MartletNewsletter of Pembroke College CambridgeIssue 20 Spring 2016

It is now (I regret to admit) forty-six years since I cameup to Pembroke to read English as an undergraduate. Ispent six hugely happy years here, for my BA and then

a PhD focused on the poetry of Wordsworth and Coleridge.And returning now as Master, I’m struck by how much haschanged and also how little. There are of course someenormous differences. The College (wonderfully) is full ofwomen students and Fellows, for a start. Foundress Courthas been created, and the new Master’s Lodge alongside it.The food is definitely better – indeed students from acrossthe University tell me that Pembroke has the best there is.

One really important thing hasn’t changed at all,however: the sense of community that runs through thewhole of our College life. Pembroke has always been aremarkably friendly College, but the sense of collegial spiritthat infuses everything we do and are has, if anything,become stronger with time. I see it as my most importanttask to nurture, sustain, and strengthen that spirit over theyears ahead.

As I write, we have just finished the Lent term, and Iwas reflecting on some of the things that have happened injust the last three weeks. We held the competition for theParmee prize for entrepreneurship – with fourteenexceptional student entries and an inspiring series ofpresentations. The Pembroke Politics Society held a meetingwith the Speaker of the Kurdish parliament. We held thesecond in a series of high-level seminars on the refugee crisisbreaking over Europe. There was a series of late-night Bachcello recitals in the Chapel. Pembroke Players put on a‘smoker’ in the Old Library (without the smoking, ofcourse) with some of the very best stand-up comedy I’veencountered in a long time. The men’s first Football Teamreached the Cuppers final for the third year in a row – sadlythey again lost, but there’s always next year to look forwardto! The men’s first boat had a brilliant Lent Bumps and arenow lying third in the river. The women’s first boat bumpedevery day and won their blades. The men’s first hockeyteam not only won the University league but then went onto triumph over the Oxford leaders, Worcester. And thispast term’s President of the Union Society, a Pembroke man,has handed over to next term’s President, a Pembrokewoman. As you can see, the College is in great shape, andvery good heart.

In a few months’ time we will, sadly, face MarkWormald’s departure as Senior Tutor. As Mark himselfwrites (see next page), after sixteen years he is lookingforward to doing some writing and getting a bit of his ownacademic life back. We won’t lose him from the Fellowship,of course, and we look forward to his continuingcontribution to the College’s life for many years to come.His service as Senior Tutor has been outstanding, and it wasalways going to be a really difficult task to try and find aworthy successor. I’m delighted to report that we have doneso, and – in the face of stiff competition from both insideand outside Pembroke – Dr Dan Tucker (an existing Fellowand Tutor, and Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Medicine andPublic Health) has been appointed. He will take over on 1stSeptember.

In the meantime, our exciting plans for the purchase ofthe south side of Mill Lane, and the development of themost transformational extension to the College since itsfoundation, immediately next to our original medievaldomain, are taking shape. Negotiations with the Universityfor the purchase have taken time, but are now nearing a

successful conclusion; and I hope to be able to reportfurther on this to alumni shortly. Some of the buildings,because of listing requirements, will have to be kept; otherscan be replaced. Our aim is to create a whole new courtyardof accommodation, primarily for graduate students but forundergraduates as well, together with new study, seminar,research and library space, some community facilities,exhibition space, and if possible an auditorium. And inorder to ensure the integration of the College as a whole,not forever divided by the traffic on Trumpington Street,we hope to create a tunnel to link the two parts together.

These are very ambitious plans, but they have secured agiant leap towards their realisation with the extraordinarilygenerous gift we have received from the estate and familyof Ray Dolby. Ray came up to Pembroke as a MarshallScholar in the 1950s, to study for a PhD in x-ray microscopy.He went on to become a Research Fellow and then developedthe Dolby sound system that has revolutionised listeningfor every film, television programme and piece of recordedmusic across the globe. The Dolby estate and family havepledged £35m to help Pembroke to bring the Mill Lanedevelopment to fruition. I’m determined we’re going tohonour their generosity and succeed!

One of the most moving things about being Master here is the way you are constantly reminded of how bright, dedicated, imaginative, and outward-looking ourundergraduate and postgraduate students are. Whether it’san engineer going out to build sewerage systems in Africa,or a classicist developing a safe-space social mediaapplication for children, or a historian drawing parallelsbetween the Hanseatic league and the interrelationshipstoday in the European Union: it’s a real privilege to be here,listening to them, being enormously impressed by them, andhelping to encourage their aspirations for the future. LikeRay Dolby, they will go out to change the world. AndPembroke will, I believe, have helped that to happen.

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Contents3 Reflections on

Senior Tutordom 4 Difference and

Diversity Digested5 Rethinking Modern

Conservatism6 The Syrian Tragedy7 In? Out? Shake It All

About? 8 Mens Sana In

Collegio Sano!Advancing Mental-Health Support inPembroke and theUniversity

10 Catering to FondMemory

11 Sing Me a River12 ‘Charity suffereth

long’13Gossip15 Poet’s Corner

Published byPembroke CollegeCambridge CB2 1RFTelephone 01223 338100Email: martlet@pem.cam.ac.uk

EditorAlex Houen

Gossip EditorColin Wilcockson

IllustrationsMartin Rowson

© Pembroke College 2016

Photography and illustrationscopyright of the owners

Design cambridgesesignstudio.org

Print Langham Press

Aspirations for the Future The Master, Lord Chris Smith

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When, some months ago, the Martlet editor askedme to reflect on my experiences as Senior Tutor,I knew – as I did that evening, sixteen years ago,

when Sir Roger Tomkys invited me back to the Master’sLodge and asked me whether I would succeed CliveTrebilcock as what we then called the Tutor – that of courseit was an honour I couldn’t decline. But it still feels liketempting fate. Statute revision may have changed the title,and having just clocked up my own half century I amindisputably older. But between the end of Lent term andEaster, one term shy of sixteen years in post, too muchbusiness remains to justify a valedictory note. AnotherTripos season looms, with all its unpredictability. You arenever experienced enough to be a Senior Tutor.

That’s hardly surprising. Take four hundred and fortybrilliant undergraduates, brought together from most cornersof the country and the globe, for three nine-week spells oftotal immersion. Add the yeast, and spice, of two hundredand seventy graduates, for roughly half of whom Cambridgeis their only British home as well as the place where they willset the course of their academic, professional and personallives. Season with seventy-five Fellows, as stimulating andstarry a constellation of intellectual talents as you couldimagine. Then ask them all to live and work and think andfeel more intensely than most of them have done before, invery close proximity to all the others, and you have the recipefor any number of excitements. One thing you can guarantee,in a college whose hundred and fifty staff pride themselveson the care they take of these tightly stacked sets of oddvolumes, is that whatever emerges from this intellectual ovenwill not be half baked.

The ideas, the discoveries, the encounters, that haveanimated and stretched every one of my working days arenever routine. In 2015 the Graduate Tutors held a twenty-twenty competition for Pembroke students: twenty slides,twenty seconds each to talk about them. One Master’sstudent in Architecture was studying the culture of therough but vibrantly multi-cultural district around Brussels’central railway station. I was reminded of Auden’s sonnet

‘Brussels in

Winter’. By the end of our conversation she had revealedher passion for curating; I’d told her how excited I wasabout a recent addition to Pembroke’s growing collectionof Ted Hughes material. Kathryn talked to Pat Aske, ourLibrarian; by the time she moved on to Harvard and a PhD,she had with Pat’s help not just conserved these treasures,but had also written a two-hundred-page catalogue ofthem. For the pleasure of it, she insisted; but of course forposterity too. It will be on our website soon.

A fortnight ago, on a day of eleven meetings, the fourth,about welfare provision and intermission with the JuniorParlour Committee, needed to over-run. A patient group ofEngineering finalists came back the following day, and toldme about the Cambridge Development Initiative, a student-founded, student-run charity bringing practical technologyand ideas, sewage systems, biodigesters and entrepreneurialideas to Tanzanian villages. I hope we’ll be able to find themsupport from among our wider Pembroke community:ideas and young people like this will change the world. AndI’m confident such support will flow. Amazing generosityfrom friends of the College has not just added to ourgraduate studentships and undergraduate bursaries; it hasalso enabled me to welcome to Pembroke someextraordinary writers these past years too, in some of themost memorable evenings of my life.

