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M A G A Z I N E
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Issue 2, Summer Term, 2014
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contents
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P20
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ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
Updates 04-15
Confessions of an Aid Worker 16-21
Basma Nirmi, Jordan, a review 22-23
Travel Bursaries 24-27
Durham News 28-31
St Mary’s Choir Tour 32-33
What Durham Gave Me 34-38
St Mary’s Hardship Fund 39
Mary’s Memories 40-41
Graduation Feature 42-47
What’s Been On? 48-51
A Look Back 52-53
Career Mentor Update 54
Meet your new Alumni Officer 55
About our Friends Scheme 56-57
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Facebook www.facebook.com/StMarysOffical
Twitter https://twitter.com/StMarysOfficial
Linkedin http://ow.ly/tD8Hs
Email [email protected]
CONTENTS
04
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
welcome
SIMON HACKETT
COLLEGE PRINCIPAL
As we approach a new
academic year, it seems
an excellent opportunity to look
back on the highlights of 2013-14
at St Mary’s. It gives me great
pleasure to be able to report that
Mary’s students have once again
achieved academic success whilst
enjoying a wide range of social
activities, with the encourage-
ment and involvement of our
Junior, Middle and Senior
Common Rooms and St Mary’s
College Society.
First and foremost, most of you
will know that Dr Gillian
Boughton retired from her post
as Vice-Principal and Senior Tutor
at the end of the Michaelmas
term. In December 2013, friends
and colleagues gathered to make
tribute to her at a special dinner,
which proved to be an unfor-
gettable occasion for all con-
cerned. Rather than accepting a
leaving gift, Gill asked for
contributions to be made to char-
ities for Syrian children, a cause
very dear to her heart.
Before leaving St Mary’s, Gill was
able to join in enthusiastically
with the end of term festivities by
participating in our traditional
Christmas pantomime
‘Cinderella’, with the rather non-
traditional twist that it focused
on the trials and tribulations of
Cindy’s freshers’ week, finding
that she has been allocated to
Castle rather than St Mary’s.
Drama and music is always a
feature of life at St Mary’s and
other productions this year in-
cluded an innovative staging of
“Much Ado about Nothing” in
Epiphany term and our summer
musical 2014: ‘Rent’, a rock
musical based on ‘La Boheme’
was reviewed as “a brave, dy-
namic, and well-orchestrated
production”.
A programme of music events
such as ‘Mary’s Got Talent’ and
‘Live Lounge’ continue to
showcase the multiple musical
accomplishments of our students.
The St Mary’s Choir, under the
expert guidance of Joe Schultz,
performed to acclaim in services
held in the Cathedral and St
Oswald’s Church and a report on
their summer tour appears
elsewhere in this magazine.
Other events such as the annual
Fashion Show and the Fairtrade
Bake-off involved students and
staff and raised much-needed
funds for DUCK (Durham Univer-
sity Charities Kommittee).
Building on the success of the
Garden Party held in 2013, it was
decided that for 2014 the College
would host a theatre perfor-
mance of ‘Macbeth’ by Illyria,
offering an outdoor theatrical
experience in the ideal setting of
05
UPDATES
“ St Mary’s is a very special place and we
look forward to sharing it with you. ”
06
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
the SCR Lawn, inviting students,
parents, staff and alumni to
enjoy a picnic and a get-together
before the performance. A cast
of five played the roles, including
the three witches. The
entertainment continued in the
interval, with an entirely
unrehearsed comedy raffle
routine involving the Principal,
cast members and a number of
cuddly toys.
The College produced a Calendar
for 2014 featuring photographs
taken by students and staff.
Another Photo Competition has
been held this year, with some
great entries illustrating College
life and scenes of Durham City. A
2015 Calendar is being produced,
so look out for details of how to
get a copy, which will be sure to
revive memories of College and
Durham.
St Mary’s continues to increase
its reputation as a scholarly
community by facilitating
research-related activities and
hosted several visitors during
2013-14. Our Artist in Residence
during Epiphany Term was
Basma Nimri, an artist and writer
from Jordan, whose exhibition of
her work drew visitors from
across the University and interest
from the local art community.
Whilst living in College Basma
produced various new works of
art inspired by the College and
Durham itself.
Other visitors during the year
were two academics who
benefited from the St Mary’s
College Women’s Fellowship. Ms
Aytakin Huseynli, a senior social
worker in Azerbaijan, worked
with staff in the School of
Applied Social Sciences. Dr Ikram
El-Sherif, Assistant Professor at
Gulf University, shared her
research on Arab and Muslim
women in Western popular
culture and spent time in the
English Department and School
of Government and International
affairs.
The College also welcomed Dr
Larissa Brizhik who joined us
from the Ukraine during
Epiphany Term as COFUND
Fellow with the Institute of
Advanced Study. Dr Brizhik is
leading research fellow at the
Department of Nonlinear
Condensed Matter Physics at
Bogolyubov Institute for Theo-
retical Physics in Kiev. Whilst at
St Mary’s Dr Brizhik became a
valued member of the College
community, attending various
dinners and events, especially
enjoying the experience of the
Masquerade Ball.
I am happy to say that the new
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UPDATES
academic year will bring some
new faces to St Mary’s. Mrs
Catherine Paine is joining us as
Vice-Principal and Dr Dave
Robson as Senior Student
Support Officer. We are saying a
fond farewell to Imogen
Hampson-Smith, who in her year
in the post of Development
Officer has used her skills in
design and marketing to great
effect including in the production
of the Friends’ Magazine,
building a firm foundation for her
successor, Harriet Batchelor, who
I know is looking forward to
joining the team.
It gives me great
pleasure to be able to
report that Mary’s
students have once
again achieved
academic success
whilst enjoying a wide
range of social
activities
From this brief summary of some
of the activities in College this
year, I hope you will agree with
me that St Mary’s is thriving as
one of the most popular and high
achieving of all Durham’s
Colleges. It remains a great
privilege for me to be Principal
and I shall look forward to wel-
coming Friends to College when-
ever the opportunity arises.
Professor Simon
Hackett,
Principal
Congratulations| Barbara Laithwaite| awarded honorary doctorate
Congratulations to Mary's
Alumna Barbara Laithwaite
who received an honorary doc-
torate, along with her husband,
fellow Durham graduate, Tony
Laithwaite. Famous as the
founders and owners of
Laithwaite’s Wine, the world's
foremost home delivery wine
company.
The couple met as Durham
University students in the
1960s and support the Uni-
versity’s Institute of Hazard,
Risk and Resilience.
They were awarded their
honorary doctorates of civil
law during the congregation
ceremonies on July 2nd.
Mary's is very proud!
08
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
A YEAR IN REVIEW BY MATT WATSON| JCR PRESIDENT 2013-2014.
The academic year
has drawn to a close
and many students have made
the transfer to alumni following
another fantastic few days on
Palace Green for Congregation. As
we look back, we can see that
once again we have had a
fantastic year at this wonderful
College.
As usual our Arts Society had an
exceptional year. Arts President,
Emily Higgins, led the team
extremely well as our most
exciting and busiest Arts Week
culminated in the magnificent
Seven Deadly Sins Masquerade
Ball, marvellously organised by
Lizzy Howe and Rachel Pearson.
Basement Jazz performed at
countless College balls and Col-
lege days, including the Freshers’
Ball this year and continues to
grow in stature and acclaim under
the wonderful leadership of Luke
Bentley.
“Foot of the Hill Theatre” (our
Drama Society) also continued to
put on excellent performances
with many students being either
members of cast or crew at one or
more of these productions. As
President, Megan Frogley moved
from Director’s Chair to the stage
to star as a drunken,
promiscuous Fairy Godmother to
Bethan Stimpson’s Cinderella at
Christmas. Joey Green and
Andrew Dallamore also starred as
the hero, Buttons, and the villain,
Prince Charming and starred again
alongside Julie McElroy and Zoe
Marks in the wonderful
production of William
Shakespeare’s Much Ado About
Nothing which received fantastic
reviews from the student news-
papers, as did our summer
musical production of Rent, in
which Tom Thorpe, Greg Burr,
Alicia Lee-Clarke, Catherine Crook,
Rebecca Piper and Sarah Harrison
shone.
Mary’s sport did not have quite as
good year as we have done
previously in the overall sports
tables but this was due to fewer
teams being able to enter College
Festival of Sport due to tours on
which they were embarking. In
the regular season, we again had
a successful year with the cricket,
rugby and ultimate Frisbee clubs
achieving promotion. The hockey
club struggled with both the
men’s and women’s teams
eventually unable to avoid the
drop and looking to bounce back
next year. The women’s team did
reach the semi-final of the knock-
out cup however, a great result
considering the struggles in the
MATTHEW WATSON
JCR PRESDIENT
09
UPDATES
league. The Darts A Team were
narrowly beaten by Grey in the
Cup Final having finished third in
the league, but the standout
team this year were the Men’s
Basketball Team, led by Justin
Cheuk, who only failed to achieve
the league championship due to
a 40-0 walkover given against
them to Queen’s when they were
unable to field a team at the
second campus. This resulted in
the top 3 of Mary’s, Queen’s and
Collingwood finishing level on
points and Queen’s taking the
title on points’ difference.
