St Aidan's College, Durham

St Aidan's College is a college of the University of Durham in England. Founded in 1947 as the St Aidan's Society, but able to trace its roots back to the end of the 19th century, the college is named for St Aidan of Lindisfarne.

St Aidan's College
University of Durham
                             
LocationWindmill Hill, Durham DH1 3LJ
Coordinates54.764167°N 1.583889°W / 54.764167; -1.583889
MottoLatin: Super fundamentis certis[1]
Motto in English"Upon sure foundations"
Established1947
Named forSt Aidan of Lindisfarne
PrincipalSusan Frenk
Undergraduates806
Postgraduates200
WebsiteSt Aidan's College
JCRSt Aidan's JCR
SCRSt Aidan's SCR
Boat clubSt Aidan's Boat Club
Map
St Aidan's College, Durham is located in Durham, England
St Aidan's College, Durham
Location in Durham, England

History
Front view of the central building

The college has its origins in the small group of women, known as home students, who were first allowed to study at Durham in 1895.[2] At that time, and indeed until the Second World War, it was considered unsuitable for female students to live in lodgings: they either had to be members of a college or to live at home. The numbers were never very large; for example, in 1936 there were only five. However, a substantial increase in the number of female students after 1945 meant that the former group of home students was reorganised, emerging as the St Aidan's Society in 1947.

The St Aidan's Society had its offices at 24 North Bailey (now the bar and club of the Durham Union Society). Some of the students lived in Shincliffe Hall and others in lodgings. A common room was soon found in 50 North Bailey and chapel services held at the church of St Mary-le-Bow. The first principal was Ethleen Scott,[3] having been "Censor" of the female home students since 1937.

In 1961 St Aidan's was reconstituted as a full "council college", meaning that its governing council is a sub-committee of the university council, the university's governing body. It moved to its present buildings on Elvet Hill in September 1964, becoming one of the first of the university's "Hill" colleges.[4] The college buildings are in a modernist style, having been designed by architect Sir Basil Spence and arranged in a semi-circular arrangement surrounding a central lawn.[5] The original design was intended to represent the hand of God holding a jewel, with the curved corridors as the fingers, the straight corridors as his thumb, and a small chapel as the jewel. However, financial constraints prevented the chapel from ever being built and later extensions to the straight section did not follow the original idea.

In 1963, Scott was succeeded as principal by Dame Enid Russell-Smith,[6] who handed over to Irene Hindmarsh in 1970.[7] It was during her tenure as principal that it was agreed that St Aidan's should become a mixed college. The first male students were admitted in 1981.[5]

John Ashworth took over in 1998, before becoming dean of colleges in 2007, at which point Susan Frenk became acting principal. In 2008 work on improvements to the extensions were started. The aim was to turn previous fresher rooms into ensuite accommodation for finalists and postgraduates. The newly refurbished extensions, named the Elizabeth Pease House, were opened to students in 2009.[8]

Organisation
St Aidan's College entrance

The college membership divides itself between the senior common room (SCR) and the junior common room (JCR). The SCR is a self-regulating body of senior members of the university, college officers, tutors and postgraduate students. The JCR consists of the undergraduate members of the college and elects its own officers, including a sabbatical president and a bar steward, who liaise on its behalf with the college and university.[9]

Principals

The current principal is Susan Frenk, a lecturer in Spanish and Latin-American culture.

  • Ethleen Scott (1947?–1970)
  • Dame Enid Russell-Smith (1963–1970)
  • Irene Hindmarsh (1970–1988)
  • Robert Williams (1991–1997)[10]
  • John Ashworth (1998–2007)
  • Susan Frenk (2007–present)


