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I am delighted to introduce this special 50th anniversary edition of The Guide to

Excellence. In this years volume, youll find inspirational stories from the British

and international education sector alongside recent news from Cambridges

colleges and an account of CUSUs fascinating 50-year history.

CUSU is a vibrant and forward-looking organisation, and the energy and

idealism with which it was founded in 1964 are still evident today. Its true that

were a bigger team now with more resources at our disposal, and that we

represent a far greater number of undergraduate and graduate students, but

our aims and ambitions remain unchanged.

Throughout the past 50 years, CUSU has done a great deal to help improve

conditions for its student members and for the wider community. Some of oursuccesses have been far-reaching and transformative, others more low-key,

but all have helped to make a real difference to our students lives and to the life

of the university. In our early years, we achieved the hard-won right to student

representation on many of the universitys decision-making bodies. We successfully

challenged Cambridges traditionally male-only colleges to open their door s to

women students and we have since built on that achievement by helping to make

it possible for students from a wide range of under-represented groups to study

here. Improving access and widening participation continues to be one of our

most important aims.

In this very special year for us, we have started to move in several new and

exciting directions, and we hope that these initiatives will ensure CUSU continues

to thrive for at least another 50 years. So far in 2014, weve launched the first-ever

CUSU Strategic Plan, which will shape the organisations identity and activities over

the next three years. Weve also hosted our first training conference for college

and faculty student reps and have been working hard to find a new home for

CUSU, one that will meet our members needs more effectively and provide a

hub of student activity in the centre of Cambridge for many years to come.

As we look forward to the next 50 years of successful campaigning, CUSU

invites you to dip in and enjoy this book. We hope that it will tell you all you need

to know about our values, achievements and ambitions, about whats happening in

Cambridges 31 colleges and about developments in education across the world.

WelcomeFLICK OSBORN, CUSU PRESIDENT