At the Sportsmen’s Ball, we
honoured the standout
performances from this year with
a Most Valuable Player chosen by
the captain, a Player’s Player and
a Clubman of the Year from each
club receiving sports’ colours for
their efforts. Alex Hunt (4th Year)
and Ellen Gale (1st Year) were
awarded Sportsman and Sports-
woman of the Year for their
outstanding contributions and
the inaugural Team of the Year
award went to the Men’s Basket-
ball Team, before the Men’s
Football Club took the Sports-
men’s Ball title with their superb
performance to a Justin
Timberlake medley.
The Executive Committee have
once again gone beyond them-
selves to make the year at Mary’s
as incredible as they can. The
new Welfare at Mary’s (WAM)
team flourished with its new
accessible and friendly service
and the widely attended Burst
out of the Bubble events, which
went Ice Skating, climbing on a
High Ropes course and to the
beach this year. Will Oster and
Isla Robertson both now leave
Mary’s for a year to embark on
their year abroad but the impact
they have made will be noticed
for many years to come and they
rightly received full colours for
this.
I wish everyone at
St. Mary’s all the
success in the world.
The Social Committee also ran
many successful events and con-
tinued to provide a great deal for
students to look forward to, with
Dan Redhead spearheading this
successfully. The rest of the Exec
were also incredible this year and
it is very hard to name them all,
but I would also like to thank my
Vice-President, Chris Kingstone,
for being a brilliant support this
year in all the endeavours that I
have gone on.
The Great Gatsby themed Mid-
summer Ball, orchestrated by
Alex Aspinall, was also a huge
success and the sea of Brazilian
shirts on the SCR lawn for the
Mary’s World Cup on Mary’s Day
was a fantastic sight and the
£1300+ raised for the Motor
Neurone Disease Association and
The Rob George Foundation in
the Exec Auction was also a testa-
ment to the extreme generosity
of the students at St. Mary’s.
Looking forward, there was also a
record number of people running
for almost every position that
was open this year, resulting in
some very late nights at JCR
Meetings but it is obviously a
wonderful reflection on how
proud the students are to be a
part of this wonderful College.
Finally, I would like to say a per-
sonal goodbye and thanks to
everyone for this year. I have had
a wonderful year as President
and it has been an honour to
represent the College in this way.
I would like to thank all the staff
and students of St. Mary’s Col-
lege for their support and enthu-
siasm. St. Mary’s is a truly bril-
liant place to live and work and I
cannot think of a better way to
have spent the last year and I am
very sad to be leaving the place,
but I intend to be back for many
events in the future and I wish
everyone at St. Mary’s all the
success in the world.
10
IMOGEN HAMPSON-SMITH|ALUMNI RELATIONS
AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Welcome to the second
edition of St Mary’s Friends
Magazine. I’ve had such fun
putting this magazine together
and I really hope that you enjoy
reading it as much as I enjoyed
making it!
It’s been a fantastic year for me
here at Mary’s as the first Alumni
Relations Officer. It has been an
honour and pleasure to serve the
College and its alumni and I have
added considerably to the many
fantastic memories I have of this
wonderful place. Those of you I
have met in person or spoken to
via email and social media have
reminded me time and again how
special Mary’s is, not just as a
beautiful physical place but as a
longstanding community of warm
and inspiring people. I can only
hope that I am able to meet
many more of you at alumni
events in the future.
This magazine is tailored not just
to our alumni but is designed for
all our ‘Friends of St Mary’s’,
current students, parents, staff
and anybody who has a vested
interest in building on our strong
sense of community here at
College. For the first time, with
this edition, those Friends will
include our incoming students
and their families and so to all
our new Friends reading this
magazine I extend the very
warmest of welcomes. Please
enjoy this edition and hopefully
learn more about the fantastic
vibrant community you will soon
be joining
Mary’s is so special,
not just as a beautiful
physical place but as a
longstanding
community of warm
and inspiring people.
As always my primary aim is to
listen to your ideas for the future
of St Mary’s community. If you
are inspired by any of the articles
in this magazine, perhaps to run
an event, join our careers scheme
or get in touch with old friends.
Please feel free to email me at
and I will provide as much help as
possible for you to get involved.
Many of our most successful
schemes and events come from
the ambitions of our fantastic
volunteers who truly are ambas-
sadors for Mary’s. So I would like
to finally thank all our fantastic
volunteers who have done so
much this year!
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
IMOGEN HAMPSON-SMITH
ALUMNI OFFICER
11
UPDATES
This year has been a
cracking year for the
MCR. We introduced the
new positions of MCR Freshers’
Reps to assist with events during
Freshers’ Week and it really
made a difference. Tim Hughes
and Ansley Blalock helped the
new members - most only here
for a year - really get excited
about what the MCR can do. The
exec this year was mostly made
up of newcomers to Mary’s and
they all took their role seriously
and with a lot of enthusiasm, so
special thanks to Ansley, Jenny,
Paige and the two Daves!
Hopefully we can
continue the trend we
started this year of
more involvement,
more events and even
more successes!
We had St Mary’s MCR members
go to most of the Inter-MCR
Formals this year, and our MCR
members took advantage of their
dual MCR-JCR membership to
attend a lot of the JCR formals
and events. The MCR’s own
events were well-attended...
especially the ad hoc American
TV sports in the MCR! I’d like to
wish the best of luck to my
successor, David Van Rooyen and
his huge team of MCR Freshers’
Reps. Hopefully we can continue
the trend we started this year of
more involvement, more events
and even more successes!
BEXI DENISON SMITH| MCR PRESIDENT
2013-2014
BEXI DENISON SMITH
MCR PRESIDENT
Want to follow the JCR, MCR or Alumni
Office on Facebook? Just click below.
JCR
MCR
ALUMNI OFFICE
12
A BIG HELLO| FROM
AMY SIMPKINS
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
Hi Mary’s, I’m Amy
Simpkins, a third year
Theology graduate
with the honour of
taking over the role of
JCR President in
August. I fell in love with
Mary’s from the moment I
visited as a wide-eyed sixth for-
mer back in 2010 and, four years
on, that enthusiasm has not
waned in the slightest! During
my time as an undergrad I think
I’ve been part of nearly 20 sports
and societies, and recently
realised I’m a member of 50
Facebook groups related to just
Mary’s alone – the amount of
stash I have acquired is
astonishing, never again will I
need to buy a pyjama tshirt!
Over the past three years I’ve
represented Mary’s on the
hockey and football pitches,
whilst also organizing Old Boys
and Girls events for both clubs
too. I’ve played tennis in those
glorious post-exam days of
sunshine that we all look back
upon with such fond memories
and once upon a time dabbled in
a bit of fresher rowing too. I’ve
had the pleasure of witnessing
our Welfare Committee blossom
into WAM, with students driven
by Mary’s spirit ever eager to
improve the university
experience for those around
them. This spirit evidently
extends to all aspects of College,
whether that be on stage for our
Christmas pantomime, abroad
having hitch-hiked for DUCK, or
to new students on Open Days.
Along with the rest of College I’m
a strong supporter of Durham
traditions; a keen member of
Social Committee, I’ve watched
our formals and balls growing
bigger and better, with the
annual Mary’s Day and Mid-
summer Ball getting ever more
ambitious! I can’t wait to
represent such a fantastic
College and am really looking
forward to continuing the great
work Matt has done this year. As
our adopted Twitter slogan says,
there really is ‘something about
Mary’s’ and I’m very proud to be
a part of that!
JCR PRESIDENT ELECT
I fell in love with
Mary’s from the
moment I visited as
a wide-eyed sixth
former back in 2010
and, four years on,
that enthusiasm has
not waned in the
slightest!
13
UPDATES
“As our adopted Twitter slogan says, there really
is ‘something about Mary’s’ and I’m very proud
to be a part of that! ”
14
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
The St Mary's College Society (SMCS) is the society that is open to all old students of St Mary's College , whatever their age, whenever they graduated. It is, in fact, one of the oldest societies in the College! When students come up to Durham as freshers or as new postgraduate students they are asked to pay a modest membership fee to join the Society. On graduation member-ship becomes a reality . The Soci-ety is the ever-increasing body of alumni who are members of St Mary's College whenever they
graduated, wherever they live, and whatever they do; we are one community with those who are studying now.
Recent graduates as well as older generations are represented in the membership of our Society Committee: the present and Immediate past presidents of the JCR and MCR are automatically members. Like the College, we of course have both genders in our
membership. We try to promote events that will be of interest to all in various parts of the country, as well as an annual residential
reunion in the College, usually in September. In the spring we usually have a reunion lunch for those who can come to Durham for the day. Do try to book one of these occasions into your diary before too long- it's great to share stories of times past and to learn more of things present.
One of the Society's ongoing aims is to assist in enhancing the experience of current students in Mary's. From the modest income raised by the fee students pay on joining, we give financial help in a variety of ways via book grants from the St Mary's Society Book Fund, or by travel grants. This year, we are launching an annual bursary for a postgraduate stu-dent who wants to live in Col-lege. Some of the initiatives we have taken, like Mary's Angels, are now being progressed through the College, who are trying to use the expertise of alumni to benefit current students in careers advice.
HELLO| FROM THE
PRESIDENT OF ST MARY'S
COLLEGE SOCIETY Elizabeth Fisher succeeded Liz Manning as the President of our Alumni Society in 2011 after retiring to
the North East. She met her husband Peter ( a Chad’s man) here at Durham and her fascinating career
as a Canon in the Church of England has taken her all over the world. Here she writes about the work
of the Society within College and beyond.