JCR Presidents
  • Elisabeth Read: 1948-49
  • Isobel Horton: 1949-1950
  • Marion Shackleton: 1950-51
  • Enid Parker: 1951-52
  • Sheila Bynner: 1952-53
  • Jean Perlam: 1953-54
  • Sheila Kirkby: 1954-55
  • Rachel Moorhouse: 1955-56
  • June Palmer: 1956-57
  • Audrey Cook: 1957-58
  • Selina Crossfield: 1958-59
  • Janet Coasdale: 1959-60
  • Marion Bennett: 1960-61
  • Barbara Wendt: 1961-62
  • Averil Richardson: 1962-63
  • Barbara Purling: 1963-64
  • Anne Wilkinson: 1964-65
  • Margaret Booth: 1965-66
  • Mavis Sanders: 1966-67
  • Clare Ewbank: 1967-68
  • Jennifer Lort: 1968-69
  • Penelope Willey: 1969-70
  • Pamela Aznavoorian: 1970-71
  • Rosemary Barber: 1971-72
  • Priscilla Brereton: 1972-73

JCR Societies

The JCR operates a range of different sports clubs and societies which are run by different student volunteers.[11]

Association football

St Aidan's College participates in the intercollegiate football league. There are six men's and one women's team. The Women's A team is joint with Hatfield college and are in the women's premiership division. The men's A and B team are both in Men's Division 1, men's C team is in Division 3, men's D & F team in division 6A and the might men's E team in division 6B.[12]

Boat club

In 1954 St Aidan's College Boat Club (SACBC) was founded. Today the club shares a boathouse with University College Boat Club. The club competes with other colleges, as well as competing in the Durham Regatta.[13]

Chess Society

The St Aidan's College Chess Society was founded in 2022 and members meet to play one another every Thursday in the Junior Common Room.[14]

Eco Team

Initially existing as the small Eco Committee, the student body, in character with a consistent commitment to environmental values, voted in favour of elevating the position to that of an executive. Alongside this vote, the students showed support for the creation of an Eco Team to act as a society for wider members of the college to engage with environmental issues in and around St. Aidan's College. Showcasing themselves as forerunners through being the first college to have an executive level environmental representative, St. Aidan's College prides itself on the communal appreciation of ecological values.

Fashion Society

The JCR operates an annual charity fashion show that is compeltely student run. In 2022 it was the subject of a controversy that was reported in the student and national press.[15][16]

Hockey Club

There are currently one men's and one woman's hockey teams playing in the premiership. Both teams have recently been highly successful in the cup competition with the woman winning it in 2021 and the men winning the competeition in 2022. [17]

International Society

St Aidan's International Society is an award winning society. For example, it won the Global College Award in 2023[18]

LGBT+ Society

There is a lively LGBT+ society at St Aidan's College who represent the interests of LGBT+ students as well as organising round table discussions and social events.

Rugby Club

There are currently one men's and one women's rugby teams representing St. Aidan's. The men's rugby team (St. Aidan's College Rugby Football Club, SACRFC) previously competed in the first division of the Durham college rugby league, however, was relegated to the second division in academic year 2022-2023. The women's rugby team (Van Maidan's) is a joint team with neighbouring college Van Mildert. As of the academic 2021-2022, Van Maidan's compete with other colleges in the Durham premiership.

Running Club

St. Aidan's running club was officially founded in June 2022, although had unofficially operated between three of the founding members as of about a month earlier, when they attended a park run in Durham. The aims of the club, under the premiership of the current (founding) president, Aidan Cairns, are to carry out a weekly fast and slow run, and to send a group to park run every week. The group also wishes to source t-shirts bearing 'Aidan's Running Club', in order to create a rivalry with St. Mary's Running Club, a running group from another Durham college.

