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Welcome to the Michaelmas Term edition of Exeter Matters – the termly electronic newsletter for Exonians.

If you would like further details on any of the information featured, please feel free to contact the Development Office, or visit our website at www.exetercollege.net.

Rector’s NewsIt has been a busy term, and a troubling one for many in the University. The debate on plans to reform governance (see below) has been divisive and bad for the University’s public image. It has distracted attention from other important matters. There has been a sharp improvement in the University’s finances, thanks to strong financial management. But a new report has just been published on the distribution of the flow of revenues into the University between the colleges and departments. The report makes it dismally clear that the revenue accruing to college-based undergraduate teaching is far too low to cover its true cost, and has been cross subsidised by graduate teaching and by research grants. That

can’t continue indefinitely. A difficult debate lies ahead on how Oxford should finance what many regard as its most distinctive and important academic activity.

Next term will see a bustle of activity around the Chapel. We have all grown used to its dark grey interior. In fact, the stone was originally creamy white – and we will begin in the New Year the delicate task of removing the dirt to make it glow again. We are also, thanks to the generosity of Old Members, removing some of the stained-glass windows for restoration. Next summer, we plan to begin a bigger restoration, of the crumbling stonework. This will last for a year and cost around £2m. George Gilbert Scott seems to have skimped on quality! We hope that none of this work will hamper either our new Chaplain, Dr Helen Orchard, or the choir, which is now larger than anyone can remember under Carlene Mills, the Organ Scholar. If you are in Oxford, do come and listen to them at Choral Evensong at 6.�5pm on Tuesdays and Fridays, or at 6pm on Sunday. It will lift your spirits!

Frances Cairncross

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In this issue:• What’s new in the Development Office?• College Notes• University News• Old Members and Friends• Events• And Finally

What’s new in the Development Office?Exeter College has appointed Katrina Hancock (�998, Earth Sciences) to the position of Director of Development. Many of you will already know Katrina, who has worked in the Development Office for the last two years.We will be joined in January by a Development Assistant, Anne Millar. Anne currently works in the University’s Geography Library and is looking forward to coming to the College. She will be providing general assistance to the Office and the Development Director.Sadly our Alumni Officer, Alison Copeland, will be leaving us at the end of this month to take up a post with the Oxford University Society. The Alumni Officer post is currently being advertised and we hope to appoint early in the New Year.Also in the New Year, the College plans to appoint a new Development Officer (to support Katrina Hancock). This will take the Development Office team up to full strength as work begins on the 20�4 700th Anniversary Campaign.

College Notes- Fresher Faces. Martin Grosvenor, a Fresher reading English, gives us a snippet of his first term at Exeter.Being asked to write a few words for the Old Members’ e-bulletin has made me do something that I would not otherwise have done. That is, to sit back and carefully consider how my first term at Exeter College and Oxford University has lived up to or differed from the expectations that I had before I came up; and also, to ask myself what has been the most important thing that I have learnt. First and foremost it has surpassed what I thought the academic challenge would be. Like most other freshers, my tutor threw me in at the deep end, expecting an essay or so a week from the very beginning of term. I remember thinking at the time that this was ridiculous; but, in hindsight I can see that I have enjoyed the academic challenge of being stretched and tested from the outset, both in terms of the actual weekly tutorial and all the preparation that goes into it. It has reminded me that I love my subject and that I made a very active choice to study English at Oxford. Talking to my friends at other universities I am more sure than ever that this is the academic environment in which I will hopefully best thrive.

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So, what is the most important thing I’ve learnt this term? Though born in the South, I’ve lived most of my life in Yorkshire. And I will admit that this did give me some reservations about what to expect and what the people I would have to live with would be like. However, through leaving the proverbial North. I have met a wide variety of people, almost all refreshingly normal, and I feel lucky and privileged to have had this opportunity. Possibly the most important thing I have learnt this term, therefore, is not to judge people on their backgrounds. People are far more than a product of where they come from, greater than the sum of their parts - they are individuals. I no longer believe that there is such a thing as a ‘public school’ type or a ‘London city’ type no more than I consider myself to be a ‘Northern’ type. If I had taken no more out of this term, and doubtless I have taken much more, this lesson alone would have been invaluable. I have learnt to change my attitudes, to discard stereotypes, and engage with people as individuals; something that critically I can see to be integral not just to my time at Exeter College but also in three years time (which seems a long way off now) when I come to leave.