“SMCS represents
both the traditions of
the past and
commitment to the
present and future of
the College.”
15
UPDATES
In these practical ways, SMCS represents both the traditions of the past and commitment to the present and future of the College. We like to think that we are some of the best advocates of life at Mary's, and some of its proudest products. Our older members knew they were pio-neering women in a man's world. Now, our graduates are still pio-neering on new frontiers. We look forward to seeing many of you at the events we sponsor,
and hearing of your successes. We hope that those of you reading this article who fall into the category of Friend of St Mary's who may wish to discover more of our activities will read the links to us on the College website. Those of us who are active in the Society know that St Mary's College is a real life-long community of people indebted to College. Often the demands of career and family can seem to loosen the bonds of belonging
and there are periods when some of us can become de-tached. But we know that we are always welcomed back into the community. Reconnecting is just a click away. It would be good to renew some old friendships and to make new acquaintances with the new Friends of St Mary's College, Durham.
Canon Elizabeth
Fisher. President
SMCS.
HELLO| FROM THE
PRESIDENT OF ST MARY'S
COLLEGE SOCIETY
Thank you| to Kyle Wong
Who took this edition’s cover photo
and many more of the beautiful
Images of Mary’s featured through-
out this magazine.
If you’re interested in seeing any
more of Kyle’s fantastic work then
please visit his Facebook site to view
his online portfolio.
www.facebook.com/
KyleWongPhotography
16
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
Confessions of an aid worker|
Sarah Packwood is a humanitarian aid worker whose journey since her days at Mary’s has seen her travel to
countries in crisis all over the world. Here she writes about her life and experiences after her time at Mary’s.
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
17
On 6th April 1994 a plane carrying President
Habyarimana of Rwanda was shot down.
This tragic event triggered immediate violence, which spread like
wildfire across the country leaving no family untouched. Genocide
killed over 800,000 people and uprooted one million people from
their homes, who fled to neighboring countries of Tanzania and
Zaire to seek shelter in refugee camps. Little did I know then, that a
year later I would be working in one such refugee camp in north-
west Tanzania. It is now April 2014 and the twentieth anniversary of
the horrific Rwandan genocide has prompted me to reflect on my
journey as a humanitarian aid worker. How did I get here?
FEATURE
18
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
I graduated in Biology from
Durham University in 1991 after
three very happy and formative
years at St. Mary’s College. There,
I forged life-long friendships, ex-
plored subjects I am passionate
about, joined campaigns, orches-
tras and music groups and min-
gled with students from different
countries. All this opened the
window on to the wider world- a
world I remain ever curious
about. I learned to stand on my
own two feet and be
resourceful, espe-
cially through 3am
essay crises, 5am
rowing practices and
furious dancing at
Student Union Freak-
outs!
Back then (gosh I
sound old), I could-
n’t get a job in Biology straight
away so I took a gap year to learn
how to apply myself. I did volun-
tary conservation work, a spell in
retail, a stint as an assistant war-
den at a haunted youth hostel
and volunteered on intermediate
technology projects in a Spanish
desert. Throughout I learned the
importance of serving others and
working hard whatever the task. I
went on to gain a masters in Rural
Resource Management at Bangor
University, where I had the op-
portunity to carry out my thesis
research in Kenya in 1993. Con-
fronted by the poverty of rural
farming families and the challeng-
es they faced every day just to
survive, I experienced an epipha-
ny. Africa stole my heart and I had
to return one day.
The following year, I was working
as an Assistant Scientific Officer at
the Forestry Commission in leafy
Surrey, a world away from the
slaughter, displacement and trau-
ma in Rwanda. However, a few
months later I took up a volunteer
position with a small, local charity
called Christian Outreach Relief
and Development (CORD) and
found myself on a plane bound
for Tanzania in 1995. I joined an
amazing team of aid workers
providing construction, medical
and community services to Rwan-
dan refugees in two large refugee
camps in Ngara. Tentative and
homesick, I struggled with the
shock of seeing refugees cramped
together in appalling conditions
and hearing accounts of their
traumatic experiences. I remem-
ber clearly a little girl who could-
n’t speak because she was trau-
matised, having been forced to
watch while her family was butch-
ered in front of her. She attended
a safe play group in the camp and
some months later I saw a glim-
mer of hope when she began to
play with other children.
Women and girls had been raped
and remained at risk, re-living the
horror again and again, while the
perpetrators lived
among them. Geno-
cide ringleaders had
found safety in
numbers while flee-
ing across the bor-
der and held the
camp populations in
a tight grip of fear
and intimidation.
Families of mixed Hutu-Tutsi mar-
riages suffered vicious attacks and
my colleagues and I helped them
to escape death threats when
they wanted to return home. It
was a steep learning curve, I was
stretched beyond what I per-
ceived my capabilities to be -
from being an administrator to
being a leader responsible for
coordinating community services
in a camp of 80,000 people. Com-
munity services included reunify-
ing separated families, providing
home-based care for vulnerable
“Confronted by the poverty
of rural farming families and
the challenges they faced
every day just to survive, I
experienced an epiphany.”
19
FEATURE
refugees and supplementary
meals for malnourished adults,
formal and informal education,
youth vocational
training, agricultural and environ-
mental initiatives, micro-credit,
support to sports and drama
groups and cross-border peace
initiatives. I learned the value of
team work. My fellow team ma-
tes taught me what I needed to
know and kept me going when
times were tough. However, I
learned the most from the refu-
gees themselves, how the resili-
ence of the human spirit can
shine through adversity. I remem-
ber with fondness Odette, who
ran our warehouse in the camp.
She had lost her husband to AIDs
and she lived with her son Eric.
One day she invited me to lunch. I
went to her home, a simple hut
made out of poles and plastic
sheeting. She had very few be-
longings but she had saved mon-
ey to buy a chicken to cook for
lunch because she considered me
an honoured guest. I was truly
humbled by her act of generosity
and kindness. Dignity, honour and
friendship were very important to
Odette, and I learned that refu-
gees are not passive recipients of
aid.
Since then I have worked in over
twenty countries for non-
governmental organisations and
United Nations agencies. I have
responded to conflicts in South
Sudan, Kosovo, Congo and Kyrgyz-
stan and natural disasters in
Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Haiti,
Mozambique and Myanmar to
name but a few. In addition, I
have trained counterparts in dis-
aster risk reduction and protec-
tion of civilians in Barbados, Boliv-
ia, Kenya, Namibia, Papua New
Guinea, Sri Lanka and Thailand
and advised senior military offic-
ers during Peace Support Opera-
tions training exercises.
I have been touched by both trag-
edy and poignancy. The tragedy
of famine-stricken mothers carry-
ing their babies for miles and
miles to reach relief distribution
points and young boys recruited
into rebel forces in South Sudan
while the conflict rages on; refu-
gees returning to bombed out
buildings in Kosovo, once their
homes, and struggling to stay
warm in winter; and the fourteen
year old girl looking after her
paralysed grandfather in a camp
for internally displaced persons in
Congo, who had been repeatedly
20
forced from their homes as a
result of cyclical violence. I re-
member many poignant surviv-
al stories. For example, in Bangla-
desh an eighty year old lady ex-
plained how her niece had carried
her to safety across
the storm battered
delta to the cyclone
shelter and said that
twenty years earlier,
when the last mas-
sive cyclone hit, she
had carried her niece
to safety. In Colom-
bia, I witnessed fami-
lies, who had been
displaced by conflict
and organised crime,
receive a warm wel-
come and practical
support from other
displaced families
and brave nuns who
had stood up to
armed rebels. In Ethi-
opia, I listened to the
remarkable accounts
of older women who
were sent as envoys
for peace to broker agreement
between warring clans and in Sri
Lanka I met women and men who
had survived the Tsunami and
worked tirelessly to rebuild their
livelihoods so they could put their
children through College.
Being a humanitarian aid worker
means bringing life-saving assis-
tance to disaster-affected people
as quickly and safely as possible.
Humanitarian assistance has to be
appropriate, impartial, neutral
and based on needs alone. The
work is not for the faint-hearted.
It is not glamorous and risks are
high. Aid workers risk death, ab-
duction, injury and illness while
working in some of the most dan-
gerous environments in the
world. Just getting to work can be
challenging! In the last nineteen
years, I have survived several
dodgy plane, helicopter and car
rides, learned to drive a truck and
4 x 4s off-road and across rivers
(yes I can change a tyre by my-
self), waded through swamps,
trekked for miles
across desert, sailed
in dug-out canoes
and speedboats, and
rode on the back of
ox carts, motorbikes
and in the back of
pick ups. I even had
to co-pilot a plane,
while flying out of a
war zone! Much to
my surprise the pilot
sitting next to me said
‘Here hold this
(meaning the co-pilot
stick) and look out of
the window and tell
me if anything is com-
ing’ . I did as I was
told. Who wouldn’t?
Needless to say my
heart was in my
mouth all the way
back to base. Accom-
modation can be risky too. I’ve
lodged in a one-person tent
(where I lived for two years),
round wooden huts, concrete
boxes, containers, shady guest
houses on red light districts and
shared team houses, all of which
bring their own hazards i.e. rats in
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
21
FEATURE
the kitchen (Tanzania), cobras in
the shower and camel spiders in
my hut (Kenya), scorpions in my
tent (Sudan) and mice in the bed
(Kosovo). I’ve been homesick,
dirty, sweaty, stinky and sunburnt
and a home for numerous intesti-
nal parasites and malaria. Like
many humanitari-
ans I have, on occa-
sions, had to es-
cape on foot from
armed militia (very
rapidly), avoid aeri-
al bombings and
minefields, hit the
deck to avoid cross-
fire and been evac-
uated and medi-
vacced. I have ex-
perienced PTSD
and re-entry syn-
drome, (the latter
is the shock of re-
turning to one’s
own home environ-
ment and subse-
quent difficulties in
adjusting) which has left me won-
dering where I belong. Over the
years, quietly and gradually, the
realisation dawned on me that I
belong to a global family.
