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DOWNING COLLEGE ASSOCIATIONwhen she was ‘defeating’ the Tripos examiners at Newnham before going onfor her Doctorate – our Sir Lionel Whitby awarded her his Vice-Chancellor’sprize for her successes.I am very honoured and happy to have been elected as your President.Gwyn Bevan (1948)FORTHCOMING EVENTSThis year’s Association weekend will be on September 26/27th.T HE M ASTER WRITESThe academic year has quite understandably been dominated by the financialcrisis. Our efforts across the College have been focused on reducing our costs andenhancing our business income in order to ensure that our primary activities ofeducation and research are affected as little as possible. It was on this backdropthat the College’s ‘Catalysis’ fundraising campaign was launched at the Londonevent last November and which it is hoped, with help from many of you, thatDowning’s inadequate endowment can, after over 200 years, finally be raised to alevel at which we are sustainable in the long term. The indications from our newcoalition government are that higher education is not going to be spared severecuts and we are bracing ourselves for the inevitability that life in Downing and inCambridge is going to become more difficult over the next few years. It will alsobecome increasingly difficult financially for present and future generations ofbright and talented students who study here and our focus must be to ensure thatthey can do just that regardless of their financial circumstances.But it has also been a year of great celebration. The Howard Theatre, theresult of a supremely generous gift from Dr Alan and Jon Howard of TheHoward Foundation, was completed ahead of schedule and was opened onMarch 3rd. And what an opening it was. Distinguished alumnus and HonoraryFellow, Sir Trevor Nunn, opened the theatre at a wonderful event at whichmany of our talented students sang, recited, played and danced to and for anenthralled audience. You can enjoy it too if you follow this link:. The theatre will be a superb resource for our students and theDrama Society has already mounted a sumptuous production of ‘The Relapse’(or, ‘Virtue in Danger’), a Restoration comedy from 1696 written by JohnVanbrugh. This was directed by 2nd year History of Art student, Alex Lass, who12