mansfmansfmansfmansfmansfieldieldieldieldieldcollege

magazine

summer 2004 edition

in this issue

1 Principal’s Message

2 New Bursar’s Thoughts

3 Library Developments

5 Annual Fund 2003 - 2004

6 A Giving Culture

7 Treasures of Mansfield

9 MCBC

10 Oil painting of the College

11 Development Office News

12 College News

13 Keiran Swan : Travels

15 Forthcoming Events

1 Principal’s Message

At the end of my second year at Mansfield, it is time to take stock. It doesn’t take long. On the credit side,

Mansfield is a pretty wonderful place (that much hasn’t changed); on the debit side there is, for want of a

better word… the debit! Yes, a little more money wouldn’t come amiss! But our ship is afloat, our sails are set

and the stock market winds are blowing in the right direction. As the poet1 said:

“One ship drives east and another drives west

With the selfsame winds that blow.

‘Tis the set of the sails and not the gales,

Which tells us the way to go.”

Our sails are set to take us in the direction of a new building. It will be built here on site and will, planners

permitting, provide twenty four en-suite study bedrooms for undergraduates, as well as splendid new seminar

rooms and offices on the ground floor. This building is what might be termed the ‘tipping point’ for us. ‘The

Tipping Point’ is the title of a book by Malcolm Gladwell, whose subtitle is ‘How little things can make a big

difference’. In our case, this modestly-sized building has the potential to begin the transformation of our

finances, in addition to enabling us to move towards our cherished ambition of having all our undergraduates

living in College for their entire time with us. We’re close to having raised enough money to build without

borrowing and we are confident that old members, parents and friends will help us to raise the £0.6 million

outstanding. We’ll be in touch!

Academically, we are doing well. Last year’s freshers collectively produced the best ever showing for the

College in their end of year exams. Our finalists, too, did well and there were some prize-winning achievements.

Mansfield students continued to dominate the journalistic world of Oxford and, during Michaelmas term,

held the editorships of both student newspapers. Our Further Education Access Initiative, too, is going from

strength to strength, with the consortium of seven Oxford Colleges which we lead having been awarded

additional funding from the Higher Education Funding Council. There can hardly be a better time for Mansfield

to be leading the way in helping the University to achieve its widening participation objectives.

And on top of all this, we have had a ball! Forget that May Balls are in June, our traditional November Ball

was in January! So ours was the first, rather than the last, ball of the year. The fact that the marquee nearly

blew away in the gales was neither here nor there – a great time was had by one and all. As the song so nearly

has it:

“Oh the weather outside is frightful

But the fire is so delightful

Since we know where we want to go

Let it blow! Let it blow! Let it blow!”

With warmest good wishes to you all.

Diana Walford

1 Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Dear Mansfield Member,

New Bursar 2

It’s an odd experience taking up a Bursarial post in an Oxford college deep inside the

heatwave of a long summer vacation – no committees, the budget sorted and everything

apparently under control. However, the feeling of ordered calm doesn’t last very long,

‘events’ take over, and writing this now deep inside the subsequent summer vacation

(no heatwave this time) I have to say that life has taken on a very different tempo.

The ‘hints to the next Bursar’ written by my predecessor, Duncan Forbes, in the Spring

edition of this magazine should have given me some warning of what was to come.

The Kylie Minogue of Oxford colleges is how Mansfield is described in the Student

Prospectus (a description which I read only after accepting the post). A College which

is small but feisty and full of energy – and so far there is every evidence that this is the

case.

The legendary friendliness and community feel of the College is very apparent, together

with a spirit and atmosphere of development and growth, which builds on the remarkable

achievements of the last few years.

My own background was in teaching, local government and most recently the

administration of the Bodleian Library. All of these jobs have had similar themes in

terms of the challenges of continuing to provide a quality service in the face of

increasingly difficult financial circumstances and an unending public sector ‘cultural

revolution’. These challenges, obviously, are to be met partly by significant entrepreneurial,

fund raising and income generation activities. But how are these things to be done in a

way which does not compromise the core purposes and values of the organisation?

The trick, it seems to me, is to try to ensure that ‘managerialist’ approaches to efficiency

and economy – which we do inevitably need - do not undermine the ways, based on

dedication, trust and loyalty, and a sense of history, in which all college communities

function best.

I have been enormously supported by the good-humoured advice and friendliness from

everyone I have met – staff, and students - since starting at Mansfield. At the same time

the ‘external supporters’ of Mansfield such as the members of the Development Board

and the Finance Committee have been a tremendous source of encouragement and

wise counsel.

I have yet to hone my croquet skills, and an ambition for a Mansfield staff cricket team

is only in the initial planning stages, but I do feel (in the words of Kylie) ‘lucky, lucky,

lucky’ to have become part of Mansfield, and to be able to contribute to its future

development: both the bricks and mortar and the people within.

Steve Waterman

Bursar

“the Kylie Minogue of Oxford colleges ishow Mansfield is described in the studentprospectus”

Greetings to all Mansfield alumni who remember the year 1976!Philip Franks had just graduated, Guy Hands had not matriculatedand it would be eleven years before Donald McDonald captainedthe Oxford boat to an epic victory. It was also the year of myappointment. Dr Caird was the College Principal and Oxfordstill had separate sex Colleges. The Librarian’s Office was a make-shift construction on the Library Landing, but the jewel in the

crown then, and now, remains an exquisitely beautiful Library.

To all Mansfield students and friends who remember the Snooker

Room, the Middle Common Room and the Council Room/T.V.