Despite the hazards of the job the
rewards are many but are not
necessarily obvious nor expected.
To me the smile of a child is
worth more than a wage, as is the
solidarity of walking alongside
survivors of conflict or disaster
and doing what I can to assist,
however big or small the job.
Along the way there have been a
few surprises. From the marriage
offer of 500 cows from a rebel
commander in South Sudan to be
his wife number two (I politely
declined) to a Congolese col-
league naming her baby daughter
after me in, which touched me
deeply, I am reminded of our
shared humanity.
Twenty years on from the Rwan-
dan genocide, conflicts and disas-
ters are still an every day reality
for many women, men, girls and
boys. In the coming years it is
highly likely that disasters, both
natural and man-made, will in-
crease in frequency and severity,
which will affect more people in
our world. We have a choice.
We can look on while this goes on
around us or we can lift a hand to
help in acts of com-
passion. We have a
collective responsi-
bility towards each
other and the planet
we inhabit to be
ready to act in order
to prevent and over-
come some of the
greatest challenges
of our time. As I
reflect on the last 19
years in the best job
in the world, I am
asking you, are you
ready to be a hu-
manitarian aid work-
er of the future?
If you would like to know
more about humanitarian
aid work, then drop Sarah
a line via Linked In here
http://www.linkedin.com/
pub/sarah-justine-
packwood/12/a98/602.
“Despite the hazards of the
job the rewards are many but
are not necessarily obvious
nor expected. To me the
smile of a child is worth
more than a wage, as is the
solidarity of walking
alongside survivors of
conflict or disaster and doing
what I can to assist, however
big or small the job.”
22
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
23
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
Dramatic, poignant and sombre;
the dull square of Kenworthy Hall
became a showcase of deep
emotion as St. Mary’s College
held an exhibition for its resident
artist, Basma Nimri, in March.
Hailing from Jordan, Basma is
unafraid of revealing the stories
behind each paintings, and it has
to be said that often they are sad.
Basma lost her sister to cancer six
years ago and in the paintings her
sister is clearly a figure harrowed
by what is happening to her,
already a ghost in the presence of
Basma. One painting in particular
is especially disturbing, with the
skin of the two sisters an Osiris-
like green, and her sister’s head
and gaze is turned far, far away.
Likewise, Basma’s louder
paintings also rise from her
personal conflicts. In one image a
woman’s face is covered in blood,
and when I asked for its back
story Basma eagerly told me of
how she was first trying to paint a
beautiful face, but upon hearing
about the violent turmoil back
home in Jordan and the Levant,
she was filled with such sadness
and anger at the troubles that
she dipped her hands in the thick
red oils and scratched the surface
of the painting. The result is a
wounded, lonely face, staring
bleakly through lines – or are
they bars? – of pure red fury. Her
use of oils is really what makes
her stand out as an artist; the
texture becomes as heavy-lidded
and thick as the convoluted
emotions held by the artist and
the dark, lugubrious colours like-
wise conjure this sense of pro-
found internal turmoil. When I
asked Basma what she planned
on doing next, she told me that
she would love to return to the
UK for another residency, and
that perhaps she will open up a
gallery with her sister in Santiago.
What is definite, however, is that
her time at St. Mary’s was life-
affirming to say the least. She
finished 9 works in her few
months at the College and the
brighter, less depressing colour
palette used in these painting
By Sophia Smith Galer
she was filled with
such sadness and
anger at the troubles
that she dipped her
hands in the thick red
oils and scratched the
surface of the
painting.
expresses her happiness in her
time here. One wonders what oth-
er brilliant changes we shall see in
Basma’s work over the course of
her career, one bound to be full of
both many exciting ventures and
challenges.
24
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
TRAVEL BUSARIES
St Mary’s is extremely proud of our
long tradition of empowering
students to experience the life
changing adventures of living and
working abroad. Our students
travel the world undertaking a
huge variety of important works
both charitable and academic
benefiting not just their personal
development but often whole
communities
St Mary’s College offers travel
bursaries to help support our
students in these endeavours.
Offering these bursaries is only
made possible as a direct result of
donations to the College. Many
would be impossible if it were not
for the generous gifts we receive
each year from our Friends and
alumni. Here a few students
recount their experiences of
following their passions across the
globe and say thank you all those
donors who helped enrich their
lives through their endowments.
If you think you would like to
consider donating to St Mary’s
please click here or email
find out more information
Rory Bowe|
New Zealand Considering that I am only halfway
through my study abroad experi-
ence at Otago University in New
Zealand, I often question whether I
am jumping the gun in saying that
it is one the best decisions that I
have ever made. But then I
remember going skiing in July on
the Southern Alps, completing the
78km Heaphy Trek over 4 days,
witnessing the atmosphere of a
rugby showdown between the
Wallabies and All-Blacks in
Dunedin, the inimitable student
life here, or waking up at 2am for
two weeks so as to milk 1,100
cows. In essence, choosing New
Zealand, and most specifically
Dunedin, to be a University
student for a year has come with
some experiences that will be
indelibly inked onto both my
memory and me as a person.
Otago University itself, situated in
the ‘Edinburgh of the South’,
Dunedin, is a quintessential
student town like Durham, and
there are a variety of similarities
25
TRAVEL BUSARIES
between the two that have eased
my transition from the UK. For
example, both utilise a collegiate
system that facilitates the
integration of new University
students into a new and alien
way of life after school or College.
For international students, this
manifests itself in the University
Flats group, the main body
through which I was able to meet
other exchange students from all
over the world. Even only having
completed one semester in New
Zealand, I have managed to
accumulate a vast array of life-
long friends from every corner of
the globe, something that will
undoubtedly benefit me in later
life in terms of travel and
contacts. Perhaps the most
Important friends that I made
were my flatmates, 3 Americans
and a Kiwi. I imagine the contrast
between my friends in Durham
flatting with those that they have
chosen to earlier in the year, and
myself being expected to live in
harmony with people from a
completely different country that
I had never met before for 6
months! Luckily for me, they have
been incredible, and making
these friends has definitely
enabled me to feel completely at
home in Dunedin. However, I feel
“I have managed to
accumulate a vast
array of life-long
friends from every
corner of the globe,
something that will
undoubtedly benefit
me in later life”
that to delve into the essence of
studying abroad, one must
Immerse themselves into the
culture of the host country. For
me, this has been achieved
through making Kiwi friends, with
whom I have discovered places in
the country that I would have
never seen before, and had
experiences that one would not
otherwise ever hope to have as a
mere traveller.
In terms of academic studies,
Otago University’s Geography
department has fallen slightly
short of the teaching standards
that I feel I could have expected
in my second year at Durham.
Being inherently aware of this, I
have felt it very necessary to
push myself above and beyond
the work and reading set by my
lecturers at Otago. Although this
has meant that I have perhaps
spent more hours studying than I
would have otherwise, it has
benefitted me in terms of further-
ing my knowledge and bettering
my marks.
This is an incredibly condensed
version of my time thus far in
New Zealand, and I could easily
talk for hours about what a
worthwhile experience studying
abroad is. The initial decision to
leave the comfort of, quality of
teaching in, and friends that I
have made in Durham was
extremely difficult, but in
retrospect it would have been a
foolish decision not to seize this
once in a lifetime opportunity.
26
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
This last summer I travelled to
Likoma Island in the north-
eastern corner of Lake Malawi.
Likoma Island is only 18km2 and
the eight hour boat journey from
mainland Malawi means there is
a severe lack of jobs on the island
for the 10,000 inhabitants. The
traditional patriarchal society
prioritises job entitlement for
men, leaving the women and
orphans of Likoma without a
livelihood. A small artisan agency,
named Katundu, has been setup
for 26 women and orphans on
the island, aiming to financially
benefit and empower the women
on the island. This is where I
completed my research over a
period of two weeks. The aim of
this trip was to complete
research for my dissertation,
investigating the commonplace
premise that Fair Trade deliv-
ers the empowerment of wom-
en.
Living and working on Likoma
Island was in itself an eye-
opening experience. Working
alongside the ladies at Katun-
du, it became evident that the
initial barrier to both everyday
life and empowerment was in
fact the material reality of
severely limited means. As a
month of their wages at Katundu,
whilst generous, could only afford
them a bag of sugar, sheer surviv-
al becomes a daily problem.
Alongside this, the fact there is
no bank on the island refuses
inhabitants the opportunity to
create a savings account to
afford long term investments,
such as a tin roof.
As a white western geographer, I
was expecting the female em-
ployees to be concerned fore-
Harriet Batchelor | Likoma Island
“I wish to sincerely
thank St Mary’s for their
kind contribution of
£100 to a trip in the
region of £1500 which
otherwise would have
been impossible for me
to afford.”
