In Aeternum, July 2009 Download PDF - Queen's College ...

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In Aeternum - July 2009
Master’s Report
Iam writing this his report the morning
after one of f the more extraordinary
days of my y time here as Master. If
since ce I returned from a three week
trip
to Southern Africa (where I did anot another
stint of teaching at the University of
you could have visited our site 24 hours Stellenbosch), we e hhave
experienced
ago and stood in the quad you wou would the month of May May, and what a month
have seen en a swarm of workers—staff,
it was! Unquestionably Unques the highlight
students (even ev though it is exam time) was the remarkable performance of the
and externals—all ls frantically labouring to four crews at the annual Regatta. Their
get the western te end of Eakins Hall, the success was astounding. Celebrations
area between en Eakins and South and the afterwards were spirited but in the
quad ready y for f the grand event planned circumstances reasonably measured
for 4.30pm. 0pm It was like an extreme make- (even if some members of the Senior
over programme pro on TV. But by 3pm the Common Room found the spoonbangs
miracle i had occurred. All was in readiness of more than twenty minutes a bit long).
and two hours later a crowd of more It was an unforgettable occasion. But
than one hundred visitors saw the new now the College is very quiet again,
facilities opened by Prof. David Penington. with all the students keeping their heads
After many years this long-neglected well down. The extent of their time-
part of Eakins Hall is back in use. The management skills will become apparent
view from the renovated Stafford room when the exam results are published in
in all directions is quite stunning. We
have had to be very patient, and there
July.
has been considerable disruption to the At the beginning of the year I assumed
College’s normal activities. But it is now another role, as Chair of the Heads of
all done and the College can boast new Colleges. For many years the twelve
and splendid state-of-the-art facilities. Colleges have worked together very
The opening has been one of the real closely, most importantly in the area
highlights of the year so far.
of admissions and inter-collegiate
competitions, but also in many other
Four months ago a group of 96 freshers domains. One of the most interesting
arrived at the College to be welcomed by aspects of the role is the increased
the 16 O’week leaders. A week later they contact that I now have with the
were joined by 112 returning students. University. Recently the Provost and
After some changes during summer Heads of Colleges committee (PaHoC)
break the student leadership, led by has been established to improve
President Lachlan Brennan and VP Matt consultation on matters of common
Morey took over the reins. It has been interest. This group proved invaluable
a real pleasure working together with when suddenly we had to confront the
them and the GC. The College settled possibility of a swine fl u epidemic (two
down quickly and until Easter life at the cases occurred at Queen’s, fortunately
College was relatively sedate. However, neither very serious).
Queen’s College The Wyvern Society Newsletter
The close contacts with the University
are invaluable now that the impact of
the Melbourne Model is being more and
more felt. There can be no doubt that
the radical changes which the University
has introduced constitute the greatest st
challenge that the College has faced ced for
many decades. This year for the e fi rst
time Queen’s had no fi rst year ar med medical
students. The most pressing g task tas we
have now is to prepare for r the
arrival
of the full-blown graduate e pro programme
in 2011. The success of the
building
projects which you will read rea more about
elsewhere in this magazine azin will be
absolutely crucial for this his process.
Lastly I have to report to you the very
disappointing event that ha took place in
mid-January. It was discovered sc that the
College’s Presiding chair, air in which the
Master sits at high table, e, was missing.
The chair has been in the he College’s
possession at least since e the t 1920’s and
is a feature of every College ege photo since
that time. We have made a tthorough
investigation, in which the police poli too
were involved, but not a single le uuseful
clue
has emerged. The entire matter er is utterly
puzzling, especially when one takes kes into i
account that the object is far too heavy eavy
to be taken away by a single person.
Any assistance that Wyverns can give
in recovering the chair would be most
gratefully received.
David T Runia, Master