Room being on the same level as the Library Landing, times have

changed …

Oxford University Press gave each Oxford College Library, ten

thousand pounds a year from 1 April 1998 for five years ‘to spend

the money as it sees fit to benefit students’. Such an injection of

cash, specifically for Library use, has resulted in extensive

improvements to Library facilities.

The Main Library has two on-line catalogues and twenty four

hour electronic self-issue borrowing facilities. The book

collections on the ground floor have all been cataloguedelectronically and cover all disciplines except Theology and Law.In addition, small tables have been provided to fit in the bay

windows with access to Ethernet points for laptops. Custom-

made oak chairs, with commemorative plaques, continue to bedonated by alumni and friends of Mansfield to replace and extendthe original ageing stock.

The former Middle Common Room is now a handsome and

expanding Law Library. Specially designed shelves and spacioustables, now with Ethernet points, were installed three years ago.

Law students have also benefited from the purchase of a full setof Law Reports from Magdalen College through the generosity

of Roger Finbow. Stephen Sayers also generously provided fundsto enable Frederick Cooper, the College binder, to overhaul and

refurbish the volumes to prevent further disintegration of loosebindings and leather casings. This important collection is in

constant use by Law students who have twenty four hour accessto the Library. The long-term support of other alumni is alsogratefully appreciated; their gifts to the College subsidise the

escalating cost of subscriptions to Law Journals.

The former Council Room and JCR/T.V. Room is now the

Theology Library. Theology tutors have culled and updated the

stock several times over the years, and the core collections inCongregational and non-conformist history, together with relatedjournals, are safely housed in the Gallery of the Main Library.During the Summer Vacation the whole Library was completelyre-furnished with oak tables and light fittings. Gratitude shouldbe recorded to Charles Brock for funding the purchase of newchairs. The Library has now been catalogued electronically, withappreciation to cataloguers, Sheila Glen, Assistant Librarian, andLaura Tomes, Theology student, for this achievement. Access toEthernet points for laptops is available from study tablespositioned centrally, while from a separate work area, tables belowthe large windows provide access to the new College computersdedicated to student essay writing.

Space in the Main Library is again at a premium. Plans to providea separate Science Library for the significant number of Mansfieldstudents reading Maths, Engineering, Physics and Metallurgy areunder consideration. These subjects which began from a starting‘kit’ of a few books in the late nineteen seventies and early eightiesnow occupy two Library bays. All books in Engineering,

Metallurgy and Physics were re-classified over the Summer

Vacation, with the help of Neale Harvey, Physics student, to

accommodate the rapidly increasing accessions in these subjects.

There are also ideas to develop the Library Landings to further

extend student facilities. The Oxford University Press donation

has now been consumed so new funding will be required for

these projects.

If you have not been able to visit the College in recent years,

please contact me. If possible, please come to see the

improvements for yourself; I enjoy giving personal guided tours.

You may also like to contribute to the extensive archive of

Mansfield Memorabilia. Apart from the College Records and

official documentation, I have a collection of studentphotographs, cartoons and ephemera. This year I received a

unique and very precious collection of caricatures showing the

first College tutors, a gift from Mr David Stevens, the son ofAlan W. Stevens, a student here in 1907. The caricatures are byW.H. Coates, also a former student. While you may not be in

possession of such an unusual collection, there may be photos

of your student days, programmes of events, or other ephemerawhich you may like included in the archive. I look forward tohearing from you!

Alma Jenner

Librarian

alma.jenner@mansfield.ox.ac.uk

3 Library Development : New Libraries, New Technology

Elizabeth Radburn, Assistant Librarian for

thirteen years, died in service in December 2001.

Her good humour, love of life and pleasure in

taking care of the Library, made her a valued

friend and colleague.

‘In the Beginning …’it was a Junior Common Room; Turkish carpet, writing desks, cane chairs with buttoned velvet covers,

Mansfield wanted to look like an Oxford College. The architect, Basil Champneys, achieved this with style, but could not have

imagined its metamorphosis from 1890’s JCR to an automated Theology Library.

Post Second World War, the room became a student dormitory. Work cubicles, which the Admiralty had left behind after its occupation

of the College, became sleeping cubicles for students. Gone was the beautiful Turkish rug; a grey floral carpet took its place. Its next

incarnation was a Council Room by day and T.V. Room for students by night. Beer and snacks were brought up from the bar below

and students reclined on non-reclining vinyl-covered chairs until the backs fell off and the black metal legs become strangely distorted.

Dignity was partially reclaimed in 1983 when it became a Library Reading Room and acquired four tables and an island bookcase to

house the Law and Geography collections. The floral carpet remained, but the beer and snacks mostly stayed in the Snooker Room

among very dusty and disintegrating Theology Journals that lined the shelves around the walls. Shelves and journals were eventually

purged and moved into the Library Reading Room in 1989. By 1993 the Main Library had again reached capacity and a more logical

arrangement of the collection was required. Rapidly expanding new disciplines needed more space and the Theology stock needed a

radical overhaul. Theology tutors culled the stock and a modern Theology collection emerged which was moved to the Library

Reading Room, now the Theology Library. The old grey carpet still survived for a few more years and was joined by some uncomfortablebut functional grey plastic chairs, borrowed from the store of Conference furniture. College poverty, rather than policy, dictated thishand to mouth existence and consequently improvements to Library facilities were slow.

Fortunes changed in 1998 when the Library received a large donation. Oxford University Press gave all Oxford College Libraries£50,000 each over a five-year period, specifically for improvements to benefit students. The final tranche of money, due in April2003, was destined to refurnish and automate the Theology Library. The College had just approved a plan to provide an Essay Room

with new computers for students in the John Marsh Building, but it was realised that by combining the two projects the potential

reward could be a superb modern student facility. With the Principal’s encouragement and further Governing Body approval, planningwent into overdrive.