27
most with equality, respect and
power at work and home. Whilst
these issues proved to be of con-
cern for some, the majority fo-
cussed almost exclusively on
monetary issues, reinforcing for
me the importance of localised
development schemes. Moreo-
ver, many of the ladies in fact did
not desire any structural changes
to society, claiming that as God
made Adam first, so the man
should be the head of the house-
hold and “you cannot refuse
God”. Shocked by this statement,
my main lesson learnt from this
trip was to maintain an entirely
open mind on research and even
as renowned geographer Spivak
wrote, trying to “un-learn” your
privileges as they prevent you
from intimately understanding
the crux of alternative cultures.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my
time on Likoma Island and found
it to be invaluable to both my
dissertation research and my own
personal growth. I wish to sin-
cerely thank St Mary’s College for
their kind contribution of £100 to
a trip in the region of £1500
which otherwise would have
been impossible for me to
afford.
The time that I spent in Harghita
region, Romania was one that I
will never forget. Originally I
chose the expedition as it was a
great opportunity to understand a
country that is so economically
and culturally different to Britain,
yet still in Europe. I applied to the
expedition to help children that
had experienced a completely
different start to their lives to
what I am accustomed and to give
them the love, care and attention
that they so deserved.
Romania, to me, was particularly
important as there have been
recent cuts in government fund-
ing for the ever-growing popula-
tion of orphans, and the main
source of funding and contact
with others is now through volun-
teer projects.
“thank you for helping
make this experience
possible.”
My experience of Romania was
unlike anything that I had ever
expected. My eyes were most
definitely opened and will remain
so. The children in the orphanage
apartments were admirable.
They welcomed us with open
arms, teaching us Hungarian,
willingly learning from us and
were much more courteous and
accepting of others than any oth-
er child I have ever encountered.
I have learnt a great deal from
this experience about how, even
though we may have had differ-
ent experiences in life, the funda-
mentals remain the same. With-
out a doubt I am going to return
to Romania with other members
of the group in the near future
and would like to thank you for
helping make this experience
possible.
Dan Redhead| Romania DUCK Expedition
TRAVEL BUSARIES
28
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
Durham News
29
DURHAM NEWS
Durham News Durham student secures a two-book publishing deal
Not many students can say they are spending their first summer
vacation from University promoting their debut novel. But talented writer Alice Oseman, who has just finished her first year of studying English Literature at Durham, signed a six-figure deal for her book Solitaire, which is released , Thursday July 31.
More about Durham student secures a two-book publishing deal
Re-search into 13th
Research into C13th bishop’s theories about rainbows published
An interdisciplinary study of how a medieval bishop’s theories inspired
modern thinking about colour conception and the rainbow has been
published in the prestigious journal, Nature Physics.
More about research into 13th Century bishop’s theories about rain-bows makes Nature Physics
Astronomers create precision map to calculate amount of dark
matter in far off galaxy cluster
Astronomers have produced the most precise map yet of mass
within a distant galaxy cluster allowing them to accurately
calculate the amount of dark matter within the galaxy system.
More about astronomers create precision map to calculate amount of dark matter in far off galaxy cluster
30
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
Two Durham University experts elected Fellows of the
British Academy
Durham University professors Sarah Curtis and Charlotte
Roberts have been elected Fellows of the British Academy. The
accolade recognises outstanding research in the humanities
and social sciences.
More about two experts elected Fellows of the British Academy
Excavations reveal Roman site of major importance
A Roman site of international importance has been discovered by Durham's
archaeologists in Northern England.
More about Excavations reveal Roman site of major imp
Tory plans on European Court of Human Rights ‘cosmetic
nonsense’, says legal expert
Conservative plans to loosen the UK’s ties with the European Court of Human
Rights in Strasbourg are either a cosmetic nonsense or wishful thinking,
according to a legal expert from Durham University.
More about Tory plans on European Court of Human Rights ‘cosmetic non-
sense’, says legal expert
“Cosmic own goal” another clue in hunt for dark matter
The hunt for dark matter has taken another step forward thanks to
new supercomputer simulations showing the evolution of our “local
Universe” from the Big Bang to the present day
More about “Cosmic own goal” another clue in hunt for dark matter
31
DURHAM NEWS
#ttvolmgrs Thoughtful Thursday! This week 'The Rise of the University Vol-unteer!' http://ivo.org/P/kE Get in touch if you feel inspired!
Durham Alumni @durhamalumni Apr 3
Durham Alumni @durhamalumni Mar 27
What do you want from your alumni website? Let your alumni relations team know by taking this short survey https://www.dunelm.org.uk/onlinesurvey
Durham Alumni @durhamalumni Mar 21
@durham_uni Chancellor Sir Thomas Allen who has just received the Queen's Medal for Music. More info http://tinyurl.com/p6w4rty
Durham CEEC @careersatdurham Apr 13
Submit your photographs for "Memories of Durham" today! best photo wins a Kindle! http://bit.ly/1m0z65q @The-TabDurham
Excavations reveal Roman site of major importance
“Cosmic own goal” another clue in hunt for dark matter
Durham University named Eu-
rope’s leading centre for space
science researchers
Durham University has been named as Europe’s
leading university for highly-cited researchers in
astronomy and cosmology.
The Thomson-Reuters list of the “World’s most
influential scientific minds 2014” also saw
Durham ranked sixth in the world for the influ-
ence of its space science researchers.
Durham was the only UK University to feature in
the World Top 10, ranking above prestigious
institutions including NASA, The Max Planck
Institute for Astrophysics in Germany, and the
Harvard Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in
the USA.
More about Durham University named Europe’s
leading centre for space science researchers
Durham Alumni @durhamalumni Aug 01
Politicians from the main political parties debate the UK’s energy future @durham_uni 21 Aug http://bit.ly/UIssaF #ElectEnergy
Durham University @durham_uni Jul 31
Congrats to @durham_uni graduate Jon-athan Rex on receiving the Institution of Civil Engineers' Student Prize 2014 http://bit.ly/1n5MiDP
Why drugs are no longer cool' Prof Fiona Measham on why teenagers choose the internet instead via @Tel-egraph http://bit.ly/1l7iaYZ
Durham University @durham_uni Jul 31
32
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
The Chapel Choir of
St Mary's College
(SMCChCh) toured
Nice for a week this
July, performing three
concerts and a mass at some
of the most beautiful choral
music venues near the
stunning Côte D'Azure under the
direction of Joe Schultz.
We performed pieces from a
variety of periods by
composers including Tallis,
Rachmaninov and Gjeilo, and the
responses from the audience
were overwhelming.
As well as singing, we also got the
chance to relax on the gorgeous
beach, go swimming, para-glide,
visit museums, shop, attend the
Nice Jazz Festival and put on
impromptu performances for
strangers we met at our hostel -
and the Bastille Day firework
display on our last night in Nice
was the perfect end to such a
brilliant tour!
A massive thank you to Lucy Cole
for putting everything together
for this tour, and to Jonny Davies
for directing St Mary's Chamber
Choir, who also performed at the
concerts.
We would also like to thank the
CHAPEL CHOIR TOUR| A Review by Anuradha Damale
33
THE CHOIR TOUR
hosts at our concert venues for
being so welcoming and
accommodating, and for the
dozens of free water bottles
(which were a treat in the 30
degree heat!).
The Bastille Day
firework display on
our last night in Nice
was the perfect end
to such a brilliant
tour!
September will see our choir
welcome our new director,
Matthew Warren, who has been
singing with us for two years and
whom
we are very excited to work
with; and so we would
like to thank Joe for all his hard
work over the past two years
and for an amazing tour.
Please check out our YouTube
Channel, SMC Chapel Choir, to
see some of the pieces we
performed at our second venue,
l'Eglise Anglicane - the rest of the
pieces and more to come soon!
CHAPEL CHOIR TOUR|
If you’d like to
have a listen to
some of the choir’s
wonderful summer
performances
please click here to
visit their youtube
channel
34
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
What Durham
Gave Me| Maali Qasem Khader is a noted business woman, international lawyer, humanitarian and political activist
who has featured on the front cover of Fortune Magazine. Here she writes about her life at St Mary’s and
her fantastic adventures as an alumna.
35
FEATURE
October 1996 was a very
memorable time of my life. I
remember getting off at the train station at
Durham looking around trying to take it all in
hopeful of my coming three years at Durham
University.
I took a taxi and went to St. Mary’s my college.
At the time, St. Mary’s was still a singe sex
college and that had its perks – breakfast in pjs
and many more I shall leave to your
imagination. It was a very friendly place where
unlike other colleges I hear – we were a unit
especially when it snowed and we had to hold
the fort down.
When I choose Durham as my university, I was
unfamiliar with the collegiate system. Now,
knowing what I know I think that is one of the
best ways to integrate students into a university
and create a healthy peer collegiate system. We
studied at our faculties but we belonged in our
colleges.
It would be very difficult to sum up my three
years at St. Mary’s but what I will say is that
they were some of the best years of my life. I
had a fantastic time, had a great education and
most importantly created formidable friend-
ships most of which I still hold onto till this day.
36
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
By the time I graduated from
Durham University I was in love.
In love with the university, in love
with the castle and palace green
and in love with the city. Taking
the decision to do my
postgraduate degree in any other
university was one the toughest
choices I made but I knew if I
spent another year there, I would
never leave.
I was one of the fortunate people
who knew exactly what I wanted
to do in life – I want
to become a lawyer.
So in 1999 when I
graduated, I went on
to do my LLM in the
hopes of being
better equipped for
the corporate world.