But sometimes the world and how it feels makesthinking impossible, and skews choices. For a few studentsevery year, impossibly complex family situations and thereal challenges of negotiating their first years ofindependence can produce a crisis, sometimes for theirCambridge friends too. College friendships have alwaysbeen intense: but a decade into the Facebook age, we havestill to find the sanest way of using social media and thenew technologies of communication. The borders of theself, of the public and the private, are changing. Working,occasionally at all hours, to help vulnerable young mindsand bodies find some respite and a way through dark timesis both the most daunting and one of the most satisfyingparts of the job.

And for the rest? Well, keeping a sense of perspective,being clear, humane and professional about expectations,developing policies that help students and even my

academic colleagues negotiate the demands on theirtime and talents, has also been at the heart of

things. It’s also been a real privilege to helpshape a vision of Pembroke’s future on atransformed College site on both sides ofTrumpington Street, in conversationsbetween radical ideas and adetermination to protect Pembroke’straditions. In all this, Directors ofStudies, Tutors, Admissions Tutors,Development Directors, threehugely distinguished Masters, butabove all, perhaps, the resourceful,kind and unflappable friends I’vebeen lucky enough to have beside me

in the Tutorial Office, have made thelast sixteen years a time of real happiness

for me, as they will I know for Dan Tucker.I wish him every success. For myself, I now

look forward to a year of sabbatical, more time towrite, a new inter-collegiate role as Secretary of the

Senior Tutors’ Committee – and maybe the odd fishing trip.

Reflections on Senior Tutordom Mark Wormald

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Vicky Bowman (1984), who had returned fromBurma particularly for the Pitt Seminar, entitled‘Being Different: the value of equality and diversity

in public life’, opened proceedings by noting that theevening also marked the reunion of three quarters of thevery diverse 1995 University Challenge team. She resisteddrawing conclusions from the failure of that quartet topersuade Bamber Gascoigne of our brilliance. The 2015 PittSeminar quartet was no less diverse, but we hope rathermore successful in entertaining a very erudite audience.

Trevor Phillips is hugely qualified to talk about diversityand equality, having chaired the Commissions for RacialEquality and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.But he came fresh from his role as Partnership CouncilPresident at John Lewis, the first external appointment tothe role since 1928, and he wanted to talk about data, bigdata. His talk was fascinating, with tidbits such as theIndian male preference for driving green cars. But his mainpoint was that diversity is very complicated, and many ofour assumptions about how people identify and how theybehave are incorrect. As a self-confessed ‘quant’ – I thinkthat’s the new word for ‘wonk’ – he told us that the datadoes not give simple answers. Chillingly, he pointed out thatretailers, particular internet retailers, may know us betterthan we know ourselves.

Patrick Voss has made it his business to encouragebusiness to engage with diversity. He welcomed news thatwomen hold 26% of FTSE 100 board positions, and toldthe audience that the new target was 33%. For him, the keyquestion is whether diversity helped the bottom line. Hesaid that there is clear evidence that companies with anethnically diverse, gender balanced board perform better inthe market place. His current interest is in working outwhat motivated middle managers, and how they canbecome as enthused about diversity as their CEOs.

Rae Langton, Professor of Philosophy and Fellow ofNewnham College, was introduced as the fourth mostinfluential female philosopher in the world. She began bypointing out how few women succeed in academicphilosophy. For example, in 2010, the proportion of USwomen getting doctorates in philosophy was lower than inmaths, chemistry and economics. Professor Langton is oneof a group of women philosophers looking at why this wasthe case. There are many explanations for gender bias,starting with the image of the philosopher king – 90% ofreadings on a philosophy course are likely to be by men –and including the prevalence of sexual harassment. ButProfessor Langton emphasized psychological concepts suchas stereotyping and unconscious bias.

Sharing the stage with such experts, I decided to stickto what I know best: disability. I started by offering twoimages: the highly competitive assault course, and the(level) playing field. My own social research adoptsa human rights perspective, emphasizing howpeople are disabled by society as much as bytheir bodies. Discrimination is one of theexplanations of why 46% of disabled peoplewere employed in 2012, compared to 76%of their non-disabled counterparts.Disabled people are nearly three times aslikely as non-disabled people to hold noqualifications, and only 15% of disabledpeople hold a degree, compared to 28%of non-disabled people. But this is not

because disabled people are stupid, it’s because there is astrong social gradient in health, and poorer people are farmore likely to have disability. When disabled people do getjobs, they are more likely to work part-time, and they arelikely to face a ‘glass staircase’, meaning that they areconcentrated at lower grades. Moreover, disabled peopleare 50% more likely to be victims of harassment or bullyingin the workplace. I suggested that the liberal idea ofremoving barriers to promote equality would not liberateall disabled people, who are themselves a very diversegroup. I offered a final image of equal opportunities as agarden, like the glorious flowerbeds of Pembroke itself,where plants are planted in the right spot, carefullynurtured, protected under glass where necessary andsupported by stakes, so that they can each give of their bestblooms.

At question time, the diversity and expertise of ouraudience was revealed. What did we think of HRprofessionals? (Not much.) Should Ivy League universitiesrig their entrance processes to ensure that the student cohortwas not dominated by hard working Asian Americans?(Don’t know.) Did evolutionary psychology have theanswers? (Not when it only supplied ‘Just So Stories’.)‘What about the people of Fenland?’ asked one participant.He had a point, I thought. Predominantly white, workingclass, and deeply disadvantaged, why should they careabout diversity, which, by implication, is a middle-classworry. This cued a conversation about ‘intersectionality’(sociologese for the inter-relation of ethnicity, gender,sexuality, disability and class). People have more than oneidentity, although one aspect may be more salient atdifferent times.

This year, male portraits in Hall had been covered overby images of women from the Fellowship. Some things,rightly, change, and we were celebrating thirty years ofwomen in Pembroke. Some things, thankfully, don’t change– our engrossing conversations did not prevent us fromappreciating the Pembroke tradition of excellent foodand wine. The tenth William Pitt Seminarraised many questions, and not abuzzer in sight.

Difference and Diversity DigestedTom Shakespeare (1984) on the 2015 William Pitt Seminar

Tom Shakespeare got his BA(Hons) in Social and PoliticalScience at Pembroke, and thena PhD in Sociology at King’sCollege. He has researched andtaught at Sunderland,Newcastle, Leeds, and is now atUniversity of East Anglia wherehe works in the Medical School.He spent five years at the WorldHealth Organization, and forfive years was a member of ArtsCouncil England.

Where do political ideologies come from? This is aquestion most people would never think to ask.But conservatism, liberalism, socialism, and

numerous other ‘isms’ – as bodies of thought – came in tobeing thanks to historical processes of construction andcirculation. This is the type of question my work centreson: how canonical political thinkers and ideologies becomeintellectually coherent to wide audiences, and the ways inwhich traditions of thought are made to be easily digestible– enough, at least, for people in the past to have a vaguenotion of what it meant to be a conservative (and, inBritain, a Conservative) of one kind or another.

Take the example of the Irishman and Whig politicianEdmund Burke (1730-97). I first encountered Burke as anundergraduate historian, where he was presented to me asa ‘conservative’ political thinker whose theory of politicsfed directly into the identity of the Conservative Party. Thisphilosophy of ‘conservatism’ consisted of doctrines such asa belief in the historical and organic nature of society, anda reverence for tradition, property, and religion. To mymind, this description of Burke’s thought seemed quiteproblematic: surely most people in the eighteenth century– and especially politicians like Burke – believed in theimportance of property and religion as anchors of society?After some further reading, it became clear that in hislifetime Burke had gained a reputation as a reformer ofabuses, including slavery, before he launched his ferociousattack on the French Revolution in 1790. But even as theRevolution played out, Burke was viewed by his peers in anunusual light – and certainly not as the founder of aninfluential body of thought: commentators were moreconcerned that – in working himself into such a frenzy overFrance; splitting the Whigs in the process – Burke seemedto have gone slightly mad.

Because the French Revolution is now seen as thestarting point of modern politics and thought, it has becomerelatively easy to position Burke – an opponent of theRevolution – as a kind of anti-democratic, religious,reactionary ‘conservative’. Yet it was clear to me that the

invention of Burke as a C/conservative (and indeed of hisvery own brand of ‘Burkean conservatism’) had happenedat some point after his death in 1797.

