The Magazine for the University of Kent

TheQuestionnaire
PageFourteen
Alumni and staff talk about their
memories & experiences at Kent.
01 02 03 04 05
01. Matthew Crosby
02. Mary Evans
03. Achike Ofodile
04. Neil Froggatt
05. Caroline Shenaz Hossein
06. Tim Luckhurst
06
Matthew Crosby
K99: English & American Literature
Film Studies
Comedian
Matthew is a member of comedy troupe
Pappy’s Fun Club (www.pappysfunclub.
co.uk), recently returned from the 2007
Edinburgh Festival where they were
nominated for the 2007 if.comedy Best Show
award. Members also include Tom Parry
R00 and Brendan Dodds E98.
Matthew is also compere at the monthly
Horsebridge Comedy in Whitstable.
Favourite book:
I was obsessed with Charles Bukowski.
I would get drunk in a park reading Post
Office or Ham on Rye and then try and
write comedy shows.
Place of residence:
I lived in Keynes in my first year and then
St Michael’s Place for the next two years.
Favourite bar/pub/hangout:
Eliot Bar.
Most embarrassing moment:
When we lived in St Michael’s Place one of
our neighbours complained about my house
– mate drumming at three in the afternoon.
It turned out that they were no strangers
to rocking; their son was the guitarist in
Bananarama.
Enduring memory:
A sketch show that I co-wrote and directed
in my final year. At the end of the first half
Tom Parry fell off a stool on stage and I
announced that he had been taken to
hospital. About 15 minutes into the second
half, a film appeared on a screen and the
audience watched Tom run from the
hospital to campus before bursting through
the back door of the theatre. The reaction
was incredible. I was really interested in
Andy Kaufman and tricks you can play on
the audience and that was a moment when
it really worked.
Favourite item of clothing:
I had a nice zip up sports top – it was the
nearest I ever got to doing any actual sports.
Favourite song:
I really liked the album ‘Bleed American’
by Jimmy Eat World.
Biggest influence:
It has to be Keith Carabine. He has
a personal anecdote for even the
most outrageous moments in
American literature.
Societies:
I tried to join the short-lived Cult TV
society and I was also a member of the
Drama Society. I used the budget to put
on a comedy show.
First job:
I was a secondary school English teacher for
two years after leaving Kent and completed
my PGCE. All the while I performed in
comedy in clubs.
Professor Mary Evans
Professor of Women’s Studies
School of Social Policy,
Sociology and Social Research
‘I have taught at Kent since 1971, in
various locations and departmental
incarnations. For those of us who have
been at Kent for some time there has been
a good deal of opportunity for internal
travel. I have always taught sociology but
the various aspects of it that have
interested me the most are gender
divisions and narrative fiction.
I increasingly have come to the
conclusion that fiction has noticed most
social events and social changes long
before any social scientist has done so.
I was delighted to take part in the
establishment of Women’s Studies
(both at Kent and elsewhere) and I shall
continue to take part in the various
networks established! I shall miss
– but also hope to maintain – those many
friendships made and treasured.’
Favourite book:
Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.
Place of residence:
Patrixbourne
Favourite bar/pub/hangout:
None in particular, though I’m always
pleased to go to the Walpole Bay Hotel
in Margate.
Most embarrassing moment:
Mistaking lecture theatres and addressing
a group of rather surprised, though very
polite Physics students, until I realised
my mistake.
Enduring memory:
Births of my children
Favourite item of clothing:
A silk shawl which belonged to my
grandmother.
Favourite song:
‘Soave sia il vento’ from Mozart’s Cosi
fan Tutte
Biggest influence:
My parents
First job:
Assistant in greengrocers
Societies:
I’m interested in everything, so all of them!
Achike Ofodile
R04: Law
Kent Union President 2007-2008
As Kent Union President, one of Achike’s
aims over the next year is to provide
students with the opportunities to drive
change now and in their futures. The Union
intends to create a culture of activism
within the student population, inspiring
them to be strong and active citizens within
the University and the wider community.
Favourite book:
The Concubine by Elechi Amadi.
Place of residence:
Lypeatt Court in Park Wood.
Favourite bar/pub/hangout:
Woody’s in Park Wood. The refurbishment
over the summer has been amazing and
made an old classic even better!
Most embarrassing moment:
I can’t think of any at the moment, but I’m
sure that this year will have a few!
Enduring memory:
Elections result night in the Venue; people
were chanting my name even before the
result was announced!
Favourite item of clothing:
Kent Union Hoody.
Favourite music track:
‘Always’ by Bon Jovi
Biggest influence:
My mother.
Societies:
Afro-Caribbean Society, Law Society
and Rutherford Football Club.
First job:
Retail assistant at Marks & Spencer.
Neil Froggatt
E90: Computer Science
Neil is an Exective Director at Goldman
Sachs International in London
Favourite book:
I’m supposed to say something like Z
Specification by Allan Grimley as he was my
tutor but it was The Hitchhiker’s Guide to
the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Place of residence:
First year:
Eliot S1E-8, one of the twin bedders
beneath the bar and dining hall –
always useful!
Second year:
Herne Bay – Pier Avenue.
