College bulletin: 17 March
It has been a busy Lent Term for everyone in College but a special shout-out should go to Catering as our in-house baristas have served an impressive 8,940 hot drinks since the Café opened, the Buttery staff have dished up a whopping 19,393 main courses, and the Bar staff have pulled 6,041 refreshing pints and 1/2 pints since the new spaces welcomed the first customers at the very end of January. Read on for info on the revised vacation opening hours for the three facilities. The Bulletin will be back at the start of Easter Term once I’ve practised doing hyperlinks properly.
College news
Entrepreneurs’ club to launch ‘Dragon’s Den’ for St John’s innovators
Whether you’re a wannabe Deborah Meaden or a budding Steven Bartlett, a new support hub for entrepreneurs at St John’s aims to be a springboard to success.
Students and researchers with burgeoning business ideas will be able to attend the clinics run by the Johnian Entrepreneurs’ Club (JEC) next term.
From ferries and market stalls to bacon butties and College feasts
The new College Café, Bar and Buttery have have proved an instant hit, with record-breaking numbers of students making the most of the popular Saturday brunch and thousands of lattes being served.
In the last of our three-part series profiling the staff who run the social spaces, we meet Buttery Manager Ray Stevenson and Ean Hogg, Assistant Catering Manager.
Nordin Ćatić
Could waste plastic become a useful fuel source?
The innovative work of College Fellow Professor Erwin Reisner and his colleagues, including St John’s PhD student Subhajit Bhattacharjee and Research Associate Dr Motiar Rahaman, featured on the BBC earlier this week.
Professor Reisner and his team have developed a system that can transform plastic waste and greenhouse gases into sustainable fuels and other valuable products using energy from the sun.
Harry rows into Lightweight Boat Race crew spot
St John’s Engineering postgraduate Harry Fieldhouse, Cambridge University Boat Club men’s squad Lightweight President, has been selected to compete in the 49th men’s Lightweight Boat Race on 20 March. Harry, who will row in seat 6, will help defend Cambridge’s title against Oxford.
The Lightweight Boat Races were founded in 1975 by Richard Bates of St John’s College for smaller, lighter rowers to have a fairer chance to compete.
The 2023 Interactive Investor Lightweight Boat Races take place on the Thames in London, with the defending Cambridge women’s crew facing Oxford at 10.20am followed by the men’s race at 11.30am.
Coverage will be livestreamed on YouTube by 247live.tv from 9.45am on Monday.
Nordin Ćatić
Lady Margaret Boat Club M1 crew finish Head of the River in Lent Bumps
The men’s first boat of St John’s College won the ultimate prize during the Lent Bumps last weekend and finished top of the first division known as ‘Head of the River’.
The women’s first boat, W1, bumped every day of the races and won blades. On the final day they bumped Downing and finished fourth overall – their highest place for more than 20 years as they were last in that position back in 2002.
Lady Margaret Boat Club (LMBC), the St John’s College boat club, entered five crews into the Lent Bumps – one of the most important fixtures of the Cambridge rowing calendar. The penultimate day of the Bumps were snowed off after the level of the River Cam rose to a height that was considered too dangerous to compete on.
The men’s second boat, M2, bumped M1 from St Catharine’s College and finished in 14th place – the highest placed second boat in the First Division and the highest the crew has been since 1998. M3’s final race on Friday was cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions but W2 bumped the women’s second boat from Queens’ College to finish the competition in 15th place in the second division.
The men’s first boat has been Head of the River in the Lent Bumps since 2020.
WANTED – owner/s of two kayaks to come forward
Two kayaks have been left in the College’s Punt Pool without permission and no reward is being offered to identify their owner/s.
However, if the owner/s don’t come forward soon then the kayaks will be removed.
One is orange, pictured below, and one is grey. Please make yourself known to one of the Porters if they belongs to you or if you know who the owner is.
Coronation Service – Sunday 7 May, 5pm
A service of music and readings to celebrate the Coronation of HM King Charles III and The Queen Consort. This special service will feature the four Coronation Anthems by Handel, which include Zadok the Priest, accompanied by the Academy of Ancient Music.
Entrance to this service is ticketed, as there is expected to be high demand for places. Applications close on Monday 17 April. Book tickets.
Fond goodbyes as interim Director of Music takes his leave
The Choir of St John’s bade farewell to Stephen Darlington, interim Director of Music, at Evensong yesterday.
Stephen and wife Moira were thanked for their time with the College, and received a few St John's-themed gifts.
Christopher Gray, the College’s new Director of Music, takes up his post in Easter Term.
Retirees prepare for pastures new
Two members of the Porters department are hanging up their black waistcoats this month after many years between them serving the St John’s community.
Jane Rogers and Paul Johnson will both be retiring on 31 March.
