| Colleges and halls of the University of Oxford University College |
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| College name | The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford (commonly called University College) | |||||||||||
| Latin name | Magister et Socij Collegij Magnae Aulae Universitatis Oxon. | |||||||||||
| Established | 1249 | |||||||||||
| Sister college | Trinity Hall [1] | |||||||||||
| Master | Sir Ivor Crewe | |||||||||||
| Undergraduates | 420 | |||||||||||
| Graduates | 144 | |||||||||||
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Location of University College within central Oxford |
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University College (in full The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford,[2][3] colloquially referred to as "Univ"[4]), is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m.[5] As it was founded in 1249, it is the oldest Oxford college.
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Some claim the college was founded by King Alfred in 872. However most agree its foundation was in 1249 by William of Durham. This later date still allows the claim that Univ is the oldest of the Oxford colleges.[6] Until the 16th century it was only open to Fellows studying theology. As Univ grew in size and wealth, its medieval buildings were replaced with the current Main Quadrangle in the 17th Century. Although the foundation stone was placed on 17 April 1634 the disruption of the English Civil War meant it was not completed until sometime in 1676.[2] Radcliffe Quad followed more rapidly by 1719, and the Library was built in 1861. Univ began to accept female undergraduate students in 1979.
The main entrance to the college is on the High Street and its grounds are bounded by Merton Street and Magpie Lane. The college is divided by Logic Lane which is owned by the college and runs through the centre. The western side of the college is occupied by the library, the hall, the chapel and the two quadrangles which house both student accommodation and college offices. The eastern side of the college is mainly devoted to student accommodation in rooms above the High Street shops, on Merton Street or in the separate Goodhart Building. This building is named after former master of the college Arthur Lehman Goodhart. The college also owns student accommodation on Staverton Road in North Oxford which houses students after their second year.
A specially constructed building in the College, the Shelley Memorial, houses a statue by Edward Onslow Ford of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley — a former member of the college, who was expelled for writing The Necessity of Atheism — depicted lying dead on the Italian seashore. Rumour has it that the sunken area around the statue was once filled with water and live goldfish as a student prank. Another apparently common student prank involving the statue has been to paint his genitalia bright colours; for this reason, the statue's appendage is somewhat smaller than it used to be. The college also owns the University College Boathouse (completed in 2007) and a sports ground which is located nearby on Abingdon Road.
The Alternative Prospectus is written and produced by current students for prospective applicants. The publication was recently awarded a HELOA Innovation and Best Practice Award. The Univ Alternative Prospectus offers student written advice and guidance to potential Oxford applicants. The award recognises the engagement of the college community, unique newspaper format, forward-thinking use of social media and the collaborative working between staff and students.
University has the longest grace of any Oxford (and perhaps Cambridge) College. It is read before every Formal Hall, which is held Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday at Univ. The reading is performed by a Scholar of the College, the same person doing it for a whole week, and whoever is sitting at the head of High Table (typically the Master or the most senior Fellow at the table if the Master is not dining). The Scholar does not need to know it by heart, although it is not unusual for people to do so.
Gratiarum actio in collegio magnae aulae universitatis quotidie ante mensam dicenda.[7]
SCHOLAR — Benedictus sit Deus in donis suis.
RESPONSE — Et sanctus in omnibus operibus suis.
SCHOLAR — Adiutorium nostrum in Nomine Domini.
RESPONSE — Qui fecit coelum et terras.
SCHOLAR — Sit Nomen Domini benedictum.
RESPONSE — Ab hoc tempore usque in saecula.
SCHOLAR — Domine Deus, Resurrectio et Vita credentium, Qui semper es laudandus tam in viventibus quam in defunctis, gratias Tibi agimus pro omnibus Fundatoribus caeterisque Benefactoribus nostris, quorum beneficiis hic ad pietatem et ad studia literarum alimur: Te rogantes ut nos, hisce Tuis donis ad Tuam gloriam recte utentes, una cum iis ad vitam immortalem perducamur. Per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
SCHOLAR — Deus det vivis gratiam, defunctis requiem: Ecclesiae, Reginae, Regnoque nostro, pacem et concordiam: et nobis peccatoribus vitam aeternam. Amen.
That must be said every day before dinner in University College.[7]
SCHOLAR — Blessed be God in his gifts.
RESPONSE — And holy in all his works.
SCHOLAR — Our help is in the name of the Lord.
RESPONSE — Who has made heaven and earth.
SCHOLAR — May the name of the Lord be blessed.
RESPONSE — From this time and for evermore.
SCHOLAR — Lord God, the Resurrection and Life of those who believe, You are always to be praised as much among the living as among the departed. We give You thanks for all our founders and our other benefactors, by whose benefactions we are nourished here for piety and for the study of letters. And we ask you that we, rightly using these Your gifts to Your glory, may be brought with them to immortal life. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
SCHOLAR — May God give grace to the living, rest to the departed; peace and concord to the Church, the Queen and our Kingdom; and to us sinners, eternal life. Amen.
Many influential politicians are associated with Univ including the social reformer and author of the Beveridge Report William Beveridge (who was a master of University College) and two UK Prime Ministers: Clement Attlee and Harold Wilson (a Univ fellow). US President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawke were also students.
As well as poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (expelled for writing The Necessity of Atheism) for whom there is a memorial in college University College alumni include a Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, author of the Narnia books C. S. Lewis and a Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Sir V. S. Naipaul. Actors Michael York and Warren Mitchell attended the college, as well as broadcaster Paul Gambaccini.
It is due to the college's lack of a mathematics fellow (this is no longer the case) that Professor Stephen Hawking read a natural sciences degree and ended up specialising in physics.[8] A perhaps more unusual alumnus is Prince Felix Yusupov, the assassin of Rasputin.[9]
Univ has the highest proportion of old members offering financial support to the college of any Oxbridge college with 28% in 2007.[10]
Although not members of University College, the scientists Robert Boyle (sometimes described as the "first modern chemist") and his assistant (Robert Hooke, architect, biologist, discoverer of cells) lived in Deep Hall (then owned by Christ Church and now the site of the Shelley Memorial). The former made a contribution to the completion of University College's current Hall in the mid-17th Century.[2]
Samuel Johnson (author of A Dictionary of the English Language and a member of Pembroke College) was a frequent visitor to the Senior Common Room at University College during the 18th Century).[2]
The University College Record is the annual magazine sent to alumni of University College each autumn. The magazine provides College news, including clubs and societies such as the University College Players and the Devas Club. News about and obituaries of former students are included at the end of each issue.
Previous editors include Peter Bayley, A. D. M. Cox and Leslie Mitchell. The current editor is Dr Robin Darwall-Smith.
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