Fast-forward five years, and my work has chartedBurke’s transformation from Irish Whig politician to‘founder of modern conservatism’ over the course of thelong nineteenth century in Britain and Ireland. I collectedmaterial from books, newspapers, periodicals, politicalspeeches, pamphlets, school textbooks, and universityexaminations in order to show how a distinctive brand ofconservatism – focused around the figure of Burke – wasdeveloped, established, and circulated by 1914 in high andlow politics, historical and constitutional thought, and earlyattempts at writing a ‘science of politics’. The result was anintellectual and political construct that has since hadenormous consequence around the world.

As a historian, the question of how this change hadtaken place nibbled away at me: why do people reinterprettexts and historical figures? Of course, no two people readthe same text in exactly the same way. Even canonicalauthors are reinterpreted as society, politics, educationalcurricula, and intellectual and cultural fashions shift anddevelop; correspondingly, the questions with which weapproach historical events and figures change, too. It alsobecame clear that political ideas and canonical figures were(and are) not just consumed and discussed by elites, but bythousands of lay readers and students every year.

The really seminal moment for the re-invention ofC/conservative ideas in Britain was the late Victorian andEdwardian period. The mid-1880s witnessed the beginningof a transformative period in the history of British politics:from the enfranchisement of agricultural labourers and tomost commentators the establishment of a voter democracyin 1884 (democracy meaning here something distinct fromuniversal suffrage!); the fundamental rupturing of theLiberal Party over the issue of Irish devolution; the rise ofLabour and socialism; to the emasculation of the House ofLords in 1911, and the trauma of the Great War.

A number of Conservatives chose to seize the moment,producing an intellectual response to this rapidly changingpolitical environment. Their aim was to rejuvenate andreinvigorate the recently conjoined Conservative andUnionist Party (a partnership from 1895; fusing fully in1912). There was an efflorescence of writing across thisalliance as a whole, borne from a widespread impetus todefine and promote ‘C/conservative principles’ in a reallynovel way – from Burkean conservatism to ‘ToryDemocracy’ (i.e. ‘One Nation’). The texts produced weredistinctive, not only in their quantity, but in their attemptsto construct a historically and intellectually grounded‘modern C/conservatism’ or ‘Toryism’ that could both offerinspiration and express some of the assumptions ofpoliticians and the educated public.

By taking the historical view, we can chart the ways inwhich highly authoritative systems of thought come to beestablished: from elite to popular culture, from high politicsto the disenfranchised. It allows us to think more criticallyabout the use of reinvented heroes, concepts, or histories,and can tell us a great deal about a particular society –including our own. It also enables us to demonstrate theways in which historical actors, on the right as well as theleft, have thought imaginatively about their intellectualheritage and political principles, and in doing so haveshaped the way we think today.

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Rethinking Modern ConservatismEmily Jones on Edmund Burke

Dr Emily Jones is the MarkKaplanoff Research Fellow atPembroke. She completed herDPhil in History at ExeterCollege, Oxford, on theposthumous career of EdmundBurke in September 2015,before joining Pembroke thefollowing month. She iscurrently adapting her thesisfor publication with OxfordUniversity Press, as well asresearching the transformationof British Conservative politicalthought and intellectualculture – beyond Burke – in thelate Victorian and Edwardianperiod.

Portrait of Burke by Joshua Reynolds

Since 2011 in Syria, of a population of 22 million,almost half are refugees or internally displaced.250,000 are said to have been killed, but this is surely

an underestimate. Refugees now form a third of thepopulation of Lebanon, perhaps a quarter of that of Jordan.Those who can get further are beating on the doors ofEurope or dying en route.

This started because in the Arab Spring, peacefuldemonstrations for democratic reform were brutallysuppressed by the regime which had been in power fornearly half a century. The regime was not all bad: it wasnot sectarian; Christians and other minorities enjoyed thesame limited rights as the Sunni majority; women’s statuswas respected, medical care and education were promoted.Even so, Baathist by origin, led since 1970 by the Alawiteclique around Hafiz al Asad and then his son Bashar, it usedall-present secret police and torture to enforce ruthlesscontrol. In 1982 it suppressed an armed uprising of theMoslem Brotherhood in Hama by closing down all mediaaccess and killing some 30,000 in three weeks. Thirtyuntroubled years later they thought a dose of the samemedicine would work again.

It did not, for several reasons. First, it was no longerpossible to suppress social and public media. Second, theenthusiasm in the Arab World for change was contagious.This enthusiasm caught the media also in the West, whomade little distinction between different outbreaks ofSpring, wherever they occurred, and everywhere reportedthe uprisings as commitment to pro-western democracythat would and should triumph. All the world saw theviolence in real time and backed the rioters.

The US and British Governments danced to this tune,either because they wrongly judged that the regime wouldfall within weeks, or else because they wanted regimechange in Syria, despite their experiences in Afghanistanand Iraq, and without any clear idea of what a successorregime would look like. Saudi Arabia, with other GulfStates and Jordan sought to topple Iran’s only Arab ally; anunintended consequence of US and British invasion of Iraqin 2003 and its disastrous postwar management had beento exacerbate Saudi paranoia over the threat from Iran, andcreate the nightmare of an Iran-led Shia bloc from Tehranto Beirut. Turkey’s President Erdogan, dependent onIslamist support, was also committed as he saw Asad asproviding refuge and support for his Kurdish militantopposition. These regional players therefore backed theSyrian opposition with money, arms and transit facilities,while foreign fighters, mostly Sunni jihadists, supplementedthe Syrian military groups who deserted to oppose theregime. Whatever the horrors of the resulting proxy warover the dead bodies of the Syrian people, concern overviolation of human rights played little part in drawing upthe battle lines in 2011.

Past experience in Iraq and Afghanistan meant thatneither Britain nor the US were prepared to intervene withtheir own forces in Syria. They relied on support for the‘Free Syrian Army’ and other ‘moderate’ forces to do thejob. Their Saudi and other friends were less scrupulous andpoured resources into Islamist groups, some linked to AlQaeda. Meanwhile in Iraq, ISIS, aka Da’eish, thrived onSunni reaction against Iranian backed Baghdad, and gotfunding from Gulf supporters and oil sales from territory itcontrolled in Eastern Syria and Iraq. On the other side, theSyrian regime enlisted direct military engagement by

Hizbullah forces from Lebanon, and from Iran. Fortunesfluctuated, neither side could gain decisive military victoryand the country was destroyed. Only the Kurds got somesatisfaction, extending their own local control and therebyclaim to future autonomy.

In this bloody stalemate peacemaking efforts founderedon the determination of the Opposition and its Arab andWestern backers that Asad’s departure was a preconditionto negotiations. The regime would not concede since it wasnot defeated. Da’eish, however, was increasingly seen as awider threat, including, ultimately to the Western friendlyArab Monarchies, and the US began to edge toward a morenuanced position that Asad’s departure might be delayed.The Saudis and Turkey remained unreconciled tocompromise and the killing continued.

Russia throughout had given support to the regime,their only ally in the region. Syria gives Russia navalfacilities and some leverage to block US efforts to reorderthe Arab world to suit its interests. After Ukraine, the crisisaffords an opportunity to show Russia cannot beunderestimated. Russia also shares the West’s fear ofDa’eish’s global reach. When Putin committed full Russianair intervention, in contrast with Western half-heartedengagement, he broke the stalemate, ensured that Asadcould not be defeated, and enabled serious bilateralnegotiation with the US that could eventually lead to aneffective ceasefire, the destruction of Da’eish in Syria andIraq, major international efforts to rebuild Syria, and, atthe end of the process, an opportunity for the Syrian peopleto have their say on the future of their country.

It is a long shot. The risks are appalling. Betweensubmission of this text and its publication, much will havechanged. I do not know whether Syria can survive as aunitary State, though I am sure the West should not try tobreak it up.

And if Donald Trump is the next Presidentof the USA? Don’t even ask.

The Syrian TragedySir Roger Tomkys

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Sir Roger Tomkys was Masterfrom 1992 to 2004 – a period oftransformation for Pembrokewith the building of FoundressCourt and the Libraryextension, initiation of theDevelopment Programme,growth of Internationalprogrammes, increase inGraduate and Fellowshipnumbers and greatly improvedundergraduate results. He readClassics at Balliol College,Oxford, before entering theDiplomatic Service. He servedin Jordan, Libya, Athens andRome as well as Londonpostings, and as Ambassador inBahrain and Damascus, and asHigh Commissioner in Nairobi.