Jane, a Custodian, joined St John’s Custodian team in May 2015, having previously worked at the College for many years in various departments. Night Porter Paul first joined St John’s in February 2000 and has spent just over 20 years providing a service, as part of the night shift Porter team, to the College.
All the College thanks them for their service and wishes them well for a happy retirement.
Library celebrates 40 years of women undergraduates
As part of the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the admission of women undergraduates to the College, the digital display screen at the Working Library issue desk is showing an exhibition of archive material exploring the role women have played in the life of the College, from our foundation to the present day.
New meeting rooms available
Two small meeting rooms are now available to book on ‘F’ Staircase in Chapel Court between 5pm and 9pm. Both rooms are set up for a maximum of six people, boardroom style. No AV is available.
- F6 on the first floor
- F10b on the second floor.
The rooms can be reserved on the online booking system. The doors to ‘F’ Chapel Court will be locked just after 9pm so please make sure if you use one of these rooms you are out on time.
Access to Fisher Building public rooms
A trial is now in place to leave public rooms in the Fisher Building unlocked to avoid issues with access if keys have not been returned in time by the previous users.
The rooms that are unlocked are:
Castlereagh Room
Castlereagh Annexe
Boys Smith Room
Boys Smith Annexe
Drawing Room
Palmerston Room.
If this causes any problems please email the Accommodation and Bookings Office.
Diversifying the Library shelves – call for recommendations
The Library is taking recommendations for books by authors and scholars of colour who may not currently be on reading lists but who you think should be.
Your recommendations can be for any subject or discipline and can also include books by authors and scholars of colour that are already on reading lists but not yet on the Library shelves. Suggestions so far include books on black British history, decolonial ecology, Indian economics, indigenous South American tribes, Partition and Korean-American literature. Library staff would love to receive even more recommendations, especially now term is ending and there is a little more time to work through them.
To recommend a book, please use the Google form at https://forms.gle/z4bY9jQDT31nWXaF6
If you have any questions, please email Katie
Chapel collection for Syria and Turkey
A huge thank you to everyone who gave to the Chapel’s daily collections for the Oxfam/DEC Appeal: £2,221 was raised.
Buttery, Bar and Café opening hours for the Easter holidays
These hours will be effective from Monday 19 March to Friday 21 April.
What’s on
Chapel
St John’s Voices Concert – Saturday 18 March, 6pm
St John’s Voices will be performing Parry’s Songs of Farewell and Victoria’s Requiem.
Tickets: Main Chapel £20 + £2.15 fee, Ante-Chapel £10 + £1.37 fee. Student ticket for Main Chapel £10 + £1.37 fee, Ante-Chapel £5 + 98p fee. Book tickets
Coronation Service – Sunday 7 May, 5pm
A service of music and readings to celebrate the Coronation of HM King Charles III and The Queen Consort. This special service will feature the four Coronation Anthems by Handel, which include Zadok the Priest, accompanied by the Academy of Ancient Music.
Entrance to this service is ticketed, as there is expected to be high demand for places. Applications close on Monday 17 April. Book tickets.
For all other regular services, see the Chapel webpage. Follow the Facebook page, SJC Chaplain, for Chapel service updates; and Andrew is on TikTok @thedetoxpriest. The Chapel team is always keen to hear from more volunteers to read in services or assist in other ways: please contact Andrew.
Other events
Kiss me, Kate – Friday 17 March to Saturday 25 March, 7.45pm, plus Saturday 18 March, Thursday 23 March and Saturday 25 March, 2.30pm
ADC Theatre.
A wonderfully jazzy, incomprehensibly funny and soul-satisfying musical set in Baltimore in 1948. St John’s student Isabella Bottle designed the set and fellow Johnian Declan Boyd is the production’s Deputy Stage Manager.
For a theatre company who happen to be putting on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, a similar story unfolds among the cast and crew. Throw in gangsters, comedic routines, impressive dance numbers and a healthy dose of mistaken identity and you get the wonder that is Kiss Me, Kate.
Tickets: Thursdays £13-£16; Fridays and Saturdays £15-£18.
Our Quantum World: How Quantum Technologies will Shape the Future – Saturday 18 March, 10.15am
Constance Tipper Lecture Theatre, Cambridge University Engineering Department, Trumpington Street.
Quantum physics describes a new type of information with distinctive properties that can revolutionise how we process and control data. Emerging technologies like quantum cryptography, computing, and communication harness this potential. This one-day meeting brings experts from around the world to share their insights and visions into a quantum-powered future, including St John’s Fellow Professor Mete Atatüre who will talk about quantum optics and quantum technology.
Open to all, free to attend.
Rugby match – Saturday 18 March, 2pm
Trinity College playing fields.