When I graduated I
returned home to
Jordan and passed my Jordanian
bar and a few years later I passed
my New York Bar to practice law
more globally which I did.
Practicing law was a good career
but somewhere along the lines,
being part of the rat race and the
associated challenges the passion
diminished and I seeked
something more soulful.
Something that does not restrain
me to limited legal advice but
something where I can leverage
all the experience that I have in
the legal field to make a
difference.
So I took a trip to Africa and was
the first Jordanian to summit
Kilimanjaro and returned with a
clear vision of what I want to do. I
shifted careers towards
sustainability and instead of
advising clients on legal matters I
now advise clients on corporate
governance, corporate social
responsibility, sustainability and
sustainable development.
Today, my clients and partners
are not only corporations; they
are governments, international
organizations and civil society
organizations across the Middle
East. The work that I do varies
from providing strategic advice on
how organizations can be more
responsible to national
development projects that can
impact and change the way
people do business and interact
with communities not to mention
working with regulators to draft
laws instead of merely opining on
them.
Some of the key projects I take
pride in include drafting
corporate governance regulations
for various regulators in the
Middle East, creating a social
responsibility disclosure index for
the financial sector in Jordan,
creating a project whereby we
facilitate bridging the gap
between the needs and
expectations of the private sector
and that of civil
society organiza-
tions for sustainable
change in local
communities, ad-
vancing sustainabil-
ity practices in the
region by increasing
the number of
organizations that
report, lobbying for increased
support for entrepreneurs in
general and female entrepreneurs
in specific, encouraging more
stringent environmental
regulations and succeeding in
creating such changes.
Sustainability is a nascent field
worldwide let alone in the Middle
East. It was a challenge to create
the building blocks for a success-
ful business, build capacity, create
awareness and achieve some
positive change. Although there
“By the time I graduated
from Durham University I
was in love. in love with the
castle and palace green and
in love with the city.”
37
FEATURE
38
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
are days when it seems that no
matter what I do it is not enough
to create the change I seek there
are other days when it all seems
worthwhile – when I child comes
up to me and thanks me for chang-
ing their family’s lives, or helping
improve the education system or
when I mother thanks e for feeling
empowered to be herself.
Not to mention it also helps to feel
publicly appreciated and
recognized for the efforts invested.
Recognized as an upcoming global
women of influence, named by
Trustworthy Business Behavior as
one of the top 100 Thought
Leaders in Europe and Middle East
in 2011, and granted the coveted
Global Rising Stars of Corporate
“So I took a trip to
Africa and was the first
Jordanian to summit
Kilimanjaro and
returned with a clear
vision of what I want
to do.”
Governance award by the
renowned Millstein Center for
Corporate Governance and
Performance of Yale University all
help in ensuring that I continue
being vested in the work that I do.
Fortunately, my achievements are
many and looking back, if I had to
pick a moment where it all started,
where I found the strength to be
the person I am today, where I
learnt the skills to adapt to the
challenging needs of my career. . . I
believe I would say when I selected
Durham as my university.
At times when things are tough I
do ponder my Durham days and
on one occasion I did return to
Durham to rekindle the fondest
memories where I felt it all began
– where I became the person that I
am today.
Click Here to Follow Maali on Twitter
Maali is also a Regional
Director for ALWANE,
(Active Leaders for
Women’s Advancement
in the Near East) a newly
established Coalition of
experienced and
emerging leaders from 16 countries across the
Middle East and North Africa which has come
together to work towards the advancement of
women’s leadership in the Arab World.
Click here to follow ALWANE on Facebook.
39
FEATURE
You often hear about
the good times you
will have during your
time at university, but
sometimes you can be
unprepared for the
bad. At the beginning of my
second year at St Mary’s College I
was regularly travelling home to
see my elderly father, who was in
and out of hospital. Although I
worked in the summer holidays,
my finances were getting to
breaking point and money worries
were drastically affecting my
work. Eventually I got the courage
together to talk to College about
the problem, and I couldn’t
believe that I had waited such a
long time to do so.
I am not entirely sure
what I would have
done without your
help. It is an
invaluable extension
of the incredible
support and generosity
I have always felt from
St Mary’s.
They were incredibly supportive,
helping me through a government
hardship application and then
informing me about St Mary’s
College’s own hardship fund. Un-
fortunately I didn’t qualify for
government support, so when I
received £150 from St Mary’s
College I was incredibly grateful.
The money meant I could focus on
my studies for the remainder of
Michaelmas term, until I could get
back to work during the Christmas
holidays. I am indebted to those
generous alumni that donated to
the fund. I am not entirely sure
what I would have done without
your help. It is an invaluable ex-
tension of the incredible support
and generosity I have always felt
from St Mary’s. As a recent
graduate, I can tell you exactly
where my first donation to the
College will be going.
St Mary’s Hardship
Fund| A Student’s Experience
Thank you to all alumni and Friends who have donated to the St Mary’s hardship fund in the past, because
of your donations St Mary’s can help students continue their studies here at Durham.
If you feel that you are in a position to help other St Mary’s students who may be experiencing finical
hardship please do click here to donate
40
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
MARY’S MEMORIES
Recently we asked some current students, parents and alumni to share their favourite memories of Mary’s
with us. These are some of our favourite replies from those who attended the Principals Dinner, Graduation
Formals and replied through Social Media over the last few weeks.
If you’ve got a memory of Mary’s you’d like to Share with us in our next edition please email them in to
Sledging down the slope to
Williamson on Dinner trays in
December of first year. Building a
blanket den in the Fergusson stair-
well and watching the Royal
Wedding in the JCR drinking
Pimms out of a washing up bowl!
- Jess Williams (alumni)
●
“Decorating” Richard Hall’s room
with just paper cups filled with
water. The best part was his
reaction. He sat us down at
College dinner and told us he’d
been fined £250 by College for the
mess. Definitely got his own back!
-Emma Russell
(graduating student)
●
Meeting Jonathan’s friends in first
year. Great support which you
should take credit for! -Julie
Bourchier (parent)
●
When Ross, Ben A and Pete H and
I abseiled down the east stairwell.
We got disciplined by everybody
except from Gillian Boughton who
said she thought we were ‘heroic’.
-JC (alumni)
[editor’s note: Simon Hackett saw
the abseiling video on Youtube
and I like to think that’s when he
fell in love with Mary’s]
●
Being sat in the marquee at mid-
summer ball 2009 with all my best
friends at one table. Raising glass-
es in several toasts to Chaz Bono
and being told off for being too
rowdy
-James Michael Smith (alumni)
41
MARY’S MEMORIES
●
The first day of Uni for my daugh-
ter was on of tears for her. Her
last day of Uni was, reversing into
one of the lampposts on the
drive, one of tears for me!
-anonymous parent
●
Sneaking into castle SCR late at
night for a look and walking in on
a huge party. We tried to leave
unnoticed but got caught by the
porter!
-anonymous alumni
●
To Celebrate Katie Watkins’ AKA
the Dalek’s 20th birthday we
dressed in bin bags as Daleks and
got the strangest looks all across
Durham as people tried to guess
who we were!
-anonymous
●
My proposal to Isabel Cafferty in
Mary’s library at the start of
Epiphany term and all my
memories of the College
parenting/family system
-Ryan Cullen (alumni)
●
One Mary’s Day night when
someone left their tap on with
the plug in and flooded their
room to about two inches. They
eventually flooded the whole
wing and we had to keep towels
on the floor for a week.
-Bexi Denison-Smith
(graduating student and
MCR President)
●
From start to finish
Mary’s felt like home
whether it be drama,
music or sport. The
College has been such
a significant part of my
university life that I
will never forget it.
A huge thank you to
Simon and all the
College staff for
making my university
time the best years of
my life. I look forward
to returning.
SMCRFC
-Sam Hulley
(graduating student)
●
The legendary snowball fight on
Palce Green. Mary’s V. the rest of
the world
-anonymous
●
Waking each other up on Satur-
day morning to make sure we
were the first in the queue for
brunch—definitely the best meal
of the week. Then sitting in the
dining room for the entire dura-
tion of the meal to avoid going
back to work
-Alice Thickett (alumni)
●
Final term exams it was my birth-
day. My friends removed all the
furniture from my room and re-
placed it with a giant paddling
pool. They filled it with water and
we spent the afternoon relaxing
in the pool and drinking beers
avoiding revision.
- Michael Armitage (alumni)
[editor’s note: Michael Gaunt
(alumni) would like to say as he
remembers it “the beer bottles
were actually filled with water,
then everyone went to lectures
and recycled the beer bottles”]
●
Being bored one day and trekking
down to Pets at Home en masse
to buy two Gerbils which we then
had to keep hidden, moving them
between our room and avoiding
the cleaners for the rest of the
year!
- anonymous alumni
●
42
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
GO CONFIDENTLY IN THE DIRECTION OF YOUR DREAMS|A
MARY’S LOOK AT GRADUATION
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Mikowski
43
GRADUATION
Congregation Week
in Durham is always
such a special time.
Amidst the huge buzz of
countless ceremonies, drinks
receptions and family meals is
the knowledge that your time
at university, often the defini-
tive experience of your life so
far, is coming to an end.
Congregation presents a heady
mixture of sadness and
excitement. It represents both
the burgeoning adventure of
post university life and, often,
the feeling of loss that accom-
panies the ending of an era.