^

Ibegan to study the then European Communities in 1973when I was briefly in the Foreign & CommonwealthOffice. I have continued to research and teach on the

subject ever since in think-tanks and in Cambridge,receiving a Jean Monnet chair in Political Science in 1996.It is perhaps not surprising, then, that I am a passionatesupporter of remaining in the EU. When in Brussels, I haveoften been accosted by bewildered colleagues wonderingwhy we should be having an In/Out referendum. Notsimply has English become the dominant language in theEU, but much more decision-making, whatever the rules, ison the basis of consensus among member governments, andthe EU has sought a more open policy towards the globaleconomic system and often a proactive foreign policy topromote European/British values about the rule of law andhuman rights. In reality, we have a referendum in order tolet Mr Cameron off the hook in the face of divisions withinthe Conservative Party – just as Harold Wilson led us intothe first referendum back in 1975 to dish his Euroscepticsin the Labour Party.

We must now vote on an issue of fundamentalimportance to the UK’s and Europe’s future. Every votecounts – a potential problem for the Remain camp since,according to the polls, those more likely to be in favour ofremaining (younger, and better educated) are less likelyactually to vote than those wishing to leave. The numberof undecided voters remains high, many saying they wantmore reliable information. Whether they get it is a seriousproblem, given that so much of the media continue to pickup the fag-ends of debates in Brussels (few British nationaldailies have journalists there) and follow any Euroscepticremark made in Westminster. A steady drip of Euroscepticeditorialising has become the norm.

The issues on which the vote centres (this is written inMarch) revolve around questions of sovereignty, migration,

security and alternatives to membership. Sovereignty for the Leave camp

seems largely to be aboutundemocratic rule

from Brussels,

the infamous ‘faceless bureaucrats’ – presumably theunknown faces in Whitehall have the advantage of beingour unknown faces. Yet Brussels doesn’t imposeregulations. The British government, voting in the Council,was on the winning side (according to work done at theLondon School of Economics) over 97% of the time during2004-09 and nearly 87% from 2009 to 2015. These voteswere usually on trade, industry, environment, transport,EMU and internal market policies – extensive but limited.Indeed, the House of Commons Library has estimated thatlittle more than 13 per cent of our legislation derives fromBrussels. Moreover, unbeknown to most because the mediararely cover it, the European Parliament – which we electdirectly – has become co-legislator on most of these issues.In 2014 it elected the President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, since his party gained more votes in the lastEuropean elections. It’s not quite our own majoritariansystem but nor is it undemocratic.

Fears of migration have often been tied to issues ofsecurity – whether in terms of controlling borders againstpotential terrorists or the impact of EU migrants on publicservices. Certainly, Europe faces a deep humanitarian crisisin dealing with those fleeing war and persecution in Syria,Iraq, Libya or Afghanistan, and economic migrants fromelsewhere in Asia or Africa seeking a better life. While mostmember states, including the UK, recognise this as aEuropean crisis, they have nearly all adopted nationalmeasures that undermine any Europe-wide solution. As forborder controls, since Britain is not part of the Schengengroup, the Border Agency retains strict controls, checkingpassports against databases for criminals or suspectedcriminals.

As for EU nationals, relatively few claim benefits in thefirst couple of years after arrival and they make significanttax contributions. There is no evidence that the UK’s benefitsystem attracts migration. And with an ageing populationwe actually need migrants to do the work that Brits oftendon’t want to do – or rather damningly don’t have thequalifications to do.

The alternatives to EU membership are hugelycomplicated, stretching from the ‘Norwegian’ model (accessto the Single market via the European Economic Area butat the cost of accepting EU regulations without having asay in the decision-making process and contributing to theEU’s budget), a ‘Swiss’ model (some 150 different bilateralagreements which need to be changed as the EU changes itspolicies and regulations as well as entailing contributionsto the EU budget), through to a ‘WTO’ model allowing freetrade in goods. Any free trade agreement with the EUwould come at a price, especially if we wanted to includeservices where we are strong. We would also have torenegotiate all the trade agreements signed by the EU with,say, China, Canada and others and cannot expect to carrythe same weight in those new negotiations.

Finally, the costs of membership are nothing like thefigures bandied about by Eurosceptics which fail to takeaccount the UK’s rebate. In 2014, Britain’s actual paymentbased on data published by the Office for NationalStatistics was £14.7 billion, equivalent to £4.40 per personper week according to Iain Begg at the UK in a ChangingEurope. And if a ‘Brexit’ is what happens we will still haveto support our farmers and poorer regions.

I hope we remain in the EU. The continued well-beingof both Britain and Europe depend on it.

In? Out? Shake It All About? Geoffrey Edwards on the UK’s forthcoming referendum on EU Membership

Geoffrey Edwards is a SeniorFellow and Emeritus Reader inEuropean Studies in theDepartment of Politics andInternational Studies in theUniversity of Cambridge. He isalso an Emeritus Fellow ofPembroke. He has heldresearch posts at the Foreign &Commonwealth Office,Chatham House and elsewhere.He specialises in the EuropeanUnion, its institutions and itsforeign and security policies.

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Cambridge and change are not always the best offriends. When it comes, change is sometimes slowand difficult. To be fair, it has taken society as a

whole a long time to acknowledge problems with attitudesand practices surrounding mental health. Thankfully,current levels of advocacy and awareness-raising for theentire mental illness ‘spectrum’ are very positive. As a result,changes are on the horizon for our language, ourexpectations for productivity and stamina, our employmentand admission practices, and for service-funding within andwithout the NHS.

To the surprise of some and the relief of many,Cambridge’s efforts to support student mental health areon par with the outside world. Cambridge is an institutionbased on the pursuit of excellence and innovation: it owesit to itself to lead the charge.

At Pembroke, our welfare structure is based on thestandard Cambridge model that comprises Tutors,Directors of Studies, and Senior Tutor all working togetherto support the academic progress and mental welfare ofstudents. We are blessed to have the exceptionally warmand experienced Jan Brighting offering support as CollegeNurse in addition to our Tutor for Graduate Affairs,Loraine Gelsthorpe, who is a trained psychotherapist. Our students are also served by Welfare Officers from theJunior and Graduate Parlour Committees, who do anexcellent job of advocating for students on Collegecommittees and running events designed to foster mentalwell-being.

On the whole, this pastoral system works well. NewTutors receive some training – including from the UniversityCounselling Service – and many academics involved inpastoral care go above and beyond the call of their duty.Most academics are themselves under significant pressure,though, in having to juggle teaching, administration, andresearch along with the needs of their students. Thus, in thedelicate situations that sometimes arise due to mental illness– such as the need for a student to intermit swiftly – it issometimes difficult for academics to respond quickly or toreschedule other commitments. This means that in additionto the guidance developed by University bodies such as theSenior Tutors’ Committee, adequate mental health andwelfare support for academics is also essential.

The most recent update to Pembroke’s welfare system wasthe College’s participation in a pilot ‘Mindfulness’ courseduring Michaelmas and Lent last academic year. This involveda small number of Pembroke students attending a two-hour-per-week ‘Mindfulness’ course as part of a study for a three-year research trial run through the University CounsellingService. As at other colleges participating in the trial, thecourse was very well received by the Pembroke participants.Several of these students have now established the ‘CambridgeMindfulness Society’, which is currently comprised ofprevious trial participants in order not to bias the results ofthe study. When the findings of the study have been publishedthe Society intends to open itself up to all students.

Last academic year also saw a highly positive studentcampaign for mental health support in College. ThePembroke Leavers of 2015 decided to raise money tosupport the mental health of their fellow students, and weresuccessful in doing so. The Leavers have also contributedto the cost of various self-help and study-skills books whichare available in the College Library.

Pembroke’s welfare system places us towards the leadingedge of the College pack. Having a smaller student bodythan colleges like King’s and Trinity means better contactwith welfare officers and fewer students per tutor and (forundergraduates) per DoS. Relative to student numbers,Pembroke also has a fair amount and accommodation inCollege and nearby (although we can currently house only65% of graduates), and that helps to reduce the stress ofstudents finding and financing convenient accommodation.On that score, if more College accommodation isestablished with the development of the Mill Lane site itwill be an added boon.

There is, of course, always room for improvement.Leading the way in providing mental health support for itsstudents is the University’s Medical School. Amongst othermeasures, medical students are assigned a school-specificTutor and have access to a rapid-referral psychiatrist. Whilemedical students have a particularly demanding course, itis increasingly obvious that academia in general can take agreat toll on mental health – especially since mental illnessesmost commonly emerge between the ages of 18-30.Continual awareness and innovation will be required tofulfil the purpose of Pembroke and the University moregenerally: to nurture and stimulate the great minds of thefuture; to create an environment in which students can learnand grow in such a way that they will continue to flourishonce they leave.

