News

UK’s first new college for 25 years opens at Durham University

(5 October 2006)

The first completely new college at a UK university in 25 years opens its doors this week to its founding student members.

Josephine Butler College, a purpose-built self-catering college for up to 800 undergraduates, postgraduates and staff will form a new community for Durham University and forms part of Durham’s £35 million project to enhance its student accommodation and contribute towards the sustainable growth of the University. The new College Principal, Adrian Simpson commented: “Over 25,000 prospective undergraduate students apply to Durham University each year, with around 4,500 being offered places and many citing the collegiate system as a key reason for applying. Being part of a college provides students with a smaller, less intimidating and more supportive community unit within the university which can bolster their confidence enough to allow them to try different things for size, such as joining a club, raising money for charity, getting involved in community projects or running the college bar. It also offers students the chance to meet and socialise with a broad range of people as undergraduates live and mix with both postgraduates and staff from various backgrounds from the North East, the UK and overseas.” “This is a brand new venture and offers our staff and students the opportunity to play a full part in designing and developing a unique college identity by which Butler College will be known.” Sam Wright, 21 from North Wales is Butler College’s first Junior Common Room (JCR) President, a sabbatical position which heads up the student body in each college which organises events, provides a layer of welfare support, negotiates on behalf of the student body and provides a framework for clubs and societies. Sam has just graduated from Durham with a degree in Philosophy and Psychology and commented: “The new student body at Butler College is being made up of over 80 students transferring from other colleges, postgraduates and new undergraduates coming to Durham for the first time. We are all really looking forward to creating something new from scratch. The transferees have been great at getting the ball rolling with ideas for clubs and societies – before the summer we already had 15 societies set up - ranging from film to football and frisbee to debating. “Our plans for the first term start with freshers’ week and we will make sure that everyone gets to know each other through our college ‘mum and dad’ scheme and a mixture of activities including a kids’ tea party, ‘speedmeeting’, a trip to ‘Diggerland’ and themed nights in our new bar – the largest college bar in Durham!” Sarah Hetherington 21 from Sunderland who is transferring to Butler College to be one of the first students there said: “I transferred to Butler College because I wanted to be part of a completely new college community from the very beginning. We’re looking forward to shaping the identity of the college and making it a place where there really is something for everyone.“ The College is named after Northumbrian Josephine Butler, a compassionate and tenacious campaigner for social reform in the 19th Century who had a profound influence on society’s view of women’s health and education. Butler College has been built with consideration for the local surroundings, using materials in keeping with the area and with consideration for the environment, including the use of planted roofs to prevent heat loss and to make the college merge into its surroundings. The college’s facilities include music rooms, sports hall, gym, laundry facilities and the largest bar in a Durham University college. Professor Sir Kenneth Calman, Vice-Chancellor of Durham University said: “A distinctive student experience is a huge part of what makes Durham so special and is a large part of why 98 per cent of our students complete their degrees. Not only does our academic staff produce world-class research that informs its excellent teaching to a diverse student body, but our collegiate system offers our students an extra layer of social engagement, personal development and academic support. We believe that our college communities make a huge difference to the personal development of each individual and that the opening of Josephine Butler College will allow more people to benefit from the experience that marks Durham out from its competitors.” In addition to the opening of Josephine Butler College the success of the collegiate system has led Durham to develop three new colleges (John Snow, George Stephenson and Ustinov) out of other institutions in the past five years. The last completely new college to open in the UK was Robinson College, Cambridge, which was officially opened by the Queen in 1981.