Trinity Term is always exceptionally busy, so I apologise to all those awaiting my blog (vanishingly few I fear!) for the delay. Best wishes to all who are taking exams.
50 years of women at Brasenose
We ended our celebration of 50 years of women at Brasenose with a fabulous all-day event on 7 June. It was like our very own Hay on Wye Literary Festival all in one day. I said a few words about the fight to open the college to women undergraduates, and this was followed by short recollections by Susan Treggiari our first female Visiting Fellow and Mary Stokes our first woman Tutorial Fellow. Some of our fantastic female scientists then took to the floor, chaired by the wonderful Elspeth Garman. They were Jayne Birkby, Dimitra Rigopoulou, Daniela Bortoletto and Katrina Lythgoe.
Next up was our Women in Westminster session consisting of Claire Perry O'Neil, the former Minister and Lady Julie Smith, the Lib Dem Shadow Spokesman on Defence and Christine Quigley a lobbyist. This was chaired by Tutorial Fellow in Politics, Katerina Tertytchnaya. Over lunch there was an archive display about women at the College and readings from Nosedive our student arts magazine.
I then chaired a session with alumnae who have been active in managing rather disparate institutions, Cappy Hill the former President of Vassar College (whose painting adorns our walls), Penny Gilbert the founder of Powell Gilbert, a law firm, and Michelle Johnson of the USAF (who joined us by Teams from Colorado). The closing events were Sarah Jackson and Jennifer Liston-Smith on balancing family and career, and Jane Johnson interviewing bestselling author Sarah Vaughan. There was also a musical performance by our students followed by drinks.
It was a magnificent day expertly put together by Gauri Verma and the rest of the Development Team and was well attended.
Portrait unveiling
On Friday 6 June, Cappy Hill joined us at dinner for the official unveiling of her portrait in Hall. The artist, Alessandro Raho, was also present. Although the portrait has been with us for some time, this was the first opportunity for Cappy to see it in situ. She has fond memories of her time as a second BA PPE student at Brasenose, not least because she met her husband, Kent Kidahl, while she was here. Cappy shared some thoughts on the challenges facing the higher education sector in the US, noting that while the system was not perfect, some of the policies being pursued by the current administration were potentially very destructive indeed.
The new organ
Our inaugural organ concert on 9 May certainly lived up to its high expectations. It was performed by the internationally renowned organist Katelyn Emerson. It was a fantastic recital showing her versatility and that of the organ too. We again salute the incredible generosity of Gerald and Margot Smith who funded the project and the work of the wonderful craftsmen.
Arts Week
Our long-established student led Arts Week saw a Pulitzer Prize Winner playwright talk to an Oscar winning director and playwright. Our Frankland Visitor this year Branden Jacobs Jenkins was in conversation with Kenneth Lonergan our previous Frankland Visitor. They discussed (under my very light touch chairmanship) the challenges of playwriting, their careers and what advice they would give to our students.
Branden won the 2014 Obie Award for the Best New American Play for his plays Appropriate and An Octoroon. His plays Gloria and Everybody were finalists for the 2016 and 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His play Purpose won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the Tony Award for Best Play. Kenneth directed and wrote the drama film Manchester by the Sea (2016) which won him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.
This theme for this year’s Week was ‘Revival’. The visuals included a tapestry crocheted banner, a hand carved stamp illuminated alphabet and many other paintings for advertisements and building the loosely medieval aesthetic.
Pottery painting was well attended despite a thunderstorm; many beautiful creations were made as students huddled in the marquee on New Quad. Following this, we opened the doors of the antechapel to our arts week exhibition which featured many of the visual artists and poets in the Brasenose community.
There was a talk from the Royal Literary Fund fellow Rosamund Bartlett titled ‘Rebels Not Muses’ which considered the woman artists of European modernism. Wednesday of arts week featured a discussion group with the Turner Prize winning artist Jesse Darling and had many prancing around the marquee in the Morris dancing class. We began Thursday with morning yoga before the much-anticipated chainmail making workshop led by the wonderful Alex Massie.
There was an open mic where many Brasenose musicians showed off their talents. Over the weekend we enjoyed a performance of ‘Mankind’ by the second year English cohort in the sunshine with some Pimm’s.
Another highlight of the week was Branden in discussion with Sos Eltis and conducting a master class on his plays which stretched from the advertised one hour to just under three. Their discussion of the theatrical world and the artistry of playwriting was enlightening.
Well done to Lillian Tagg and her team for putting on a great Arts Week (and thanks to her for some of the above material).
Platnauer Concert
We have had many memorable Platnauer Concerts during my time in College (and I am sure before that) but none quite as unique as “Contemplating Guan Yin: A seven Part Sonic Journey” performed by Beibei Wang, Ke Peng, Mike Skelton, Chen Yuxiao and He Songyuan. There were classical and modern instruments, video and Tibetan Buddhist soundscapes. The seven parts give you some idea of the range: Still waters; intoxicated sound, ritual drumming, illumination, echoes of emptiness, samsara and oneness.
Amelia Gentleman
Amelia Gentleman was my guest for the final Principal’s Conversation of the Academic Year. She is a Guardian journalist and she spoke of her work on exposing the Windrush scandal in which many thousands of people who did not have proper papers were faced with deportation and in some cases detention. It was poignant that many of those affected had names like Winston, Gladstone and Nelson. She is a great inspiration to our numerous young journalists and gave a terrific talkabout this shameful episode.
Congratulations
Our congratulations go to Alexandra Marks our Jurisprudence alumna who has been appointed Chair of the Parole Board.
The European Physical Society has announced that Daniela Bortoletto has been awarded its EPS Emmy Noether Distinction 2024 (full career) “for revolutionising silicon detector technology, that enabled the discoveries of the top quark and Higgs boson, and pioneering key experimental methods now central to high-energy particle physics, as well as for her important engagement for female undergraduate students.” Huge congratulations to Professor Bortoletto on this fantastic accolade.
I know that many of you will be working over the summer but for those who can switch off I wish you a good vacation.