Mens Sana In Collegio Sano! Advancing Mental- H Courtney Landers (2013) offers a student perspective

Courtney Landers (2013) iscurrently in the third year of aPhD in the Department ofPathology, investigating thegenetic inheritance of post-natal mental illness. When notin the lab or writing for studentmedia about mental health,she spends most of her timemucking about on the Camwith PCBC’s women’s side.

The University Counselling Service student team

Géraldine Dufour is the Head ofCounselling at the University ofCambridge. She oversees theprovision of psychological supportfor the collegiate university, andleads a large team of counsellors,CBT therapists, mindfulnessteacher and mental healthadvisors. She is the outgoing Chairof the Heads of UniversityCounselling Services (HUCS), andis the strategy advisor on theexecutive committee for British

Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy Universities & CollegesDivision. Additionally, Géraldine has been a member on a number ofnational committees related to student mental health and wellbeing.

9

Health Support in Pembroke and the University

Pembroke has an unusually large team of 16undergraduate and graduate tutors; they meetregularly to share concerns and good practice,

including occasional discussions about listening skills andhow best to contain student anxiety. Tutors are carefullychosen by the Senior Tutor (being a tutor isn’t somethingthat everyone would want to do and not something thateveryone can do!).

Tutors are not counsellors, so alongside the Tutors, JPand GP welfare officers, and the College Nurse, there arethree counsellors working in College each week duringterm. All three also have some capacity to continue to seestudents out of term, which is particularly important forgraduates – whose main base may be in Cambridge. ChrisRowland and I are UKCP registered ‘psychoanalyticalpsychotherapists’. Ruth Cocksedge is a chartered andregistered counselling psychologist and an accredited CBTtherapist. In practice, our work is very similar; we may alluse CBT techniques to some extent, but also more opencounselling.

The Pembroke counselling team views itself as ‘back up’to the University Counselling Service, particularly in termsof the length of time that we can see people. Sometimes weknow that students have a mental health condition rightfrom the start and so we can offer support counsellingthroughout those students’ time here. We try to offerparticular support to students who have intermitted – ifthey want it. We also offer weekend or late nightintervention in cases of crisis.

The mental health challenges experienced can rangefrom bi-polar conditions to attachment problems promptedby earlier traumatic experiences. The most commonproblems that we seek to help students cope with includeparental disharmony, family terminal illness, bereavement,homesickness, relationship problems, supervisorybreakdown (which is very rare), and loneliness. In otherwords, the Pembroke community reflects normalcommunity life with all its mix of strains and stresses. Atthe same time, student life in Cambridge presents particularchallenges, and uncertain futures can mean that the timein Cambridge generates extreme anxiety. Bright studentsare sometimes concerned about not ‘fitting in’ or ‘feelingdifferent’. Academic pursuits allow them to retreat from asocial world that leaves them feeling incompetent, into amore comfortable world of abstraction or virtual reality.This leads to an internalized imperative to be ‘special’ andto excel – sometimes to the extent that a sense of‘specialness’ becomes a primary source of self-worth.Acceptance then means being the best, while anything moremodest is seen as ‘total failure’.

Counselling work in Pembroke can thus revolve aroundhelping people negotiate the social world and adjust self-perception, as well as helping them deal with the challengesof more independent living than many are used to. AsCourtney has emphasised in her piece, support forUniversity ‘Mindfulness’ initiatives and alertness to theneed to foster and promote resilience both feature here inthe College’s thinking and practice.

It is fair to say that except perhaps to the eye of some ofits students, Cambridge is among the front-runners interms of the breadth and depth of support available

in general to university students. Complementing thecomprehensive welfare support provided by the colleges, theUniversity Counselling Service is one of the largest in thecountry. Support is available to students with many differentneeds, from those who are experiencing debilitating stress tothose with mental health illnesses. Increasingly we are alsofocusing on prevention by running workshops and groupson a wide range of issues, including ‘Developing Self-Compassion’ and ‘Surviving Cambridge for GraduateStudents’. We have started to provide Mindfulness on a largescale, reaching out to up to 210 students a term. As far aswe know, this is the largest provision of Mindfulness coursesto university students anywhere. In parallel with theprovision of support, we are collaborating with theDepartment of Psychiatry to study the impact ofMindfulness on student resilience through a large randomcontrol-trial, researching the validity of our intervention anddeveloping the evidence base for student support.

Working for a world-leading institution puts pressureon staff and students alike and however comprehensive thesupport provided, it sometimes seems to have little impacton the perception of some students and staff. Support byits very nature is limited, which can be frustrating. It seemsthat with regard to mental health as with anything else inCambridge, it can be hard to judge what is ‘good enough’.Learning to develop a more realistic sense of expectationis often part of the therapeutic encounter. This does notmean that the Counselling Service can become complacent,as of course there is much to gain from listening to theexperience of its users. However, we need to think carefullyabout what we do in relation to what we learn.

Although it is important to liaise with students tounderstand their needs and adapt our responses, withregard to mental health issues it not always the best tolisten to the ‘customer’. For instance, most professionals inthe field would argue that a model that allows all studentsto access psychiatric help on demand is not in fact helpful.Students mostly face emotional and developmental issuesthat need to be worked through. It is often the case thatlearning to deal with the issue is the better solution forlong-term benefits. So when students access our services,we will assess if they require further help and we will thendirect them to see a psychiatrist only if this is needed.

Loraine Gelsthorpe became aFellow in 1994, and has beenTutor for Graduate Affairs since2003. She is Professor ofCriminology and CriminalJustice and Deputy Director ofthe Institute of Criminology, aswell as being Director of theCambridge ESRC DoctoralTraining Centre across thesocial sciences, and nationalPresident of the British Societyof Criminology.

Loraine Gelsthorpe, Fellow, Tutor forGraduate Affairs, and CollegeCounsellor, gives her perspective

Géraldine Dufour’s perspective asHead of University CounsellingService

10

How many years will you have worked at Pembrokeon retirement?

Nearly forty! I started here on 29th November 1976 andretired on 31st March 2016.

What are the different roles you’ve done in that time?

My first role was Chef Manager. I had a hard act to follow,as the person I took over from was much revered withinCambridge University and throughout England as a top chefand catering judge at events such as Hotelympia where heexcelled with his royal icing modelling. After a few years Iwas made Catering Manager and so I was more able to moveforward with Conferences, Summer Schools, Dinners etc.Over the next few years I changed positions to Conferenceand Catering Manager, then to Conference and EventsManager, the position I had until my retirement on 31stMarch 2016.

Describe a typical day in your last role

Usually at my desk by 5am for a spot of emailing beforetalking to the Duty Night Porter to see if events the nightbefore had gone well. Then throughout the day I’d be doinga multitude of tasks: e.g., bills, updating functions, meetingcustomers, checking event set-ups, etc. I’ve always felt it’sbeneficial talking directly to people, as you see their bodylanguage.

What are the main changes you’ve seen in the College?

I’ve slowly seen Pembroke move up the ladder to a topposition in Cambridge University due to the hard work of allpersons involved within the college. The college is now wellknown for virtually everything: academic prowess, gardens,chapel, catering and for being a kind and friendly place tobe.

What’s the funniest or strangest thing you’ve witnessed here?

Many years ago, a member of staff came to my office whichwas in the kitchen at the time to say some gentlemen hadarrived in the Hall for a ‘Wedding Breakfast.’ My firstreaction was to check my bookings diary, but I found no suchevent there. When I went into the Hall I found ten gentlemenin morning suits asking where to go for their meal. I lookedfrom them to the member of staff who was there and askedif this was a joke or Candid Camera but there was nolaughter, only serious faces. Eventually we found out thisgroup of gentlemen should have been at Pembroke College,Oxford. I felt so sorry for them and was much relieved thatI’d not made a mistake!

What are your fondest memories of your time here?

One of my fondest memories is the Chancellor of CambridgeUniversity’s Luncheon I organised on the Library Lawn afterthe Congregation for the conferment of Honorary Degreesat the Senate House on 12th June 1986. It took long, hardplanning but we were blessed with a beautiful day and it allwent off well. When the Chancellor, the Duke of Edinburgh,left the College I was presented to him, and he thanked meand all the staff for a beautiful luncheon.