Go along to cheer on the Redboys, St John’s men’s rugby team, as they play against Trinity and Christ’s Colleges. If they are victorious then they will go undefeated to win the league.
Open to all.
Cambridge Takht and Cambridge Rebetiko: Concert for Turkey and Syria – Saturday 18 March, 4pm
Trinity College Chapel.
Co-organised by St John’s College Research Associate Diala Lteif, the Cambridge University Arab Society presents a late afternoon of Arabic and Greek music as the Cambridge Takht band and The Cambridge Rebetiko band come together for a special performance. All ticket proceeds will support the Disaster Emergency Committee appeal for the people affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
Limited tickets available. The suggested minimum ticket donation is £10. Further details and to buy tickets
Exhibition: Mathematics and Mathematicians at St John's – weekdays, 9am-5pm
St John’s College Library.
Exhibition that is open to all, admission free, no booking required.
Botanic Garden tour – Sunday 19 March, 2pm
Meet at the entrance to the Botanic Garden, at the corner of Trumpington Road and Bateman Street.
Join Professor Tim Bayliss-Smith for an hour-long tour of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. See the spring flowers and learn about the garden’s history and the connections between the original tree planting and mid-19th century ideas about the origin of plant species.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, Visiting Fellows and their guests as part of this term’s Sans Frontières events programme.
Admission £8. Students should bring their University cards for free entry. Booking not required.
Reading by Vona Groarke – Monday 20 March, 5pm
Faculty of English, GR06/07, 9 West Road.
As part of the Cambridge Festival, St John’s Writer-in-Residence Vona Groarke will be reading from her latest book, Hereafter: The Telling Life of Ellen O'Hara.
Open to all, free to attend. Further details and to book
St John’s Book Group for postgraduates, English Faculty and College staff – Wednesday 22 March, 5.45pm
Merton Hall Cottage.
Postgraduates, English Faculty and College staff are invited to join Vona Groarke, St John’s Writer-in-Residence, for the third book group meeting of Lent Term. This month’s book is Jenny Offill's short and whip-smart 2014 novel, Dept. of Speculation, reviewed in the Guardian as, 'wistful, sad and very funny’, and in the LA Times as, ‘This jewel of a book is a novel as funny, honest and beguiling as any I have read’.
If you are interested in joining this, or the book group for undergraduate students, email Vona.
The History of the Designed Landscape of St John’s College – Wednesday 23 March, 12pm
Castlereagh room.
Presented by Dr Ann Benson, Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship, and Beaufort Visiting Fellow at St John’s.
Open to members of the Gardening Department. Admission free.
Semi-final of the cuppers – Sunday 26 March, 12pm
St John’s Playing Fields.
Head along to support St John’s SBR football team.
Open to all.
Biophotoelectrochemical Systems: Solar Energy Conversion and Fundamental Investigations – Wednesday 29 March to Friday 31 March
Old Divinity School.
Co-arranged by Professor Erwin Reisner, Fellow at St John’s, this is an informal and interactive forum for the international biophotoelectrochemistry community. The aim is to integrate lessons learned from whole cell and protein (photo)electrochemistry, provide direct feedback for both published and unpublished results, and map out how the field can be pushed further forward both fundamentally and in an applied sense.
Further information and to buy tickets
Cambridge Literary Festival: Talking to Juliet – Thursday 20 April, 4pm
Baillie Gifford Stage, Old Divinity School.
Exciting new voice in literary non-fiction Sophie Duncan draws on rich cultural and historical sources and new research to explore the legacy and reach of Romeo and Juliet far beyond the literary sphere, in her new book Searching for Juliet: the lives and deaths of Shakespeare’s first tragic heroine. In conversation with St John’s alumna Preti Taneja, award-winning author of contemporary retelling of King Lear We That Are Young, Sophie will explain why Juliet is for now, for ever, for everyone.
Tickets: £14, concessions (under 25s or unemployed) £10. Further information and to book tickets
Cambridge Literary Festival: How to Speak Whale – Friday 21 April, 8pm
Baillie Gifford Stage, Old Divinity School.
A life-threatening encounter with a whale while on a kayak led to biologist, wildlife filmmaker and St John’s alumnus Tom Mustill’s thrilling scientific investigation into the pioneering world of animal communication, where big data and artificial intelligence are changing our relationship with animals forever. Go along to hear about his findings.
Tickets: £14, concessions (under 25s or unemployed) £10.
Further information and to book tickets
And finally
Huge congratulations to Fiona Boston, Domestic Bursar’s Secretary, who has recently got engaged to her boyfriend, Jim. Fiona has worked in two different departments at St John’s since she joined the College in 2008. The happy couple have not set a date yet but we will pester her regularly for an update until they do.