Tutors again weeded the theology collection to release more space and several hundred theology tomes were amended and moved tothe Gallery. Existing Library tables were re-cycled to Merton and Teddy Hall; the floor was excavated and ageing power circuits

replaced; ethernet routes for laptops were planned; tables with light fittings specially designed; the automation of five thousandtheology books was begun. Finally, in the last week of September, after a Summer Vacation of intense activity, a new carpet was laid;

solid oak tables with lights were fitted; ethernet points were connected and the new essay computers were installed.

All praise to Library staff, and to College IT, Maintenance and Domestic Departments for a great combined endeavour. Praise alsoto ‘Crowdys’ of Faringdon for the design and production of Library furniture, ‘Absolute Computers’, Oxford, and to the CollegeElectrician. Michaelmas 2003 welcomed students to a Library transformed.

The donation from Oxford University Press has dramatically improved Library facilities for Mansfield students and our appreciation

to the Delegates of the Press is gratefully recorded.

The Theology Library : A Transformation 4

1896 2004

5 Annual Fund 2003 - 2004 Report

This year’s Annual Fund projects went to the heart of what it means to provide an exceptional education for exceptional

students. The projects were aimed at enhancing facilities within the College, particularly for the benefit of our students.

The centrepiece of this year’s Fund was the computerised Essay Writing Room. This was to provide networked facilities

in the quiet environments of the Theology Library and the Main Library. The project comprised new handmade oak

tables, in keeping with the character of the libraries, new computers, software and printers.

Staying with the libraries, we realised that the new computer screens would fall victim to the glare from the sun coming in

through the windows of both the Main Library and Theology Library. We have therefore sought funds to provide blinds

that would allow the students to use the computers regardless of the glorious English weather.

The photograph on the left shows the transformation that has been brought about to the library, through the generous

response to the annual appeal and through other donations. In particular we are grateful to the estate of Dr Gordon Baker,

formerly of St John’s College, Oxford for the new blinds in the library, which are proving extremely effective at reducing

the glare.

Two other projects focused on the safety and comfort of those at the College. A new CCTV system will provide seven

cameras around Mansfield to ensure the safety of the College’s students, staff, visitors and buildings. While our Chapel

Chair Fund will provide the Chapel – such an integral part of Mansfield’s past, present and future – with 50 new wooden

chairs to replace the worn-out raffia-bottomed chairs currently in use.

Bursaries featured once again this year in the Annual Fund. We sought further support for bursary provision, having raised

over £100,000 to date, against our target of £200,000 for the Oxford University Bursary Scheme. The Scheme, launched

in October 2002, provides all undergraduates whose tuition fees are paid in full by their local authority with bursaries

worth £1000 in a student’s first year and £500 in each subsequent year of an undergraduate course.

The Annual Fund 2003/4 runs from September 2003 to August 2004. If you would like to support one of the projects

listed above you can find details of the Annual Fund, along with a donation form, on the website or contact the Development

Office for further information. Next year, there will not be an annual fund due of the launch of the second phase of the

Access to Excellence campaign.

The total raised for the Annual Fund 2003/4 to date is:

£ 29, 764

The new blinds in the

Library

Mr Kenneth Sears (1948) and

one of the chairs he has

donated to the Library in

memory of his father.

A Giving Culture 6

Contrary to what many may think, raising funds for Mansfield is a far cry

from simply asking some of our wealthier alumni to give large gifts

containing four, five or even (hopefully!) six figures. Participation is one

of the most important and influential elements of a successful campaign,

be it the Annual Fund or a Capital Project such as providing new student

accommodation.

Why is every gift so important and influential? Surely the tenner I gave

five years ago didn’t make much of a difference? The point is small gifts

do make a difference and they are influential. For a start, that tenner

turns into nearly £13 once we have reclaimed the tax on the gift. These

gifts and others like them increase our giving rates, particularly at a College

with a relatively small number of students, and therefore alumni, such as

Mansfield. These figures do much to enhance our case for support from

outside the College community, such as from Trusts, Foundations and

corporate donors. Being able to demonstrate significant support from

our alumni and current members of the College does much to strengthen

our approaches to these bodies by highlighting the loyalty and generosity

of our alumni.

With this in mind, we thought that we would take a look at our giving

rates (the percentage of alumni from a particular year that have donated)

for Mansfield alumni matriculating between 1960 and 2000 and create

our own Mansfield Fantasy League.

As you can see, the sixties and seventies are dominating the upper reaches

of the league tables at the moment (as they would be in any college), but

the positions can soon change. The best way to make sure your

matriculation year is moving up and challenging for honours is to organise

a class gift. For instance, should 1999 gain ten new donors, tax-efficiently

giving £10 per month for 3 years, not only would they climb into the

second division but they would raise over £4,500 towards a fund of their

choosing. Similarly, if 1963 found 15 new donors giving gifts of £20 per

month over 5 years they would raise over £23,000 - as well as sitting

proudly on top of the Premiership!

Of course, participation is just the start. There are many different ways

of making a donation that will be of great benefit to Mansfield. A class

gift is just one way, but it also offers a chance for you to get back in touch

with your contemporaries.

We shall be updating the league tables regularly on the website, with details

of the big climbers and fallers. Rewards (non-financial!) will be on offer

for the year that has the most improved giving rate, and also for the

Premiership leaders, by the time the Summer 2005 Magazine goes to

print.

For more details on organising a class gift, please contact the Development

Office.