Controversies

Fire safety prevention door fines

On the 14th January 2022, the fire safety doors on multiple corridors, known within the college as 'C straight' and 'B curve' were damaged. The college announced intentions to include a fine separate to pre-existing payments for students living on these corridors to cover the repair expenses.[19] In response, students wrote an open letter criticising the measures proposed. In this letter,[20] the students asked the college board "How can you justify a collective economic punishment despite this violating well-established moral principles of punishment?", and inquired how the college can justify "the extreme excessiveness of fining hundreds of people for the actions of one, especially when those very same people aided you in giving general information about the event?".[21] Dr Susan Frenk responded to the letter in an email addressed to all students of the college, replying that "there is no magic pot of gold, even in the rainbow college, to pay for acts of deliberate destruction... Until two years ago, a sum was ring-fenced from the residence fees in each college, to pay for unattributable damage where those responsible did not come forward. That has ceased because it was seen as encouraging a lack of personal responsibility and penalising innocent students. Yet without it, we have had to introduce collective payment in the areas where damage is inflicted". No fines have been issued as of yet.[22]

Notable alumni

References
  1. "St Aidan's College". Durham University. Durham University. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  2. Report by the Vice-chancellor and Warden for the year 1960-61. Durham University. 1961.
  3. 'SCOTT, Ethleen Mary', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 7 April 2013
  4. "Durham, Durham University, St Aidan's College | Canmore". canmore.org.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  5. "St Aidans College @ Durham SU". www.durhamsu.com. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  6. 'RUSSELL-SMITH, Dame Enid (Mary Russell)', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 2012 accessed 7 April 2013
  7. 'HINDMARSH, Irene', Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 2012 accessed 7 April 2013
  8. "St Aidan's College : Accommodation - Durham University". www.dur.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  9. "The JCR | St Aidan's College JCR". St-aidans.com. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  10. "About - Professor Robert Williams". www.robert-williams.co.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  11. St Aidan's JCR. St Aidan's JCR https://www.st-aidans.com/sports-and-societies/. Retrieved 17 May 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. "Team Durham : Sport - Durham University". www.dur.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  13. "Regatta results - St Aidan's College Boat Club". Durham Regatta. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  14. Chess.com Chess Club register https://www.chess.com/club/st-aidans-college. Retrieved 17 May 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. Telegraph article Aidan's Fashion https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/01/17/durham-students-accuse-african-charity-white-saviourism-fashion/. Retrieved 17 May 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. Palatinate article Aidan's Fashion Show https://www.palatinate.org.uk/aidans-fashion-show-u-turn-on-charity-after-white-saviour-complaints/. Retrieved 17 May 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. "Team Durham results". Team Durham. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  18. Durham University https://www.durham.ac.uk/global-durham/durham-global-week/durham-global-awards/all-winners-and-nominees/global-college-award/. Retrieved 17 May 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. Palatinate, 24th February 2022, No. 849
  20. ibid
  21. ibid
  22. Kelly, Frank. "Palatinate 849 by Palatinate - Issuu". issuu.com. Palatinate. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  23. "Jon Ashworth MP for Leicester South – on your side". Jonashworth.org. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  24. "Durham University Rugby". DURFC 2020. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  25. Ray, Paul (23 March 2021). "Sir Graham Brady: "The government has gone too far"". Palatinate. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  26. "Sir John Deane's College | Sir John Deane's College". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  27. "School Biology Teacher of the Year Award winner announced". Societyofbiology.org. 1 July 2013. Archived from the original on 3 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  28. "Professor Monica Grady | IAS Durham". Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  29. Durham First (22 June 2016). "Durham First : More than a Buddy". Durham University. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  30. "Dave Winslett Associates: Judith Hann". Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  31. "Who's Who". Ukwhoswho.com. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  32. "Nick Mohammed's heart "lies in Durham"". The Palatinate. 6 December 2010.
  33. "Durham First issue 31 by Durham University Alumni Relations". Issuu.com. 14 December 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  34. Nicolle, Stéphanie Claire, Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 2012 accessed 7 April 2013
  35. "Burke's Peerage - Preview Family Record". 25 December 2010. Archived from the original on 25 December 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2021.

Sources
  • Rodmell, Graham. St Aidans: from Home Students to Society to College. University of Durham, 1997. ISBN 0-9530465-0-8
  • Kelly, Frank. Aidan's students protest collective punishment for fire door damage. Palatinate, 24 February 2022, No.849.
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