Without naming names, what student antic sticks most inyour mind?

Many years ago a new walnut tree was planted in the middleof the lawn in Old Court ... but overnight it was moved to apot on the landing of LL1! Later another tree was planted,but again overnight it disappeared ... only to be found laterat 10 Selwyn Gardens. A short time elapsed before anothertree was planted, this one survived until it was taken down afew years ago.

How important has Pembroke House been to you?

Pembroke House has always been very special from my firstyear at Pembroke, as we used to have the Pembroke HousePensioners down for the day, giving them coffee, lunch andafternoon tea. During the afternoon the Dean would recruitour students to entertain them with a punt trip and guidedtour. I’ve kept attending Pembroke House functions over theyears and was very pleased to be invited to the re-opening ofPembroke House / St Christopher’s Church. Hopefully I’llcontinue to attend some of the functions there.

What things will you miss most about the College?

EVERYTHING!! – you see it’s never difficult to do a jobwhen you enjoy it; it becomes more a way of life.

What things will you miss the least?

Seeing bad weather from my office and the hours ofdarkness.

What’s your proudest achievement here?

Through a kindly ‘Pembrokian’ my family and I were invitedtwice to the Queen’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. It’smore a fond memory, but an achievement to be the first inmy family to go there.

How will you be spending your time in retirement?

I’ll not be changing my routine a great deal in the first year; I’ll continue to rise early, see the sun rise, and go to bed as and when I feel ready to. I’ll be spending more quality time with my family, doinggardening, and spending time at my caravanin Heacham (on the Norfolk coast) where I hope to do kayaking and sea fishing. I’m looking forward to having the chance to decide when and if I wantto do something – possibly for the first timein my life!

Catering to Fond MemoryKen Smith recently retired as Pembroke’s Conference and Events Manager. Knowing howmuch he likes a good form, the Martlet editor sent him a retirement questionnaire...

Ken Smith recently retired asPembroke’s Conference andEvents Manager

11

The aesthetic qualities of rowing are not alwaysforemost in rowers’ minds. A winter training sessionmay begin in icy darkness – frost building on the kit

of the crewmate ahead – and finish with a striking iridescentdawn; in summertime, the warm afternoon air, the lightbreeze and the rhythm of a long training piece can have adeliciously hypnotic effect. Despite these vivid physicalsensations, a College rower will inevitably look beyond thesituation at hand to an anticipated moment: those fewadrenaline-fuelled seconds following the cannon blast (whatelse?) that signals the start of any Bumps race for a longprocession of boats.

It’s not just the booming cannon that makes oarsmenand oarswomen nervous: the unique format of Bumps –with its unpredictability and desperate battling at closequarters – makes for thrilling racing that is stressful evenfor seasoned College rowers. This is undoubtedly whatmakes success even more exhilarating. Emma Carter, three-seat of the first women’s crew, describes the euphoriafollowing the bump on Caius on the last day of Lents 2016,when W1 won their ‘blades’: ‘We had one of our best starts– we were flying. When the bump came, we literally roared.The river was clear behind us, but in any other situation wewould have been fined. Afterwards, we cycled back toCollege with the PCBC flag in V-formation, singing Angelsand One Day More!’

We are living through a period of marked success for theBoat Club. As well as the first women’s blades, for instance,there is the men’s first boat, which finished last year’s Maysin second position on the river. Success is the result of anumber of factors. As Stijn de Graaf, the Men’s Captain,points out, the Club supports the development of athletesextremely well. Three PCBC rowers represented Cambridgevictoriously in the men’s lightweight race against Oxford,and one is in the reserve team in the men’s heavyweight

squad. Most of them came into their own asrowers at Pembroke. The dedication of

senior rowers and the example of their discipline in training

provides inspiration tonewer members of theClub, and a clear pathto participation at a higher level,resulting in amarked depthof talent. ‘Thelower boatsare really

keen’, comments Stijn, ‘and there is constant selectionpressure. Almost every year there are novices who make itinto the first boat.’

Raw enthusiasm seems to be the predominant emotionin the PCBC. This is indicative of a distinct ‘Pembroke’culture, recognizable to rowers from previous generations,and it reflects a special continuity of spirit that is embracedand remade by each successive generation. For example, itis normal for PCBC alumni to come back and coach crews,in particular in the lead up to Mays. Current members thusbenefit from alumni experience and gain a palpable senseof what a special place the Club has held in their lives.‘Alumni understand the Pembroke mentality’, says Emma;‘When they say they wish they were here, it makes youappreciate how lucky you are to be here.’

Back to the task at hand, and, for the men, thepreoccupation is unfinished business from last Mays. Aftera streak of three bumps in three days, the odds were onPembroke winning Men’s Headship. Cruelly, a freakcrabbing upset allowed an extremely lucky Caius crew toget away on the final day. The task now is to use the strongemotions from last year to good effect in the lead-up to thisyear’s Mays campaign. Meanwhile, on the women’s sidethere is clear enthusiasm to build on the success of Lents,despite a reluctance to predict what might happen in thesummer (‘Let’s not jinx it!’). There will be a large numberof trialists for all crews – another sign of the Club’s rudehealth.

The alumni who return to visit and coach us impartsome sense of what rowing has meant to them, but themembers of earlier generations make their presence felt too.It is impossible to row at Pembroke and not feel part of along and highly distinguished history. Getting changed atthe Pembroke Boat House, you see the names of themembers of past Pembroke crews on the wall, a good manywith the words ‘Head of the River’ engraved alongsidethem. I have personally always felt keenly aware of the oarmarking Pembroke’s win of the Grand Challenge Cup in1935 – the main event at the Henley Royal Regatta, perhapsone of the most prestigious trophies in rowing. The fact thatthis oar and others like it sometimes provide a handyhanging rack for odd bits of kit only reinforces the feelingof intimacy with history.

As Pembroke rowers, we aim to leave something behind,contributing to the marks of success on name boards andmaking sure that the Boat House brims with artefacts ofdistinction: oars, photographs and other historicalmemorabilia. But what we’ll take away perhaps has moreto do with the accumulation of those frosty dawns andsunny afternoons: the honour of sharing a journey with along line of oarsmen and women who got out of bed,

trained hard and long – and did their best.

Sing Me a RiverTom Zawisza (2008) on the thriving Pembroke College Boat Club

Tom Zawisza (2008) iscurrently finishing his PhD ineconomics at Pembroke and isa Royal Economic SocietyFellow at the Faculty ofEconomics. His researchfocuses on questions ofoptimal taxation and socialinsurance programs. He holds aBA in Philosophy, Politics andEconomics from Oxford, and anMPhil in Economics fromCambridge. He rowed for themen's first boat in 2013 and2014.

The law of unintended consequences often leaves uswith other, less pleasantly named laws to face. Inresponse to one or two examples of bad practice in

the charity sector, legislation is being introduced which, ifenacted as it currently stands, will radically threaten theway that all charities raise funds from UK citizens andresidents. In particular, the mass-mailing of members of thepublic, the passing-on of data via commercial organisationsand the cynical targeting of people who are not in a fitmental state to make philanthropic distinctions or decisionshas been deplorable, dishonourable and oftencounterproductive. When these practices were loominglarge in the public consciousness last summer, we spoke toour student callers during their comprehensive and carefultraining to assure them that what they were being asked todo was very different, practically and ethically.

My colleagues and I are aware that not everyoneappreciates the way Pembroke and other educationalinstitutions go about their business in raising funds. Formany, merely being asked for support is felt to be anintrusion in their lives. Many others enjoy the interactionwith the students on the phone, or with me and mycolleagues as we try to ensure that we reach anunderstanding about their generosity for the College. Inways that are for some very different from twenty yearsago, when I first came to Cambridge, the process of givingto Pembroke has become much more the product of arelationship and a dialogue. In 1994 we wrote many moreletters than we do now. Yet we rarely use email to asksomeone for a gift unless they may simply be renewing orrestarting their support, or for our Reunion Givingprogramme. Emails have become depersonalised and do notrepresent adequately the way in which Members shouldthink of how they engage with the College from the pointof admission to the point of their last encounters withPembroke. Most of our approaches are via the phone andin many cases, via phone then in person.