PREMIERSHIP

1st 1974 50.00 %

2nd 1966 44.70 %

3rd 1960 44.40 %

4th 1964 44.30 %

5th 1972 36.60 %

6th 1962 35.00 %

7th 1970 32.20 %

8th 1973 32.20 %

9th 1977 29.70 %

10th 1975 27.30 %

DIVISION 1

1st 1967 27.00 %

2nd 1971 25.80 %

3rd 1976 24.30 %

4th 1965 24.30 %

5th 1978 22.60 %

6th 1968 22.60 %

7th 1979 22.00 %

8th 1963 21.40 %

9th 1961 22.80 %

10th 1982 18.50 %

DIVISION 2

1st 1988 17.10 %

2nd 1984 16.10 %

3rd 1980 15.20 %

4th 1983 14.75 %

5th 1985 14.70 %

6th 1991 13.30 %

7th 1995 13.00 %

8th 1969 12.50 %

9th 1989 11.40 %

10th 1994 09.56 %

DIVISION 3

1st 1993 09.50 %

2nd 1986 09.20 %

3rd 1987 08.30 %

4th 1990 06.50 %

5th 1997 05.40 %

6th 1998 03.50 %

7th 2000 03.40 %

8th 1992 03.30 %

9th 1996 02.20 %

10th 1999 01.00 %

As of 27th July 2004 the results are as

follows:

Top Sixties Top Seventies Top Eighties Top Nineties

1966 : 2nd in Premiership 1974 : 1st in Premiership 1982 : 10th in Division 1 1991 : 6th in Division 2

7

Even before you start reading this, it is likely that you are already wondering how on earth a college as poverty-stricken

as Mansfield can possibly have anything that might answer to the description of ‘treasure’. Of course, it may be that we

are talking about Hugh Flint and Mike Sherwood, the two college porters who are well in the running for long-service

medals. If there was a Norrington table college for porters, we would surely be at the head of it. In Hugh and Mike we

have two veritable treasures.

What prompted this piece, however, was the realization, after poring over some of the college archives, that in the very

first decades of its life, Mansfield was the recipient of a remarkable range of gifts, including books, pictures, busts and

silver. In recent years, the college has been trying to trace these gifts and to draw up inventories of what survives and

what has disappeared. In parallel, initial steps are being taken to conserve some of this heritage, notably where items

have suffered the tests of time.

There is now newly hanging in the SCR a distinguished portrait of the Anglican dissenter, George Whitefield (1714-

1770). For years it languished on the wall of the Council Room, its canvas masked in layers of nicotine and general

grime, not to mention a nasty gash made by a flying chair leg. The portrait has now been restored by Ruth Bubb, one of

the Ashmolean’s regular conservators, and it is revealed as a remarkable picture, right down to Whitefield’s characteristic

squint.1 Oil portraits of Whitefield are uncommon (there is a smaller, less attractive example in Pembroke). The name

of the artist remains unidentified at present, but the style is not unrelated to the school of Thomas Hudson, the famous

eighteenth-century portraitist. The picture came to the college from Lord Winterstoke, the member of the Wills

Tobacco family who endowed much of the stained glass in the Chapel. It was presented in 1895, plainly as a reminder

of the dissenting tradition that Mansfield marked out in late nineteenth-century collegiate Oxford. Whitefield now has

the pleasure of gazing across at a dissenter from an earlier century, Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell’s portrait has been

hanging above the SCR fireplace almost since the time of the college’s opening. Some fellows long for it to be removed

and consigned to some less prominent position. However, the picture has an interesting history. The gift of a Liverpool

non-conformist, William Crosfield, in 1889, it is a copy of the picture of Cromwell that hangs in the Pitti Palace in

Florence. The copy was done by a Florentine painter and it is set in a characteristic Florentine frame (which, curiously,

is probably worth more than the picture). The original portrait was commissioned by the Grand Duke of Tuscany to

commemorate Cromwell’s successful petitioning of the Pope to halt the persecution of the Waldenses.

Portrait of George Whitefield

Silver Christening cups donated by J

Knight Bostock ofmansfield

treasures

8

Among items of silver gifted to the college over the years are two remarkable christening cups. They were made by a

Birmingham silversmith in the 1870s and were given to the college in 1950 by J. Knight Bostock. They are inscribed with

the initials of William and Caroline Elizabeth Bostock of Ashton-under-Lyne and dated 1893 and 1897. William Bostock

was one-time superintendent of the Sunday School at Albion Congregational Church in Ashton.

An altogether different kind of treasure was recently received by Alma, the College Librarian. It is a folio of cartoon

images done at the very beginning of the twentieth century. The cartoons were the work of W.H. Coats who was a student

from 1903 to 1907. They mostly depict senior members of the college in various poses and settings. It is hoped to use

some of the images in future appeal memorabilia. The folio was presented by David Stevens whose father, Alan Stevens,

was up at Mansfield at the same time as Coats.

One compelling reason for drawing college treasures under the spotlight has been the discovery that, fifty years ago, the

college authorities sold off three paintings and a crayon drawing by Thomas Gainsborough. The pictures were gifts of

one of the artist’s descendants, Miss Emily Browne of High Wycombe. They included a portrait of Gainsborough Dupont,

the artist’s nephew, which once hung in the SCR. Financial exigencies are ever-present in a college like Mansfield, but it is

clear that the sale of the pictures in the early 1950s was ill-advised (they fetched just £1746). Now that the college has a

clearer idea of the nature and worth of its remaining treasures, it is hoped that similar mistakes can be avoided in the

future.

