Wolfson College Record 2021

planning the new gym and sports centre (growing from the current squash court),
the Garden Rooms near the south car park, and the Long Gallery looking out
onto Harbour Quad continues energetically.
The intellectual life of the College has remained vibrant this year, though much
more online than in person.
One of the most moving experiences for me this year was a seminar at which
several Governing Body Fellows spoke about what their peripatetic lifestyles
have meant: experiences of deracination, varied allegiance, uncertainty – but
with Oxford and Wolfson itself often being places which welcomed nomads and
where many people felt similarly. It reminded me that our first President, Isaiah
Berlin, was of course a refugee from what had been the Russian Empire, and our
construction of a safe harbour was both physical and metaphorical.
introduction
Among the most stimulating talks were those given by Marc Quinn, the
contemporary British sculptor, many of whose works now grace our corridors
at College; by Sumanth Subramanian, the biographer of JBS Haldane; by John
Ionnadis, on meta-research, and why so much research data is unreliable; and by
Reid Hoffman, alumnus and founder of LinkedIn and PayPal, on the future of work.
Many of these talks have been recorded this year and are now available to view on
the College’s YouTube Channel.
As we move towards a resumption of more normal habits, there will be memories
of this last year, and its particular demands, which will stick in the mind. The visit
of Santa Claus to the Nursery to distribute presents to the children – but at a
social distance, sitting in a specially constructed grotto. The online Christmas
Quiz on Christmas Eve for those having to stay in College over the festive season.
The Social event for Governing Body Fellows in October, on Zoom but with
participants moving from one break-out room to another, glass of College wine
in hand; the great turnout at all General Meetings, since it was so much easier for
people to participate from their rooms at home, in Oxford, Berlin or Shanghai.
The sessions with so many of our students who were based from their homes
in South Asia during the height of the Indian pandemic. There have been good
lessons we are learning and adopting in peacetime, not least the importance
always of that personal touch.
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Yet for me, like our centenarian Tony Epstein, it’s important to look forward.
We have a year ahead which looks full of promise, not least appreciating
the simple things in life which we always took for granted. The sight in July
of College children, working with College graduate students and Fellows in
the meadows, measuring our biodiversity – who knew we had over eighty
college record 2021