With a heavy heart, I apologise for the delay in the production of this blog but readers will understand that the College has been convulsed by the tragic drowning of our first year PPE student Wesley Akum Ojong on 21 June 2024 when he was celebrating the end of Prelims. The funeral on 2 August was the most moving such ceremony I have ever been to. The Baptist Church in Aylesbury was full of about 400 people from all parts of his too short life. Wesley was born on 2005 in Limbe Cameroon but his mother moved to the UK when he was just four months old. His father followed the next year. He grew up in turn in Tenby, Watford and then Aylesbury. As the biography in the funeral programme rightly stated he was a “calm, polite and respectful young man and was loved by many”. It was indeed a tribute to Wesley’s impact on our College that so many Fellows, staff and students from Brasenose attended the funeral. He wrote a wonderful blog about his time at Brasenose which can be viewed on our website. We will hold a Memorial Service in Michaelmas Term.
PPE Society
The very active PPE Society held two sparkling events this term. Lord Peter Mandelson spoke on 29 May and gave a terrific conspectus of the current political scene. This was just at the start of the general election campaign. Unfortunately our last Brasenose alumnus Mark Harper in the Commons lost his seat. I notice that Wadham now have 7 alumni MPs.
James Johnson also addressed the Society. He is an alum and strategy advisor for Theresa May while she was in Number 10. He co-founded J.L. Partners a pollster with a Brasenose PPE lecturer. He lives in the USA and spoke whilst President Biden was still the Democratic candidate and said that "Voters remember Trump 20% more favourably than they did when he was president" and "Biden has the lowest net favourability of any president in history since polling began". He also delved into UK politics predicting that we could end this year with Nigel Farage as a member of the Conservative party.
We talked about both the UK and US elections, often comparing and contrasting between the two, in terms of the electoral systems as well as the politics. In America, pollsters can find out a great deal of information, such as income, marital status, etc., which is simply unimaginable in this country.
Choir tour
On 13 & 14 July, Brasenose Chapel Choir visited London on tour, giving three performances over the course of the weekend. The tour launched with an evening concert at St James’s Sussex Gardens featuring movements from Tomas Luis de Victoria’s Missa O quam gloriosum paired with liturgically relevant anthems, and two brilliantly performed organ solos by our Senior Organ Scholar, Sean Cohen. On Sunday morning, the choir navigated through disrupted public transport to perform mass at St Peter’s London Docks before heading to St Martin-in-the-Fields for Choral Evensong. The programme of English choral gems from Rose, Stanford and Tavener competed against the football chants in Trafalgar Square for the Euro 2024 final. The concerts were a wonderful way to wrap up a successful year for the choir before their well-deserved summer break.
All of our concerts remain terrific under our wonderful Director of Music Polina Sosnina and I was delighted that my daughter Hannah on violin and my wife Suzanne on cello played with Jonathan Katz on piano in the wonderful SCR concert in Fifth Week.
Frewin Hall’s cultural reawakening
As many of you will already be aware, Frewin Hall, a building with deep historical roots dating back to the eleventh century is currently undergoing redevelopment, with a planned reopening in October 2025. Once integral to St Mary’s College, Oxford’s “Lost” College, the Hall's cultural significance (including a notable connection to Erasmus) has not been matched by its current facilities, which are no longer adequate for the needs of modern students.
The revitalisation of Frewin Hall marks a significant milestone for Brasenose, transforming a historic structure into a state-of-the-art hub for academic and social engagement. This ambitious project highlights the College’s strategic commitment to creating an advanced educational environment that benefits both students and the wider community. It will introduce modern areas that enhance the student experience, improve connectivity, and stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration, while respecting the unique heritage of the Grade II* listed building.
The first phase, completed in 2023, involved constructing a new student accommodation building, while the final phase will modernise the Annexe buildings surrounding the main garden, aligning them with contemporary standards and accommodating Brasenose’s expanding student body. This project, along with the others, is financed entirely by the College through careful budget management and strategic allocation, with ongoing support from our generous donors, whose contributions are essential to our success.
Congratulations
There was so much on last term including the Brasenose Music Scholars concert, Staff v students cricket match, the terrific Library Treasures Display, a book launch for Professor Anne Davies’ new book Valuing Employment Rights, the JCR & HCR Garden Parties, Alumni Society Presidents Summer Party, Encaenia and several Good bye events for the University Chancellor, Lord Patten whom we will greatly miss. I single out two events the first of which was quite unique. Our alumnus Jeremy Singer died too young and his parents put on a concert at the Wigmore Hall on 29 June to raise money for college scholarships. His mother’s cousin is Evgeny Kissin the world renowned pianist who provided an unforgettable concert featuring works by Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, and Prokofiev. On July 26, I had the pleasure of attending the graduation ceremony and meeting the parents and wider families of our terrific students.
I also want to pay tribute to all involved in our late June Open Days. There was a massive turn out and our student ambassadors were amazing.
Finally last but not least, I congratulate our alum and Honorary Fellow Sir Mike Stratton on receiving one of the two Royal Medals bestowed annually by the Royal Society, this one for Biological Sciences. The full citation for the award reads: “For his foundational contributions to cancer genomics, the discovery of cancer genes and the identification of mutational signatures, which have transformed our understanding of cancer and somatic mutation”.