- Christ Church Regatta. Catherine Overell-Stone (2006, Chemistry) the Women’s A Stroke, brings us the update on this terms rowing.Seven Exeter crews were entered in the Christchurch Novice Regatta this year; � mens crews, and 4 womens. Although the Regatta was cancelled just 2 days in, due to poor river conditions, we still managed to do ourselves proud. The biggest success story was the women’s A crew, who beat Linacre As in their first race. The men’s As lost their first race, but only by a very small margin, and came back in their repercharge race to win by half the course!Both the women’s and men’s B crews won their repercharge races. The women’s Cs raced as pirates for their first race, and then had to scratch, as almost half the crew couldn’t make it to the repercharge race. The men’s Cs got themselves disqualified barely 50m from the start line, by crashing into a boat in the transit lane, and requiring the siren to be sounded. The women’s Ds lost both their races, but if prizes were being given for dress, they’d win. They raced their first race with each person in the boat wearing a different colour of the rainbow - right down to the hair, and one rather distinctive luminous pink wig; and their second race dressed as white swans, complete with beaks! It had the promisings of a good year

- Very Important Persons. This term the College teamed up with the Oxford Institute for Economic Policy (part of the Department of Economics) to offer a series of seminars on ‘Aspects of Globalisation’. The series was sponsored by HSBC and talks were given by a mixture of academics and practitioners: Professor Amar Bhidé (Columbia University), Professor Nicholas Crafts (Warwick University), Mr Stephen King (Group Chief Economist, HSBC) and Mr Clive Crook (Senior Editor and Columnist, The Atlantic Monthly). The events were

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open to Old Members and Friends of the College as well as current students. This series was in addition to the speakers visiting Exeter as part of the ‘Rector’s talks’ programme of events – Stella Rimington (former Director General of MI5) and Lord Woolf (Former Lord Chief Justice) were among the high profile guest speakers this term. Don’t forget to check the website for details of next term’s speakers and for information on how to sign up.

University NewsGovernance Again. Doubtless you will have seen the news coverage of the Congregation debates on the Vice-Chancellor’s proposed Governance reforms. For those who haven’t, Congregation (aka ‘the Dons’ parliament’) voted against the reforms on Tuesday 28th November by 7�0 against to 456 in favour. The University is now likely to hold a postal vote (open to all 4,000 members of Congregation) in December. The suggested reforms included changes to the size and composition of the University Council (reducing membership from 25 to �5, with 7 internal and 7 external members, to be chaired by Lord Patten for the first 5 years); the creation of a Nominations Committee to put forward names of external members for approval by Congregation; and the establishment of an Academic Board to oversee the University’s academic activity. See http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/po/news/2006-07/nov/28.shtml for the full story and http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,�056-24747��,00.html for an alternative interpretation.

Reuters Institute. The University launched its new Institute for the Study of Journalism, funded by the Reuters Foundation, on Monday 20th November. The keynote address was given by Leonard Downie (Executive Editor of the Washington Post) to an audience of senior academics and media figures. The foundation of the Reuters Institute marks Oxford University’s commitment to creating an international research centre of excellence in the comparative study of journalism. See http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk for more details.

Old Members and Friends- States Alive! Katrina Hancock visited the United States from the 25th November – �st December – her first official trip as Director of Development! She took in Washington DC, New York and Boston, with a number of formal and informal meetings with Old Members and Friends of the College, including the inaugural New York City Drinks at the Friar’s Club on �0th November.- A big thank you to all of our Old Members who returned their ‘green slip’. Our Information Officer, Merrill Herbert, has been hard at work this term, making sure that the results of this data cleaning exercise have been recorded, in order that we contact the right people, at the right places!- Exeter online. The fully redeveloped Old Members’ website was re-launched in mid-November (only slightly behind schedule!). The new-look website has a fresher, cleaner design and there is also more content, from a page for recent leavers to Frequently Asked Questions (‘how do I get my MA?’ to ‘When is Full Term?’) and more information about the benefits available to you as an Old Member.

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EventsEvents coming up in Hilary Term:

Friday 16th February 2007 Exeter College Rugby Football Club Dinner for Past and Present members. This year we are extending a special invitation to players from the ‘50s, but the event is open to all former College Rugby players, so why not see if you can get your old side together again and bring a table? Full details will be posted on the website next term.

Saturday 17th March 2007 Gaudy for �994-96 MatriculandsFriday 23rd February 2007 Fortescue Society DinnerFriday 23rd March 2007 Intercollegiate Golf Tournament

Calling all Exonian golfers – Exeter needs You! Come and play in the Intercollegiate Tournament at Frilford Heath this year, either as part of the main team of �0 or in the individual 9-hole Greensome. Full details available from the website.

Keep checking the events pages of the website for updates and new information.

And FinallyLifelong email: The Alumni Email Forwarding Service, run by the Oxford University Society, has recently been made available to all Oxford alumni. The service is free, includes anti-virus checking and spam scoring, and is easy to use, allowing you to sign up for an Oxford-based email address, which you can keep for life. Addresses follow the format: firstname.lastname@college.oxon.org. Any messages sent to the address will be automatically forwarded to any other email address of your choice.

In order to sign up, you will need to give your Alumni Card number, last name and college. Please see the following links:Sign-up page: https://www.oxon.org/alumnus/signupFrequently asked questions: http://www.oxon.org/alumnus/faq Calling all Exonians - A group of �2 students will be calling around �,500 Old Members during the annual telethon, which starts on 2nd January 2007. The Rector will be writing to all those she has asked the students to call, in advance. We do hope you enjoy this opportunity to hear about what is happening at the College from a current student and that we can beat last year’s total of £��0,000.