "Do manfully"[3] or, in the New American Bible, "Be courageous"[4]). The motto also appears as part of a longer quotation over the main College gate.

Grace

The College Grace is said by a Scholar (a student who achieved a First in the previous year) at the beginning of Formal Hall (held every Tuesday and Thursday), and is as follows:

Benedic, Domine, nobis et donis Tuis, quae de Tua largitate sumus sumpturi; et concede ut iis muneribus Tuis ad laudem Tuam utamur, gratisque animis fruamur, per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Translation:

Bless us, O Lord, and all your gifts, which of your goodness we are about to enjoy; grant that we may use these generosities to your glory, and enjoy them with thankful hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

When the High Table rises, the following concluding Grace is said: Benedicamus Domino. (Let us bless the Lord), with the response being: Laus Deo. (Praise be to God.)

Famous alumni

See also: Category:Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge

References

See also

• Fellows of Selwyn College, Cambridge
• Masters of Selwyn College, Cambridge
• Selwyn College JCRS — the representative body of the undergraduate population at the college.
• Selwyn College Boat Club — the college rowing club.
• List of organ scholars
• Hermes club — the college Sports Society

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Selwyn College, Cambridge

• Selwyn College Official website
• Selwyn College JCR Committee Official website
• Selwyn College MCR Official website
• Selwyn Snowball website, Cambridge's only annual Winter ball (as opposed to the other Colleges' traditional May balls)
• A new court for Selwyn (University of Cambridge press release, 22 September 2005)
• Official Selwyn College Boat Club website

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