The tradition of making gifts in kind continues in the twenty-first century. The college, and the SCR especially, has

recently been presented with a pair of cut glass decanters. They were the gift of Donald Sykes, a former Principal and

someone who remains very active in the college. Likewise, a gift of money from the family of the late John Marsh (another

former Principal) has enabled the commissioning of a second oak dining table for use in the SCR. Crafted by Crowdys of

Faringdon, it closely follows the design of the oak furniture made for the SCR in the late 1880s. I am sure that, after

another century has passed, it will still be in situ. Or perhaps that is tempting fate?

Michael Freeman

Supernumerary Fellow and Lecturer in Human Geography, Senior Tutor

Examples from

the folio of

W.H. Coats

who studied at

the College

from 1903 to

1907

9 MCBC

Over recent years the boat club has been fortunate enough

to have had a succession of hard-working and enthusiastic

captains. Through endless hard work the foundations of the

club have been strengthened both in terms of the number

of members and the level of interest within college. Thanks

also to the number of successful fundraising events, the bank

balance has been given a renewed lease of life, allowing money

to be spent replacing the club’s ailing equipment. For the

first time in years, rowers at Mansfield can now slip their feet

into decent rowing shoes, with no need to tape their feet

onto the footplate of the boats! Mansfield, despite being

small, has a big presence on the river, with many colleges

fearing the sight of the mighty red and yellow blades cruising

up and down the Isis.

2002-03 again built on this reputation! So many keen freshers

attended the introductory event during freshers week that

some unfortunately did not manage to get an outing on the

day, such was the demand to get in the boats! This enthusiasm

was maintained throughout the whole of Michaelmas, despite

the appalling weather, with the club managing to select five

novice boats for the Christ Church Regatta. Once again rain

stopped play, but this resulted in there being a large pool of

keen freshers for the captains to choose from to make up the

Hilary Term squads.

Hilary Term was more of success if only in terms of the

weather! Although the rain lashed down for many of the

days early on in the term, the rest of the term remained

relatively dry so that outings could continue. In all, 3 boats

raced for the men’s boat club with a single boat racing for

the women’s club. Despite rowing into the Second Division

on the first day, the next two days of racing saw the Men’s 1st

VIII bumped back down two places in what was, to be honest,

a rather poor performance. Thankfully the 4th day of racing

was cancelled and the rowing could once again be laid to rest

for Hilary (the unspoken) Term. This is not to take away

glory from the Mansfield Men’s Beer Boat, however, who

went on to bump 3 days in a row, narrowly missing blades

due only to the cancellation of the fourth day.

In Trinity Term things were looking up with a return to the

water by many of the “fair weather” rowers. As a result we

were able to assemble boats that were made up of many of

the rowers from the VIIIs from last year. An added bonus

rowing at mansfield

is (once again) on

the up!

came in the form of a debut by Chris Martin, the Dean of

College who took his seat in the Men’s 1st VIII! With a good

start to training the Men’s 1st VIII could celebrate success at

Shrewsbury, with an overall win in the Novice VIIIs.

Confidence restored. A good atmosphere within the club

and the thumbs-up from Bill Thompson, our Senior

Consultant, the scene looked set for Summer VIIIs.

Three men’s crews and two women’s crews made up

Mansfield’s naval assault against the other colleges. The Men’s

3rd VIII and Women’s 2nd VIII were unhappy casualties to

“Rowing On” not managing to secure positions, but

Mansfield was still able to enter three boats into the final

competition.

Following the purchase of a new (to us) boat, a naming

ceremony was held on the first day of racing with guest of

honour, boat club Old Boy and all-round legend Donald

MacDonald pouring champagne over the bow of the “Charles

Brock.”

This started the celebrations for the week and happily it can

be reported that the Men’s 1st VIII did the unthinkable and

continued the party, managing to bump up five places over

four days. This was much to the delight of the huge Mansfield

following that had lined the banks offering great vocal

support. The Men’s 2nd VIII backed up this result with a

further 3 bumps, leaving Mansfield rated statistically as one

of the most successful boat clubs of the year. With the Men’s

1st VIII managing the hallowed 5 Bump Blades, taking out:

Sommerville, Oriel II, LMH, Worcester, Pembroke II, over

4 days of exciting racing and the Men’s 2nd VIII impressive

performance, the dinner on Saturday was, needless to say, a

great occasion.

The end of the year saw 1st VIII established in the 2nd Div,

with no college 2nd boats ahead of us. The pecking order

had been restored!

For more information on the successes and antics of the

Boat Club please consult website; www.friendofbill.com

Andrew “Des” WalkerCaptain of Boats 2002-2003

oil painting of mansfield college 10

Those of you fortunate enough to have had the chance to enjoy one of those hot summer days at Mansfield

last year may well have noticed an artist stationed outside the Porters’ Lodge. Richard Klein (PPE 1982, past

JCR President) commissioned Peter Brown, an artist from Bath who has painted many Oxbridge Colleges, to

paint in oils, Richard’s alma mater.

Richard and Peter have very kindly given the College permission to reproduce this fantastic piece of work as a

limited edition print with the proceeds generously being donated to the College.

There are only 500 available so buy now to avoid disappointment - there has already been a great deal of

interest in them.

The prints are 600 x 430 mm and priced at £ 150.

Further details are available from the Development Office.

Development Office

Mansfield College

Mansfield Road

Oxford

OX1 3TF

Telephone: 01865 270998

Fax: 01865 270970

E-mail: anu.dawson@mansfield.ox.ac.uk

11 Development Office News

How time flies. This time last year I was working at “the other

place” and had just been offered the job of Development

Director at Mansfield College. Challenging was one word that

came up when I told colleagues in the know about where I

was heading. They weren’t wrong either! But I don’t think I

could have found a better place to be challenged.