In this feature a few
graduating students share
their photos and memories
from Congregation 2014.
To all of our Graduating Class
St Mary’s College would like to
say how proud we are of each
and every one of you. You are
all a credit to this university, to
this College and to yourselves.
Your Graduation is
not the end of your
association with St
Mary’s but rather
the gateway to a
bright future
Your Graduation is not the end
of your association with St
Mary’s but rather the gateway
to a bright future as a member
of our illustrious and vibrant
alumni community. We urge
you all to register for an alum-
ni account with Dunelm.org
and to follow the College
alumni page on Facebook
which will let you keep up to
date on Mary’s news and
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Mikowski
Jonny Bourchair and Rebecca Mikowski
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Mikowski Hannah Bedding
Photo courtesy of Michael Walker
Michael Walker and Will Walker From left to right. Ellie Roberts, Catherine Redfern, Natalie Vaughan,
Laurie Woodhead, Mary Palmer. Photo courtesy of Steve Vaughan.
44
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
Natalie Vaughan “I have had the best time of my life in
Durham but I’m also so excited to be
moving on to new and exciting things.
Thanks for everything Mary’s I’m going to
miss you!”
Photo courtesy of Steve Vaughan
45
GRADUATION
As a recent 2014
graduate, I haven’t
really had much time
to mull over my
graduation. When asked to
reflect on graduation for this article, my prevailing memory of the time between receiving results and graduating is of hectic to-ing and fro-ing: filling out a seemingly endless supply of forms for graduation in an effort to make the day less stressful. Photographs, robes, and parchment…it all came in a barrage of deadlines and online forms that sometimes left me wondering if the fuss was worth it.
I woke up on the morning of my Congregation with everything in place. I had double and triple-checked the day’s itinerary to make sure I wouldn’t miss any-thing, and I was surprised to find that I was nervous. I was remembering my four years at Durham (well, technically three, but I assure you during my Year Abroad my heart still well and truly longed for the drizzle and mist of Durham), and thought about how everything culminated here: this was the denouement of a story that began at a rather bleary-eyed matriculation on an October morn-ing in 2010. From this point of view, the Congregation ceremony was in fact the most important day
of my university career. However, I swiftly put this out of my mind and decided to concentrate on making it up onto the dais and shaking Sir Thomas Allen’s hand with as little incident as possible.
The ceremony itself was wonder-ful; there’s no other word for it. It struck a perfect chord between tradition and progress, with just the right amount of pomp and circumstance. I happened to be seated on the front row of graduates, so anyone who owns the DVD of the last Congregation of 2014 can see a rather gormless-looking blonde girl for a large por-tion of the ceremony. I promise you I was simply in awe of the fabulous location in the Cathedral and the joyous atmosphere. I was aware I was witnessing Durham University at its very best, showing itself to be a well-oiled machine in an entirely positive way.
“I was aware I was
witnessing Durham
University at its very
best”
Later that evening I enjoyed a drinks reception at St Mary’s and say a few farewells to people I had not seen earlier in the day. I was able to introduce my family to members of St Mary’s staff,
enabling me to finally tie my lives of ‘Home’ and ‘College’ (or, as I like to think of it, my ‘Other Home’) together. It was a wonderful conclusion to a happy yet poignant day.
For those yet to graduate, I am supposed to offer some advice. All I seem to think of is: try to look normal if you are seated on the front row! I learnt that one the hard way…. However, more generally, never let yourself get too stressed by the details; where you go for dinner after graduation may seem important, but I guarantee that a slightly tepid main course will not be able to upset you on your graduation day. Moreover, after a year where you seem to be unable to ignore your rapidly approaching ‘future’, Congregation is the perfect day to look back and feel proud of your-self and your cohort whatever your plans are beyond Durham and St Mary’s.
My Graduation Experience|
By Mary Palmer
46
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
My Graduation Experience|
The nail-biting
anticipation of results
day had passed. I had
done it. I was a soon to be
graduate of St Mary’s College,
Durham University. Gulp. Having
spent 4 years leading up to this
moment, I couldn’t quite believe it
was upon me, in fact a month later
I’m not entirely convinced that
there isn’t someone on their way
right now to whisk it all away.
Grad week was a whirlwind of
celebrations and tearful goodbyes.
One day I was rushing up to the
Cathedral to congratulate slightly
wide-eyed friends as they
processed from their own
graduations, and the next it was
time for my own. 6 45 AM and I
was rushing along Durham’s cob-
bled streets on my way to Palace
green, running ‘exactly on time’ as
usual. I needn’t have worried,
Durham graduations run like a well
-oiled machine. I followed the
routine in a slight daze, trying to
savour the moments, so that I
might relive parts of the day at a
later date, after all I was only going
to do this once. So I had my gown
fitted in the building where I had
seen so many enthralling debates,
and I collected my tickets from the
marquee where I had just the
week before enjoyed an incredible
summer ball, and then I followed
the swarm of white fur into the
castle.
Graduation week must be a
logistical nightmare, but every
member of staff involved was very
enthusiastic, even at 7 AM on the
third day. They seemed incredibly
proud to be there for us which
certainly made the day more
special. Dr James Blowey, the head
of the Natural Sciences depart-
ment, beamed as he shock every
one of our hands. He was a huge
part of my Durham journey,
through the good and bad so that
was a lovely touch.
I barely recognise that
slightly terrified
eighteen year-old.
The ceremony itself was inspiring,
partly because of the awe-inspiring
Cathedral itself, who could ask for
a more perfect setting, but also
because of the Vice-Chancellor’s
speech about all those that had
gone before us, and the success
that they had found. I grinned as I
crossed the stage to accept my
degree and become part of that
legacy (and not only because I had
succeeded in not tripping up the
steps).
As we processed from the
Cathedral I was taken back to my
second day at the university when
I matriculated there, excited and
yet anxious about what the next
few years might bring. Before my
parents drove away that day they
took a photo of me standing on
the steps outside the Fergusson
building, looking slightly over-
whelmed in my brand new gown.
Since then so much has happened,
so many memories made, life
lessons learnt and St Mary’s red
wine spilt on that now comfortably
familiar gown, that I barely
recognise that slightly terrified 18-
year-old. Later on graduation day I
recreated the picture as the much
more confident me that Durham
has helped me become. I am in-
credibly sad to leave Durham be-
hind, but I am so proud to have
become not only a Durham
university alum, but also an alum
of St Mary’s College.
47
GRADUATION
“I am incredibly sad to leave Durham behind,
but I am so proud to have become not only a
Durham University alum, but also an alum of
St Mary’s College.”
Hannah Storey
48
What’s been on at Mary’s?
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
The Midsummer Ball|
17.06.14 This year’s Midsummer Ball
was a fantastic success. The great Gatsby
theme chosen by Alex Aspinall (chair) and her
fantastic team transformed Mary’s into a
luxurious, glamorous 1920s party. As always
highlights included fairground rides, a silent
disco and the infamous saviours hog roast
served until 6am when the survivors photo is
taken to document all those brave ball goers
to made it to the end of the twelve hour long
extravaganza.
Photos courtesy of Anu Damale and Rebecca Mikowski
49
MARY’S NEWS
Macbeth|29.06.14 This year
saw the Illyria outdoor touring company visit
Mary’s for the very first time. The internation-
ally renowned Shakespearean troupe treated
a huge audience to a fantastic, moving and
often humorous performance of Macbeth. A
half-time raffle conducted by the actors and
Professor Simon Hackett was a light-hearted
highlight of the evening!
RENT| 24-25.06.14 Rent
provided the script for this year’s excellent summer
musical which saw some of the most talented of all
Mary’s student's take to the stage. The musical ran
to critical acclaim in Mary’s dining hall in a two
night run receiving great reviews from DST and the
Palatinate who called the performance ‘ a brave,
dynamic, and well-orchestrated production’
You can read the Palatinate review here
Photos courtesy of Anu Damale
50
Mary’s Day| 22.06.14 Mary’s Day always proves the highlight of the
College calendar for current students and alumni
alike and this year proved no exception. President
Matt Watson and his tireless team put on a
fantastic celebration of all things Mary’s with a
great event themed around the Brazilian World
Cup. Mary’s lawns were transformed with
inflatable football, live music, great food and a
brilliant foam party!
This year also saw the first Principal’s Dinner, a
returners formal for alumni coming home to join
in the celebrations. The event was a resounding
success with over 50 attendees flooding
Kenworthy Hall to book out all available tickets!
Attending Alumni also provided us with some
fantastic memories of their time in Durham for
our memories project (p.30)
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
photos courtesy of Beth Rudd, Owen Graham and Lucy Rosa.
51
WHAT’S ON
What’s On?
Durham Events |
20.10.14| St Mary’s Society Mini
Reunion Weekend This year’s society reunion will
be limited to just one day to fit in with the new server being
fitted at St Mary’s. The Day will be one full of excitement
however with the SMCS AGM, Cream Tea, a Chapel service
and an evening meal all on offer. Accommodation will be
available with a basic breakfast provided, if required. Please
visit the society website for More details.
30.03.14-30.09.14| Auckland Castle:
The Power and The Glory Exhibition Enter the magnificent world of early Tudor England in this
temporary exhibition at Auckland Castle, the former home of
Bishop Richard Fox (1494-1501), who was Henry VII’s most
trusted advisor. More details.