The Fundraising Preference Service (FPS) legislation, asit is currently framed, will prevent this kind of informeddialogue from taking place. From an unspecified date in thesummer, the FPS will give people an opportunity to ‘opt out’of all charity fundraising communication (letter, phone,email) forever, in one go. It is not yet known whether it willbe possible for someone to identify specific charities or

types of charity that can be exemptfrom their embargo, but the

measure is neverthelessdraconian. Under

the envisaged

circumstances, Pembroke will be highly reliant on donorsor potential donors informing the College proactively thatthey are happy for someone from Pembroke to ask themfor money. Once someone has registered with FPS, evenasking a Pembroke person if it is then, or in the future, okayfor the College to ask them will be regarded as a fundraisingapproach and could thus be in breach of the regulation.

Charities in the education sector, along with other‘membership’-type charitable organisations have protestedthat for years, decades even, they have built relationshipswith alumni with varying results in terms of fundscontributed. For me and my many colleagues over time, andwe trust for Pembroke Members themselves, this has for themost part been a really positive experience. We aredelighted to welcome so many benefactors to variousfunctions during the year and to have the opportunity thatthese events provide to hear advice and to explain what weare trying to achieve.

At Pembroke, if someone says that s/he does not wishto give, ever, this is respected and our system is adjusted forthat person accordingly. Some other colleges arecontemplating taking the view that alongside all theinvitations mailed comes the right to ask (not to expect,simply to ask) once in a while for financial support. Wehave not yet taken such a view, but we understand why theyhave. As charities, they, we, ask because we do nototherwise have the funds to provide the environment tosupport the students who need financial aid, or to recruitand retain the world-leading academics to research andteach without philanthropy. These are times whenresponsibility for the funding of much of Higher Educationhas been transferred from the state to undergraduates andbenefactors, with the inevitable consequences thatprospective students make choices about universities,courses and careers that their forbears were not so restrictedin making.

There is also a limited number of people who care:9,000 living Pembroke alumni, 2,500 members of thePembroke College Circle – we could not realistically appeal,before or after the establishment of the FPS, to anyone else.To achieve what we need to ensure that Pembrokemaintains its standards and its traditions of welcome andmutual support, we need to keep raising money and weneed, therefore, to keep asking – we hope you understand.

The proposed FPS legislation comes at a critical time –cuts in public funding increase the need for charities to ‘stepin’, yet their work is made harder in the same swing of theaxe. Pembroke is not exempt. Our forthcoming campaignseeks to raise in the region of £70-£75 million to providean enhanced and interconnected college environment in theheart of the University and city, with extraordinary living-,

study-, teaching- and research-facilities to make the livesof Pembroke people, formerly-resident, currently-resident and still-to-be-resident, among the most

enviable in Cambridge and an inspiration forthe best and brightest to come here. The

Dolby family has made this possibleand we will be so grateful if you

can help us to complete thetask.

12

‘Charity suffereth long’Matthew Mellor, Director of Development, reflects on how proposedlegislation could affect charity fundraising

13

1947H. A. Willingston, who tellsme he celebrated his 90thbirthday in 2015, is glad tonote that the College‘flourishes, and no doubtwill continue to flourish.’

1951David Trump writes, ‘A smartsuburban street at Naxxaron that island is named TriqProfessor Arthur Arberry. Iam told that a scruffy alley inthe hamlet of Zebbiegh isshortly to be labelled TriqProfessor [sic.] David Trump!’

1956Barrie Cross writes, ‘Ithought it was about timethe Pembroke flag was ofthe month. My new addresswill be: I, Impasse du SaintEsprit, 62130 St. Pol-sur-Ternoise France.’

1968Neil Thornton writes: ‘Afteran engineering degree atPembroke and a variedcareer in the Civil Service, Ihave gone back touniversity, on the MA courseat Birkbeck College, London.Writing on my retirement in2014 in Defra’s housemagazine, I recalled thatabove all my Civil Servicecareer had been fun – hard

work too, and sometimesstressful, but fun.’ Neil hadespecially relished thechallenges that came withthe ‘elusive search for the“public interest”, with morecriteria, more degrees ofargumentative freedom,than the arithmetic of thecommercial bottom line.’ Heis now picking up a long-running spare-time interestin philosophy. Following asummer taster on 20th-century philosophy at theCity Literary Institute, he is inthe second year of a part-time MA at Birkbeck, mixingday and evening study.Topics this year include thephilosophy of action,Nietzsche and thephilosophy of fiction, taughtby academics ofinternational standing. Neilrecommends anyoneretiring to take up theacademic baton again: ‘It’s abrilliant change, quite asstimulating as my career, butbeholden to no-one.’

Tim Cloudsley writes withcontact information: ‘This ismy website as a writer,sociologist, and poet:www.timcloudsley.com’

On 12 September, theChurchwardens of StMatthew's KensingtonOlympia, Fraser Steel (1968)and Noel Manns (1977)welcomed as celebrant andpreacher the Rt Rev. PeterWheatley (1969). Are thereany other instances of aPembroke bishop beingwanded in by two Pembrokechurchwardens?

Jem Poster, formerlyProfessor of Creative Writingat Aberystwyth University,took early retirement fromAberystwyth in 2012 inorder to make more time forhis own writing, but has also

taken on a new role asprogramme advisor toCambridge University’s MStin Creative Writing and, inconnection with this, hasbeen elected to an AffiliatedLectureship with theUniversity’s Institute ofContinuing Education. TheMSt, now in its third year, is atwo-year part-time degreetaught through one-to-onesupervisions and a series offour-day residencies at theInstitute’s headquarters atMadingley Hall. Jem is alsoProgramme Director of theInstitute’s Summer School inCreative Writing, and isDirector of AcademicProgrammes for the OxfordLiterary Festival.

1973David Beck writes, ‘Despiteretiring from the Police in2006, I am still involved inthe field of hostagenegotiation and recentlymarked 25 years’ continuousinvolvement in thediscipline both aspractitioner (I was a leadnegotiator at the AfghanAirways hijack at Stansted in2000, to date the lastterrorist related hostagetaking on UK soil) andtrainer. As well as trainingpolice forces around theworld – most recently inBrunei and Cyprus – I keepbusy by deliveringcommunication skillstraining to businesses andthe wider community frommy home in Whitby. (Email:d.beck@tesco.net)’

1979Nick Watt tells me that afterspending his final threeyears in the Army at theDefence Academy as amilitary lecturer on theApplied BattlespaceTechnology Mastersprogramme, he has retired

to Pembrokeshire. He iscurrently a boat buildingstudent at MITEC in MilfordHaven in preparation forsetting up on his own as abuilder and repairer ofwooden boats.

1980Chris England writes: ‘Mynovel, The Fun Factory, waspublished last year by OldStreet, and comes out inpaperback in the spring. It isset in the years before theFirst World War, when ayoung Charlie Chaplin andmy narrator Arthur Dandoewere rival comedians in theFred Karno company,touring the nation’s musichalls. It features a section setin an unnamed Cambridgecollege, but I am sure thegeography will be all toofamiliar. I am putting thefinishing touches to asecond volume called TheBoxcar of Fun, in which thesame characters havefurther adventures inAmerican vaudeville, andthat should be published inthe spring also. Then I planto complete the trilogy witha silent movie story. The playthat I wrote twenty fiveyears ago with Arthur Smith,An Evening with Gary Lineker,is being revived next year to

From the GossipEditorI have used the form of nameswith which letters have beensigned, and have throughoutomitted titles. The date aboveeach entry is the date ofmatriculation.

N.B.When sending in news (180 words maximum please!),do indicate your matriculationdate, and, if possible, that ofother Old Members youmention.

Gossip should preferably besent by email to:cgw20@cam.ac.uk

Alternatively, send by post to: Colin WilcocksonPembroke CollegeCambridge, CB2 1RF

Notification about publishedbooks should be sent to: Nick McBride The Editor Pembroke Annual GazettePembroke College Cambridge, CB2 IRF Or by email to him at:njm33@cam.ac.uk

With best wishes, Colin Wilcockson

Gossip

coincide with the Europeanfootball championships.Producers always seem tothink that this is a good idea,ignoring the fact that this isa time when their targetaudience are least likely towant to leave their livingroom and the telly, but still.In the meantime I havevarious other projects stuckin various pipelines, and amdoing what writers do if notbest then at least most –waiting to hear.’