If the past 11 months are anything to go by, the College is

certainly heading in the right direction to meet its challenges

head-on. However, the distance that remains to be covered is

still considerable, but with the tremendous support that

Mansfield receives, and the attitude and application of

everyone involved in College life, I’m sure that these challenges

will be met and our goals realised.

Having had time to acclimatise, it would seem that the College

certainly punches above its weight in many areas. The students

seem to acquit themselves most impressively both in their

academic lives and in their extra-curricular activities. The

Fellowship is incredibly committed, not only to their subject

areas but also to the College as a whole and to its vision. The

staff are friendly, honest, hard working and ready to enjoy a

jar or two should it happen to be your birthday. The thing

that has struck me most, and I know that this is a feeling

shared amongst the staff arriving last summer, is the incredible

community spirit that seems to envelop you as soon as you

come through the gates. Having worked in a Cambridge

College previously I thought I was prepared for the family

atmosphere that the unique collegiate system seems to

generate, but Mansfield seems to have refined it to the nth

degree, or maybe it’s just an Oxford thing?

As you may have gathered, I rather like the place, and I feel

privileged to be able to contribute to Mansfield by helping to

secure its long-term future.

The family certainly doesn’t end with those currently at the

College. Parents of students both present and past, current

and former staff and most importantly our alumni all do, and

hopefully will continue to, play a major role in the future of

the College.

Our alumni are key to helping the College provide Mansfield’s

current students and staff with what they no doubt richly

deserve for their incredible efforts in ensuring Mansfield

continues to overachieve.

Three ways of directly ensuring this come in the form of the

new on-site accommodation, Bursaries and the efforts to

endow a number of academic posts.

Our new on-site accommodation building will enable us to

house another 24 students here at the College. This will not

only bring one third of the students currently ‘living out’ back

to Mansfield, but will also provide a new stream of income

for the College through increased conference facilities which

will be incorporated in the building. This landmark project

will cost £1.8 million, of which we have already raised £1.2

million. Our aim is to try to secure all the remaining funds

without having to borrow from the bank. We shall be

approaching Trusts and Foundations for grants but we hope

that alumni will give to this cause with characteristic

generosity.

With the introduction of Top Up Fees in 2006, it will become

even more important for Mansfield to be able to provide

bursaries for our less well off students. We are aiming to

raise funds for a number of bursaries valued at £3000 per

students which will be worth £1000 for the three years of an

undergraduate course. This is a further step forward in

Mansfield’s ongoing campaign to widen access to Oxford.

The endowment of academic posts will ensure that the

tutorial system, one of Oxford’s key strengths, will continue

to provide the same fantastic educational experience.

Government funding of the tutorial system continues to

reduce and Mansfield is particularly vulnerable owing to the

small size of its endowment. Endowing existing tutorial

fellowships in subjects such as Politics and Law, amongst

others, will not only continue to secure teaching of the highest

level in the future but also release funds, currently used to

support the tutorial system, for other essential educational

purposes.

As you can see, our task remains great, but we are confident

of success. My thanks to those who have already contributed

and continue to support the College so generously. I hope

that Mansfield will be able to count on the support of many

more alumni and friends long into the future.

development departure.....

Unfortunately, Eve Robert finally decided to leave Mansfield

after five and a half years at the College. Initially as a student

reading Theology, taking in the JCR Presidency along the

way, and then as Development Officer. I know I speak for all

at Mansfield when I say a big thank you to Eve for her

magnificent contribution to Mansfield in both her roles. I

know I couldn’t have managed without her knowledge of,

and dedication to, the College.

Filling Eve’s shoes is Anu Dawson, who joins us from St

Clare’s College on Banbury Road. Anu arrives here from a

position similar to Eve’s, having studied and worked at St

Clare’s. Her first task was the design and production of this

publication which, I’m sure you’ll agree, looks excellent.

Andy Wood

Development Director

College News 12

Professorships

We are delighted to announce that two of our Fellows, Stephen

Blundell, Professor of Physics and Ian Sargent, Professor of

Reproductive Science, have been awarded the title of Profes-

sor by the Distinctions Committee. The Professorships were

awarded through the “Recognition of Distinction Exercise”.

This is held approximately every two years and individuals

have to submit detailed descriptions of their undergraduate

and postgraduate teaching, examining, administration, Col-

lege duties, advanced study and research including grants and

publications and future plans for research.

The criteria for the title of Professor are:

1) research of outstanding quality

2) significant international reputation

3) comparable in distinction with that expected of a

Professor in other major research Universities

4) teaching and administration

Stephen Blundell’s research interests are in condensed matter

physics and quantum mechanics, particularly in their applica-

tion to problems in magnetism and superconductivity and

especially in low-dimensional and organic systems. His work

uses a combination of high magnetic fields and also a tech-

nique called muon-spin rotation. Positively charged muons

North American Reunion 2004

This year’s University North American Reunion was held,

once again, at the magnificent Waldorf=Astoria Hotel

in New York on the 16th & 17th April. The events began

on the Friday evening with a reception for all University

guests in the elegant surroundings of the hotel’s Grand

Ballroom. The Mansfield table was even joined by one

of our current Scholars – Isabel Regan, a second-year

Geographer on a field trip to New York! This was

followed on the Saturday by a series of talks and lectures

on many interesting and varied subjects.

