Part III: Antarctica and Academe - Scott Polar Research Institute

clearly separated; that will make policy and strategic planning much clearer." In
November too the Vice-Master, Dr Geoffrey Cook wrote formally to ask me to stand
for election to the office of Master. He suggested that if I agreed I should come to the
College for lunch, then to meet the Fellows, individually and in groups of up to
three, to inspect the grounds and buildings, and to stay for dinner. Having accepted,
Simon wrote to say he would miss this occasion and characteristically urged me "not
to let our handful of reactionaries put you off!" Another warning! In the event I met
twelve of the Fellows on 4 December. It was clear that there was a division of
opinion on the principle of my election; in fact three of the Fellows told me that they
would resign if I were to be elected (and in the event one of them did).
The election procedure continued in the College and in January l985 I was elected
Master; the Articles call for a two-thirds majority of the fellows. I wrote to John
Bowman, at NERC, explaining the situation, saying,"the extent of the commitment is
less than I had thought. Basically in a year there are 11 meetings of the College
Council and 11 meetings of the Finance and General Purposes Committee. They are
held between 5.30 p.m. and dinner. There is a limited number of other evening
functions, mostly social.....They would like me to be a presence in the college for up
to half a day a week in term time and say twice in each vacation..." John replied
proposing a compromise, in view of developments within BAS, by deferring my
starting date with the College until 1 April l986. (Meanwhile I had other
responsibilities, and in the course of the negotiations, I had made a trip to the
Antarctic). After further negotiations this was agreed and the College formally gave
me leave of absence until 31 March 1986, although constitutionally I became Master
on 1 July l985. I would be informally involved with the College in the interval. I
received a formal letter of appointment from the Bursar; the salary was £5000 and
there was an expense account of £4000. In most Colleges there is a Master's Lodge,
often with house servants and gardeners which is a perk of the Head of House; St
Edmund's had no Lodge, but there was a small study and bedroom for the Master's
use - my predecessors had been catholic priests, without families and did not need
more. So the material rewards were hardly a consideration in my acceptance!
A notice was published in the Cambridge University Reporter and a Press release was
issued. Immediately Professor Nicholas Lash, Professor of Divinity in the University,
an ex-priest and former Dean of StEdmund's, resigned his Fellowship, accompanied
by headlines: "Election of 'atheist' Master rocks Catholic graduate college" in the
Catholic Herald, and "Storm rages around Antarctic appointee". John Coventry, S J,
the Master of St Edmund's wrote to the Catholic Herald to put the record straight,
pointing out that I was not an atheist, supporting the election, objecting to the term
"Catholic College" used in the piece, and saying that the College was "not the least bit
rocked" - but the Editor declined to publish his letter.
The other Fellows who had threatened to resign did not! I was formally inaugurated
by the Vice-Master as the eleventh Master of the College on 10 August. I made a
formal declaration as required by the Articles and in my inaugural speech, among
other points, I recognised that a minority of the Fellows had reservations about my
election and expressed regret that I had been the cause of a much publicised
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