Third year:
Eliot S1W-6
MSc year:
A flat above Pizza Express in Canterbury
– handy for takeaways although not if you
weren’t a fan of pizza!
Favourite bar/pub/hangout:
On campus:
Woody’s, otherwise it would have to be
The Olive Branch (now Buttermarket),
Alberry’s and of course ‘Studio 3’ (not sure
what it’s called now – The Works nightclub?)
Most embarrassing moment:
Being found asleep on a bed of nettles
in the middle of a field after an all-night
rave and doing way too many snakebite –
induced stunts.
Enduring memory:
The fantastic view of Canterbury Cathedral
from Eliot Dining Hall at night as well
as the graduation ball that we (AIESEC)
organised.
Favourite item of clothing:
More of a ‘look’ as Trinny and Susannah
would say: Faded jeans, T-shirt and big
Timberland boots – bit different from my
usual attire nowadays!
Favourite song:
‘The Power’ by Snap
Societies:
Fencing, badminton, AIESEC but ‘dabbled’
in quite a few more…
First job:
Post MSc, working as Consultant for a
banking software house in London but
generally commuting weekly to Amsterdam,
Dublin, Jersey, Geneva, Zurich, Brussels
and Athens.
Caroline Shenaz Hossein
E93: Law
Caroline has worked at several
international NGOs and is currently
Microfinance Consultant at Ebony
Development Associates (www.ebonydev
elopment.org). Ebony Development
Associates deliver assistance to improve
the programming and project management
of services for ‘at risk’ communities.
Favourite book:
When I was at Kent I remember reading
Sowing the Mustard Seed by Yoweni
Museveni (given to me by a fellow student)
and it was an eye-opening book. It was great
to read it then because I could then talk to
students from different places to learn
more from them.
Place of residence:
Ellenden Court in Park Wood and Eliot’s
Becket Court (in the tower!)
Favourite bar/pub/hangout:
I liked going to the pub in Eliot College
because so many of our law professors
would also hang out there too.
Most embarrassing moment:
An embarrassing moment may have
been confusing exam dates but luckily
the professors let me retake the exam
with no penalty!
Enduring memory:
My best memories are of the people.
I also treasure the travelling with friends
all over the UK and further afield. Having
friends from all over the world deepened
my cultural awareness. It was Kent’s global
environment that I think encouraged me to
move into international development work.
Favourite item of clothing:
I think when I came from Toronto I dressed
pretty conservatively. But Kent was so close
to eclectic London and I remember loving to
shop for hats. The wilder the better! I loved
wearing hats back then.
Favourite song:
My favourite song as a student had to be
Bob Marley’s ‘Legends’. This May I was in
Jamaica and every time I hear Marley it
reminded me so much of those Kent days.
Biggest influence:
Kate Diesfeld and Joanne Conaghan
were wonderful women professors in the
law school who have positively influenced
my life. Thank you Kate and Joanne for
always giving excellent advice to the new
Canadian girl!
Societies:
Kent Law Clinic, Park Wood Student
Council – women’s rep
First job:
After I left Kent, I went on to graduate
school at Cornell University but my first job
after school was with the US Peace Corps.
Professor Tim Luckhurst
Professor of Journalism
and the News Industry,
University of Kent at Medway
Professor Luckhurst is a former editor
of The Scotsman and has also held
various editorial positions at the BBC
which included foreign postings to
Washington DC, coverage of the Romanian
revolution in 1989 and reports from the
First Gulf War in 1991. He also contributes
regularly to a variety of newspapers and is
a commentator for a number of television
and radio stations.
Favourite book:
Depending on mood I might nominate
The Face of War by Martha Gelhorn,
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell,
The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis,
On Liberty by John Stuart Mill, Gravity’s
Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, Charles
de Gaulle’s War Memoirs or Having it so
Good by Peter Henessy
Place of residence:
St Mary’s Island, Chatham, Kent
Favourite bar/pub/hangout:
Kramer Books and Afterwords, 19 Street
NW, Washington DC.
Most embarrassing moment:
Being interrupted while broadcasting
live from the siege of the Branch Davidian
compound in Waco, Texas. I was on air
and my friend had just arrived. As I
described the scene to listeners in the
UK he ran towards me shouting “Tim,
how are you mate? I haven’t seen you for
months!” I hardly faltered...
Enduring memory:
My first foreign assignment for the BBC,
arriving in Timisoara on Christmas Eve
1989 to cover the Romanian Revolution.
That is closely followed by geting stuck
behind a truckload of inebriated Serbian
paramilitaries on the road between
Pristina and Skopje in 1999.
Favourite item of clothing:
A battered old motorcycle jacket.
Favourite song:
‘Visions of Johanna’ by Bob Dylan from
the album Blonde on Blonde (1966)
Biggest influence:
Phil Harding, my first editor at the
Today Programme.
Societies:
National Union of Journalists
First job:
My first ever job was as a tour guide at
Traquair House, the oldest inhabited
house in Scotland.
If you would like to feature in
The Questionnaire in a future issue
of KENT, please email your answers
(including a high-quality, recent
photograph of yourself) to:
alumni@kent.ac.uk