The Saturday evening saw the Mansfield Reunion take

place in the Morgan Suite of the Waldorf=Astoria. A

good number of alumni and friends attended the

reception and the event was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Over the weekend, plans for a North American alumni

group were discussed and met with a very positive

response. The aim of the group will be to provide a

network for Mansfield alumni, which will initially be

based in New York, to give them the opportunity to

arrange various events with the help of the Development

form a major part of cosmic rays (several hit you every sec-

ond!) but his group uses the world’s most intense beams of

these particles to study a variety of problems, particularly con-

cerning organic magnets and superconductors, and various

oxides. The muons are used to provide information about the

magnetic fields that exist inside materials at the atomic level,

which in turn helps to elucidate the way in which the various

materials work.

Ian Sargent says: “I have been given the title of Professor of

Reproductive Science. I am also Scientific Director of the

Oxford IVF Unit. I have two main areas of research which

are centred around the immunology of pregnancy. Basically

the question we are addressing is how does the fetus avoid

being rejected by the mother’s immune system and are certain

types of infertility and problems in later pregnancy caused by

immunological mechanisms? I therefore work both on human

embryo implantation failure and a disease of later pregnancy

called pre-eclampsia, which can affect up to 1:10 of all

pregnancies and is a major cause of fetal and maternal death

worldwide. We are trying to unravel the mechanisms involved

in these processes with the aim of developing treatments for

these distressing conditions.”

Office. Further details of this group will be available later

in 2004 and we hope to report on the inaugural Mansfield

North American event in our next issue in early 2005.

If you are interested in assisting the Development Office

in this venture please get in touch.

Attendees at the 2004 North American Reunion:

Rachel Adams (Social Studies 2001) & guest, Sidney

Blankenship (Theology 1967), Clayton Bond

(Environmental Change and Management 2000), Sara Cross

(Women’s Studies 1998), Diane Dunne (Parent of Dana

Dunne, Visiting Student 1983), Diana Glassman (Visiting

Student, Zoology 1986) & guest, Thea Hashagen (Visiting

Student) & guest, Josh Kurtzig (Visiting Student History

and Politics 1999), Mia McDonald (Visiting Student, English

1985), Isabel Regan (Current Student), Martin Rowe

(Religous Studies MA 1991), Teena Shetty (Visiting Student,

English 1993) & guest and John Zolidis (Visiting Student,

Philosophy 1993).

13 Keiran Swann, Geography 2003

One of the hardest things I had to do was to decide where

I should go. I wanted to visit so many places and had bought

a round-the-world air ticket that would pretty much let me

do just that. I decided I’d spend the majority of my time in

Asia but that I’d get the maximum mileage out of my ticket

and spend a little time in several countries. I wanted to

experience other cultures and see different people and see

how they lived their lives in such different condition to those

at home. Asia was the place I could do this and the difference

within the continent meant that each time I crossed a border

there was a whole new experience awaiting me. It wasn’t

until I had given up my soul-destroying Gap Year job, packed

my bag and said my goodbyes that I started to wonder what

form these experiences would take.

Two days later I was on a rooftop garden of a guesthouse in

Agra, India, overhung by a huge tropical tree. Looking closely

at the tree I saw a large, red faced monkey with a huge tail

curling over its head, climb up and look straight over to

where I was sitting with my friend, enjoying a clandestine

Kingfisher Beer and eating from a huge bag of fruit bought

in the market minutes before. Hearing a noise in the

background we turned to see a man on a rooftop whooping

at a circulating flock of parrots and hurling a lassoo around

his head. It seemed a bit strange, but no one else appeared

to be interested. As I turned back to the table, I saw the Taj

Mahal gleaming white in the hot sun and it hit me then that

I was really there, living out the trip I’d been planning for

months. I thought that the memories I’d have, like this one,

would be of little things like just enjoying the view of the

surroundings. I went to get a banana from the plastic bag

and again looked at the modern wonder of the world in

front of me. Out of the corner of my eye something seemed

to be approaching at quite a speed, before I could work out

what it was I pushed back from the table and watched as the

huge monkey bounced over the wall with the entire bag of

fruit. I picked up the emptying bottles and thought; memories

of the views? Maybe it’s going to be a bit more dramatic

than that.

In Agra, like everywhere in India people are employed in

vast numbers to do the job of one person. In each shop

there were at least 15 assistants who would ask if you

required any help with a friendly smile that had commission

written all over it. Road maintenance workers were required

to use basic tools in order to create more jobs, and people

seemed to be employed to work in jobs that seemed to not

really require 60 hours a week of a person’s time. The man

with a catapult patiently sitting on a wall in the corner of

the garden waiting to take out fruit-hunting monkeys worked

in this particular sector. He was asleep at the time of the

attack, and looking for a new job when he woke.

The next time we were to come in close contact with animals

was in Udaipur, Rajasthan. This time it was one of the many

holy cows that grace the wastelands, pavements and major

highways in Indian cities. The cows and people generally

live in harmony and both appear satisfied by that relationship.

Indians show respect to the cows to maintain Hindu spiritual

purity, and the cows show respect to the people in hope of

old sugar cane and corn leaves. The only time trouble occurs

is when two bulls meet. When this happens in a crowded

street the drill amongst passers by seems to be to run for

cover. From a shop, a safety-conscious two metres from

street level, we watched as the bulls locked horns and

grappled, hitting shops and holding up the traffic. After 10

minutes of combat, some experienced locals attempt to split

the beasts apart. The first attempt was made with a can of

water. The next by a brave guy with his sandal which he

forcefully took to the back of one bull, again failure. Attempt

number three with an iron bar made little headway in

separating the animals but did a great job infuriating them.

Thankfully one of the drivers of the blockaded traffic

decided enough was enough and clicked his feet together

making his elephant walk through towards the bulls, one of

whom saw his chance and ran away at full speed down the

road.