1984Tom Shakespeare writes: ‘I am now teaching atNorwich Medical School. I am doing various researchprojects on disability in UKand in sub-Saharan Africa. I still do more talks in morefar flung locations than myenergy and domesticcommitments can copewith. My occasional BBCRadio talks reach morepeople at a lesser cost. And I am currently servingon the Nuffield Council onBioethics, pondering topicsincluding cosmetic surgery. My partner and I recently got a dog,Winston, partly tocompensate for the fact thatmy children are now inLondon and in their late

twenties. We also spend alot of time gardening. Suchis middle age!’

Roderick MacLeod writes, ‘Iconcluded ten challengingyears as parish minister ofHoly Trinity St Andrews witha three-year Doctor ofMinistry degree, throughPittsburgh TheologicalSeminary and AberdeenUniversity. The opportunityfor academic reflectionhelped prepare me for myreturn to the Isle of Skye anda new appointment to theparish of Strath & Sleat,which is replete withmajestic scenery and hasfour worshippingcommunities, as well ashosting the Gaelic Collegefor the University of theHighlands & Islands.’

1988James Wood now lives onBowen Island, BritishColumbia, with his wifeTania and son Robert. OldMembers in the area shouldfeel welcome to drop in andsay hello. (E-mail: jwwood09@googlemail.com)

1992Roger Tomkys (formerMaster) tells me: ‘PembrokeMembers looking for wintersunshine options may beinterested to know that Ishall be lecturing on a cruise in November withNoble-Caledonia on MSIsland Sky sailing fromSalalah in Oman throughthe Straits of Hormuz to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.Details are available frominfo@noble-caledonia.co.uk.’He comments that he hasnot cruised with N-C before but their relativelysmall ships have a goodreputation, the itinerary is fascinating, the weathershould be ideal, and

there are less securityworries than anywhere elsein the region. He andMargaret would bedelighted to find Pembrokefriends on board.

1995Daniel Bates has just beenappointed co-principal oboeof the Orchestra of the Ageof Enlightenment (residentorchestra at GlyndebourneOpera Festival), a post heholds alongside his principalpositions with the City ofLondon Sinfonia and theIrish Chamber Orchestra. Hisannual new communitymusic festival ‘FitzFest’(based in Fitzrovia, CentralLondon) has recentlyreceived the financialsupport of the Arts Councilof England and will takeplace in Summer 2016.(www.fitzfest.co.uk)

1996Esther Andrea Everett writes:‘I married Robin LeofwinDeitch (Clare College,matriculated 1995) inOctober 2010. Our daughter,Aurélie Lois Grace Deitchwas born on the 23rd March2013.’

Robert Specterman tells me:‘In January 2016 I wasappointed the PrincipalPrivate Secretary to theSecretary of State for Workand Pensions; at that pointthe Rt Hon Iain Duncan SmithMP; and, since 19 March2016, the Rt Hon StephenCrabb MP. Prior to thisappointment I was Head ofEU and international affairs inthe Department for Work andPensions following variouspositions held over a decade-long period in both HMTreasury and the EuropeanCommission.’

1997Andy Mydellton tells me: ‘Ifinally got married for thefirst time at the grand oldage of 62! I married my longterm partner, Myra Gabrillo,one of the original membersof the Pembroke Circle. ABlessing of the marriagetook place at St Paul’sCathedral. Anothercelebration came after sixyears of being chairman ofUNESCO’s AssociatedSchools Project Network,they asked me to join theirPanel of Experts.’

1998Kitty Hamilton (née James)tells me, ‘I finished my MSc inBiological Recording with theUniversity of Birminghamlast summer. I was shortlyafterwards appointed to theIndependent AgriculturalAppeals Panel, which hearsthe final stage in the appealsprocess against decisionsmade by the Rural PaymentsAgency and Natural England.The new role is in addition tomy main employment onthe family estate inLincolnshire. This springRoss and I have celebratedthe arrival of our daughterIris, a sister to William,Nicholas and Noah.’

1999Caroline (née Charlwood)and Nicholas Handley(Christ’s, 1999) are pleasedto announce the birth ofWilliam Thomas Handley, abrother to Amelia, on 8thFebruary 2016.

Aleksandra Jones (néeKoutny) and Justin Jones(both 1999) are pleased toannounce the birth of theirdaughter, Helena Florence,on 21st August 2015. Theirson, Leo, now three, isenjoying being a bigbrother.

Alex Marshall, whose recentbook Republic or Death!Travels in Search of NationalAnthems (Random House,2015) was recorded in thePembroke Gazette,comments in a letter to me,‘I was one of Pembroke’sfinal geography graduates,and clearly the studies I didthen helped pave the wayfor this book.’

2000Lynn Kaye (née Zanger-Nadis), who read OrientalStudies, writes: ‘I accepted anew job as assistantprofessor in the faculty ofNear Eastern Languages andCultures at the Ohio StateUniversity. I moved with my

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husband Alex Kaye(Peterhouse 1999) toColumbus Ohio, and he hasa job in the History Faculty. Ihave recently published anarticle about the socialchallenges facing youngscholars in late antiqueBabylonia as they tried tojoin the professionalhierarchy.’

Andrew Morris has beenelected Master of theWorshipful Company ofMusicians and will beinstalled on 11th November2015 at Merchant Taylors’Hall.

2003Isobel Clarke (née Arthur)and Ollie both matriculatedin 2003, and were married in2010. They report that theirson William John ArthurClarke was born on 10August 2015. Isobel tells me,‘He is a lovely relaxed littlechap; we are loving beingparents.’

2006Elgon Corner and LornaFairbairn (both 2006) weremarried in PembrokeCollege Chapel on 4th July2015. Scott Appleton, LisCusdin (née Dryden) andLuke Tamkin (all 2006) werebest man, bridesmaid andusher respectively. In total25 Pembroke alumni were inattendance.

Max Cohen writes, ‘I marriedAntonio Savorelli on 26October 2015 at city hall inCambridge, Massachusetts.’

2011Jeff Patmore (IndustrialFellow, Engineering DesignCentre, Department ofEngineering) writes:‘Messages from Space: 50years of thecommunications

revolution... When I retiredfrom industry and joinedPembroke College Ipromised myself that Iwould devote at least sometime to writing. During thelast ten years of my industrycareer I had written someshort articles that mycompany published, but Ifelt the writing could havebeen better. So here I amthree and a half years laterand one of my articlesseems to have hit the spot.With over 2,500 views onthe professional socialnetwork ‘Linkedin’ and manymessages of congratulationI seem to have achievedsome degree of success.Interestingly I could nothave written it in the past, asit looks at the world ofcommunications in 1965and now 50 years later, sobeing over 60, although notessential, proved to be veryuseful. (You can read it here:http://tinyurl.com/qj7cqem).

2013Richard Ned Lebow (Bye-Fellow) recently received anhonorary doctorate fromthe Panteion University inAthens, Greece. He has twobooks in press: NationalIdentifications andInternational Relations andDialogues with DeadThinkers. In December hewill complete fifty years ofuniversity teaching.

Two Sonnets

Our meddling intellectMisshapes the beauteous form of things;We murder to dissect. (Wordsworth The Tables Turned)

Hiding inside the library, her boltholeFrom deconstruct, dissect and analyse(All intellect without a feeling soul –Discovery without the wild surmiseOf Cortez on the vast Darienian peak).Drowning, she gasps for air, yet still she fearsThe suffocation of a world so bleakComposed of neither laughter nor of tears.Sinking into submission, in last gaspShe mutters prayers that mind may stay alive;The envious sliver breaks within her clasp, Creative longing struggles to survive.But she protests beneath this surgeon’s knifeAnd glimpses fleeting souls infused with life...

... Criseyde came to her rescue, weak Criseyde,Self-loathing and submissive to cruel Fate.So, too, the cynic Beatrice, begging aidRaging through love and simultaneous hate.Birds have flown in, transporting spirits, dartAs dark as Crow, or Nightingale’s bright sound,The unpremeditated Skylark-art,Better than treasures that in books are found.The spitfire Maggie, melancholy-singed, Brother-embracing in the swirling race.Words, fused with music and dark colours tinged,Convey the yielding mind through time and place.Triumphant banners to the winds unfurled,Stream through imagination’s brave new world.

Poet’s Corner

Colin Wilcockson (formerly Director of Studiesin English and ASNAC) publishes mainly onMedieval Literature. He also publishes poetry.Working in the library, he sometimes wonderswhether students around him may find that(as the Romantic poets warned) analyticaltheory can stifle the joy of literature. Thesupposed student in these interconnectedsonnets finds resolution of this dilemma.

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