05.04.14-05.10.14|Oriental Museum:
Shifting Sands
an exhibition of rare and beautiful photographs from Sudan
taken by the anthropologist Ian Cunnison telling a story of
migration, everyday lives and inter-ethnic relationships in
late colonial Sudan. More details.
Photo courtesy of Oliver Grimmett
52
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
A look back| poetry,
songs and wedding bells
Taken from Castellum 1984
(minutes of the previous year's
Castle Society AGM):
8) The Secretary reported that he
had received an anonymous poem
which reflected the plight of a lady
most concerned with the conflict
of reunion dates:
I am a Mary's woman,
My spouse a Castle man,
We like to come to Durham
As often as we can.
When vital dates don't coincide,
There's never any hassle;
A short debate, an equal vote,
Result - the winner's Castle!
Now Mary's makes me welcome
With breakfast, lunch and tea,
But the hours between seem long
sometimes
When there's only me!
Autonomy is excellent,
But is not always very kind,
Let's have individual decisions,
With the same weekend in mind!
A quick google search reveals that
Durham is thought to have the
highest rate of inter student
marriages in Britain, with over
10,000 couples claiming to have
met at the University, The
Independent estimates that give a
Mary’s student a 72% of marrying
a fellow Durham alumnus!
This got us trawling through all the
old publications in the Office to
see if we could find anymore
poems or songs about Durham
love. Here’s what we could find...
Last month we were sent this wonderful old poem by the Castle Alumni Officer which documents the plea
of a Mary’s alumna for Castle and Mary’s reunion weekends to fall on the same dates so she and her
husband can visit Durham at the same time
53
A LOOK BACK
A College Song for
1950| (verse 2).
In Abbey House on Palace Green
dwell twenty fair young students;
Men take advantage of their teas
and also their imprudence.
In spite of Castle’s Christmas
raids, and many an amorous
meeting, it’s not their love which
keeps them warm but Elgy’s
central heating. And though their
gate book may proclaim that they
are fond of walking, they’re really
sitting on a seat not wasting much
time talking!
New St Mary’s| (song.
1952, verse 2).
It’s a long way to Hatfield College,
an to Castle on the hill; Oh the
Johnsmen all will miss us, an the
Chadsmen will be ill. Prin said ‘I
can hear you under my front
door,’ So remember girls be
careful—don’t stand there no
more!
A College Song for
1952| (verse 5).
Now we who lived in College just
had to toe the line, with Swinn
and Prin and Bursar—and B.J
most of the time. The fire-escape
proved useful; the Bailey we could
see; The walkers-past didn’t walk
to fast, so we asked them up for
tea!
St Mary’s Sunday
School| (song. 1954,
verses 4-5).
If you’re all romantic, then come
and join the ranks of those who
stand on Prebend’s bridge and
walk along the banks; And don’t
believe what others say—
experience is good, So leave your
torch behind you when you walk
through Pelaw Wood.
We think we’ve told you quite
enough, and now it’s up to you: At
Mary’s dance you’ll have the
chance to find a man or two. But
if you’re not successful, perhaps a
B.A. hood will do!
A College Song for
1955| (verse 2).
When we came to St. Mary’s, so
many moons before, we never
spoke to Hatfield men, and Chad’s
we would ignore; But now it’s all
so different and much more fun
we’re sure—With a rush and a
dash to the porter’s lodge and a
tumble through the door.
Second Year Song for
1957| (verse 4).
Do you want a Castleman? Or if
not, a Hatfield College man? A
Chads or John or Cuthbert’s man?
St Mary’s is the place. But we
must now stay out all night, the
windows barred up tight; Dashing
along the banks at night, trying to
avoid the policeman’s light, In
Mary’s nightly race.
These Foolish
Things| (poem/song,
1949, Lines 5-11)
A happy gathering of intending
teachers’ a light flirtation with
incipient preachers; Oh, how a
Chadsman clings! These foolish
things Mary’s means to me. They
came, they saw, they stayed for
tea—and after draining a cup or
two, they said they’d stay for
supper too…
Did you meet your husband or
wife while at St Mary’s? Perhaps
you’d like to share your story or
some pictures in the next edition
of this magazine.
If so please email in to
stmary’[email protected]
54
Career Mentor
Update
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
In the last edition of this magazine
we announced our plans to launch
a comprehensive career mentoring
programme which will link current
students and recent graduates
with professional alumni or friends
of College in their chosen field.
We were overwhelmed by the
response we received. Dozens of
alumni and Friends provided us
with their professional information
which allowed us to run a small
trial of the scheme. This trial was a
significant success, as one student
wrote in her feedback of the
scheme
‘I've been given some really helpful
advice about careers, my course at
the moment and decisions for next
year etc. We've also been able to
talk about our experiences at
Mary's which has been nice too.
Overall I'm very pleased I signed
up for this, thank you for making
us aware of it!’
Some of you who have signed up
from the scheme might be yet to
hear back from us but please
worry not. We have plans to
expand and grow the scheme
significantly in the coming months.
We are currently waiting on the
development of centralised soft-
ware which will allow us to safely
and effectively handle the data of
the hundreds of people we
envision the scheme eventually
encompassing.
We are extremely fortunate to be
members of a College with such an
extraordinarily diverse and power-
ful network of friends. Together,
we are working to support our
current students’ career ambi-
tions, prospects and employability.
participation and engagement as
the project develops.
Please do consider signing up to
be a Mary’s Alumni Angel here.
55
CAREER MENTORING
Meet Your New Alumni Officer| Harriet Batchelor
Hi! My name is
Harriet Batchelor and
I am thrilled to be the
next Sabbatical
Development Officer!
Looking back on the past three
years, I am certain I could not
have found a better College for
my time at Durham. Yes, the
location of the science site a
mere 2 minutes walk over the
road has proved useful for those
early 9am lectures, but the
Mary’s charm extends well
beyond it’s handy location and
beautiful grounds! In fact, it’s fair
to say I have loved every aspect
of life at Mary’s, from playing in
tennis tournaments dressed as a
‘Mary’s fairy’ to performing in
‘We Will Rock You’ in a pink wig
and green lipstick (my fancy dress
wardrobe has definitely
increased)! The Mary’s spirit of
getting fully involved in every
event, no matter of ability, is
incomparable - a few of my own
dancing performances with the
hockey club at the Sportsman’s
Ball spring to mind! St Mary’s
combination of both new and
traditional events definitely
makes for an enjoyable social
calendar. I don’t think there’s
one person who can say they
I cannot wait to
continue organising
events which extend
the Mary’s spirit
didn’t secretly love feeling like an
extra from Harry Potter whilst
going to matriculation in our long
gowns! Working on the Social
and Arts Committee, I’ve had the
pleasure of organising events
from our termly balls to the first
ever ‘Mary’s Got Talent’ - my
house seems permanently
submerged by event decorations!
Looking forward to the coming
year, I cannot wait to continue
Imogen’s fantastic work in organ-
ising events which extend the
Mary’s spirit to current students,
alumni and friends of St Mary’s
alike.
The Mary’s spirit of
getting fully involved
in every event, no
matter of ability, is
incomparable - a few
of my own dancing
performances with
the hockey club at
the Sportsman’s Ball
spring to mind!
56
About the Friends
Scheme|
ST MARY’S| FRIENDS MAGAZINE
Although I know how much the College means for alumni, many of whom retain a lifelong link
with the College, I have come to realise that family members, friends and supporters of
students might also be interested in the College and may appreciate an opportunity to feel
connected in some way, whilst of course allowing students their independence. As a result, we
have created a ‘Friends of St Mary’s’ scheme to help people to keep in touch with the College,
irrespective of their original connection with College. As well as issuing a standing invitation to
visit St Mary’s, Friends will receive regular updates and newsletters, as well as invitations to
special events, such as a Friends’ Formal Dinner, and opportunities to contribute to College
developments, such as enhancing our library.
I hope that you will consider registering as a Friend of St Mary’s and that this will herald a deep
and meaningful relationship with you in the future! As many readers know already, St Mary’s is
a very special place and we look forward to sharing it with you.
With very best wishes,
Professor Simon Hackett
(Principal, St Mary’s College)
57
Receive our College Magazine| Members of the programme will receive a digi-
tal copy of our termly alumni magazine along with various newsletters and other information about
concerts, lectures and events which we send out to our alumni and friends.
Event Invitations| Members will receive targets emails with details of College news and
upcoming ‘Friends Of Mary’s’ events around the country which may be of interest to you.
Friends of St Mary’s Arrival Lunch and Pick Up Formal|
Members are invited to attend a lunch in the College Hall the weekend before the start of Easter Term
– the Saturday on which most students come back into residence following the Christmas Break. They
are also invited to a Formal Three Course Meal at the end of Easter Term, the weekend most students
leave for the Easter break.
Sweet Treats| Members will eventually have the opportunity to pre-buy sweets, ice-cream,
shop essentials and toasties from our College Shop and Toastie bar and have them delivered to Mary’s
students as an exam time boost or special treat
FRIENDS
Register Free Today
58
St Mary’s College
Elvet Hill Road
Durham
DH1 3LR
0191 334 5955
www.durham.ac.uk/st-marys.college/
Principal
Simon Hackett
Email: [email protected]
Alumni Relations and Development Officer
Imogen Hampson-Smith
Email: [email protected]
01913345972
Facebook www.facebook.com/MarysAlumni
Twitter https://twitter.com/StMarysOfficial
Linkedin http://ow.ly/tD8Hs
Email [email protected]