After two wonderful months and the inevitable illness that

India affords to every western tourist (except my super-

immune travel buddy), we left the crowds, noise, cows and

curries behind and headed towards the south east of the

continent.

Gap Year Travels 14

After three weeks reacquainting with the west in Malaysia

and a few days seeing the ‘sights’ of Bangkok we journeyed

by train to the border heading towards Vientiane, capital

city of Laos.

Laos is undeveloped. Few buildings in the capital, home to

only 225,000, exceed 2 or 3 stories. One thing that did,

however, was the Victory Monument, erected by the Pathet

Loa Communists in 1975. Made from concrete donated by

the Americans for the resurfacing of the landing strip of

the national airport, it is know locally as the “vertical

runway”. But to experience the real Laos we travelled into

the north. I had read a warning in the travel guide about the

safety of the route, and picked up a Foreign Office report

on a website detailing the murders of tourists in the previous

months by armed bandits. I was a little apprehensive before

we set off on our 9-hour bus ride along the notorious

‘national route 13’. This apprehension was made worse by

the thick fog that set in as we ascended the mountains at a

crawl, however I did feel a little better in the knowledge

that we had an armed guard in the seat across the aisle,

machine gun across his lap. I got a bit jumpy every time he

sprinted to the front of the bus with his weapon ready to

go and his eyes fixed on something ahead. I thought he

looked worried. After several of these forward lunges I

concluded that his AK47 was new and he was just keen to

try it out.

We had a great week on the river, visiting tribal villages, and

seeing enough Buddhist temples to last a lifetime. After the

week we didn’t want to leave - mainly because it entailed a

less than relaxing trip back down route 13 to Vientiane.

After a 36 hour bus journey (22 hours according to the

leaflet!) in an old Russian bus with hard seats (a deluxe and

comfortable coach, again according to the leaflet) I arrived

in Hanoi, Vietnam - the most beautiful and friendly city

that I had the pleasure of seeing in the entire trip. We ended

up spending an extra 4 days there visiting the open

Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, various war museums, several

local parks and eating some great food, most memorably,

pig brain soup. Even the pickpockets were friendly. After a

failed attempt to grab my friend’s watch, one particularly

scruffy individual smiled and nodded politely before walking

off down the road.

Next stop was the hill tribes in the north, close to the

Chinese border. Here they are very traditional, in H’mong

tribal clothing with large piercings and hand crafted jewellery

that must not have changed much for centuries. The market

sold various locally grown vegetables, fruit and meats

including a delicately quartered dog and fish kept in a bucket

and killed to order. The method of killing was to pick the

fish from the bucket, chop its head off with a cleaver, gut

and bone it before cutting it into smaller portions, all which

happened seemingly before the fish had ceased moving. This

bond to the culture was shown nicely by three young H’mong

girls in their tribal wear, picking leaves near a path we were

walking. As soon as I produced my camera for a quick snap

one said ‘Mr, one picture, one dollar!’ The more of Vietnam

I saw the more I liked it. It was so diverse. In the month we

were there we saw the amazing formations of the Halong

Bay scenescape, the torn-up battle zones of the DMZ, the

beaches of Nha Trang, manic streets of Ho Chi Minh City

with millions of motorbikes and street stalls, but best of all

was the brand new Saigon water parks complete with

Vietnam’s tallest (and I’m sure only) waterslide!

Now with only one month remaining I wondered what other

experiences I would have before I went home, and suffice

to say I had my fair share. The most memorable involved a

hired motorbike and a Cambodian minefield! I was also

lucky enough to have a few days in Australasia including a

dive on the barrier reef, a day watching whales and dolphins

in Auckland, and a week in a beach hut in the tropical

paradise of Western Samoa. This was followed by a night in

Hollywood and a few days in Washington DC. It was the

most amazing and the fastest six months of my life, and

when I think about all those things that I did and all the

places I visited I feel so lucky to have the chance to travel

and see the world. I was just sorry that many of the people

who made this trip the wonderful experience it was would

never have the opportunity to live in as much comfort as I

do.

events at mansfield2004

Saturday 18th September Seventh Annual Parents Dinner

Thursday 11th November Drinks Evening in London

2005

Saturday 22nd January Gaudy

for Matriculation years 1965 - 1975

April Hands Lecture

July Gaudy

for Matriculation years 1995-2000

September Eighth Annual Parents Dinner

For those who asked for a re-think of the arrangements for Commemoration we hope to announce

details in the next edition of the Magazine.

weddings at mansfieldWe would like to offer all our former members the opportunity to hold their wedding receptions at Mansfied College.

Mansfield College is able to offer a unique location for a wedding reception. We can cater for between 30 and 85 people in

the Dining Hall and for up to 300 people in a Marquee in the quad. Anything from a BBQ to a Banquet can be catered for

and a cash bar can be provided at any event. Evening receptions can be held in a Marquee or in the JCR.

If you would like more information on holding your wedding reception at the College, please contact Chris Morris, The

Conference Administrator.

In the next edition of the Mansfield Magazine, we will include a section of alumni news alongside the regular news items

you are used to reading. We hope this section will help people to keep up to date with what their contemporaries and

other graduates of Mansfield have gone on to do since leavings the College

We want to hear what you have been up to! Use the enclosed Update Form to tell us about a new job, births, marriages,

promotions and other significant events. This section can include photographs as well as short items of news for those

alumni from whom we have heard.

If you would like your news to be included in the next edition of the Mansfield Magazine, please complete and return the

Contact Form which should have been sent to you with this magazine. We will do our best to include as many items of

news as we can.

tell us your news…