No 6261
Thursday 12 April 2012
Vol cxlii No 26
pp. 515–533
All the Graces submitted to the Regent House on 14 March 2012 (Reporter, 2011–12, p. 504) were approved at 4 p.m. on Friday, 23 March 2012.
Under the authority of Grace 1 of 22 February 2012, the Common Seal of the University was affixed, in the presence of S. J. Young, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, and J. W. Nicholls, Registrary, to an Address to Her Majesty The Queen on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of Her Majesty’s accession to the throne.1
1See p. 532 below.
The Grace submitted to the Regent House on 21 March 2012 (Reporter, 2011–12, p. 512) was approved at 4 p.m. on Friday, 30 March 2012.
A Congregation of the Regent House was held this day at 11 a.m. Processions formed in the Schools Arcade at 10.55 a.m. and entered the Senate-House by the East Door. The Chancellor, wearing the festal gown of a Doctor of Law, walked with the Vice-Chancellor in the second procession, and was then seated on the south side of the dais, alongside the Throne. The Vice-Chancellor and the Proctors sat on the north side of the dais and the Registrary at his table on the north side of the House.
The Proctors announced the business of the Congregation. Under the direction of the University Organist, Mr Stephen Cleobury CBE, the Choir of King’s College then performed the first of three pieces by Cambridge composers during the Congregation: Cities and Thrones and Powers by Professor Alexander Goehr. The Vice-Chancellor, the Registrary, the Proctors, the Esquire Bedells, and the University Marshal then stood while the Vice-Chancellor delivered the following address to the Chancellor, who remained seated:
I have pleasure in confirming that in an election in the Michaelmas Term, the Senate of the University – Regent and Non-Regent, resident and non-resident – elected as Chancellor in succession to His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, The Lord Sainsbury of Turville, alumnus and Honorary Fellow of King’s College.
Chancellor, it is my great privilege as Vice-Chancellor to welcome you to our Senate-House for this, your installation, and in a moment to ask you to take the oath of admission to office, to receive the Statutes and Ordinances of the University from the Registrary, and to sign the Book of Admission.
Chancellor, I now invite you to stand and take the oath.
Attended by the Marshal with his mace, the Chancellor stood and moved in front of the Throne, and after taking the Vice-Chancellor’s right hand he was asked: Dabis fidem te bene et fideliter praestiturum omnia quae spectent ad officium cancellarii academiae Cantabrigiensis? He replied: Ita do fidem and put on his doctoral bonnet.
The Marshal then conducted the Chancellor to the Registrary’s table, where he signed the Book of Admission to Office and received a copy of the Statutes and Ordinances from the Registrary. The Marshal then escorted the Chancellor to the East End of the House, and while the choir performed The Fayrfax Carol by Thomas Adès, the Chancellor exchanged his doctoral gown and bonnet for the Chancellor’s State Robe and Cap. From this point his train was borne by Ms Helen Oxenham, B.A., M.Phil., of King’s College.
The Vice-Chancellor then requested that the Esquire Bedells should install the Chancellor. Bearing their maces, the Bedells walked from the dais to the East End of the House, and having first called the Congregation to stand, led the Chancellor to the Throne whilst a fanfare was sounded. Upon reaching the Throne, the Chancellor sat and others present were seated again.
The Orator then addressed the Chancellor as follows:
DIGNISSIME domine, Cancellarie Academiae nostrae: quod ut praescribunt statuta et e more prisco suffragiis totius Senatus designatus hoc summum atque antiquissimum munus et officium Cancellariatus Vniuersitatis Cantabrigiensis suscipere dignatus es, nos Procancellarius, Magistri et Scholares huius Academiae tibi gratias quam maximas agimus.
summum dico quia e statutis quorum librum iam accepisti, quaeque te defensurum sustentaturum exerciturum esse promisisti, tibi datum est ut congregationes conuoces, ad suum gradum supplicem quemque admittas, denique nos omnes caueas ut officia nostra Academiae rite praestemus; et antiquissimum quod, si monumenta euolueris, CXXXXII uiros egregios ante te ad hos summos honores per annos fere DCCLX peruenisse inuenies. quorum in numero sua quemque uirtus extollebat ut alii scientiis litterisue, alii in acie, in ecclesia, in summa re publica administranda pro sua parte eminerent.
nec dubium est quin tu, domine, dignus sis qui in hunc ordinem asciscaris. cur enim doctrinae argumenta praebere debeo tuae, qui Collegi tui Regalis honoris causa socius adscriptus es, quemque nos ipsi titulo Doctoris in Iure ornauimus? aut operarum ciuitati datarum, qui dum penes te est curatio rerum philosophicarum, ob sinceritatem non minus quam res gestas laudem et approbationem omnium factionum ita comparasti ut non horum aut illorum partibus studere sed summo bono publico consulere uidereris? humanitatem denique tu ipse clarissime probasti iis beneficiis quae per consilium tuum Gatsbianum tam diligentia quam prouidentia idcirco largitus es ut optima omnia studia atque ingenuae artes foueantur, ut Cereris cerebelli reipublicae administrandae mysteria percontemur, ut Africae incolae meliore condicione utantur. credis enim priuatos, quippe qui ciuitatibus audaciores esse queant, maiora petere posse; quae liceat altiora sint quam quae hoc tempore attingamus, fore ut in dies citius curramus et membra porro protendamus dum tandem capiantur!
cum igitur doctoris purpureo deposito hanc togam aureatam indueris, sine me iam iterare id quod dixit Orator proximus cum te ad proximum Cancellarium adduceret: nos omnes sperare fore ut de tua erga nos benignitate constantia fide optime mereamur.
dignissime et nobilissime domine,
DAVID JOHN baro SAINSBVRY de TVRVILLE,
VNIVERSITATIS CANTABRIGIENSIS CANCELLARIVM te salutamus.
MY NOBLE LORD, most worthy Chancellor of our University: we, the Vice-Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars give you heartfelt thanks that, in accordance with Statute and our long-standing custom, having been elected by the votes of the whole Senate, you have consented to accept this highest and most ancient office of Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
Yours is the highest office amongst us because, by the Statutes contained in the book which you have just received, and which you have sworn to defend, uphold, and enforce, to you is given the power to summon Congregations, to award Degrees, and to see to it that we Officers of the University duly perform our duties. And it is the most ancient because, according to the records, one hundred and forty-two Chancellors have held it before you over a period of more than seven hundred and sixty years. Each of them was distinguished in his own way, some in the Arts and Sciences, others on the field of battle, in the Church, or in government.
There cannot be any doubt, Sir, that you deserve your place amongst them. If I must prove your academic credentials, I need only observe that you are an alumnus and an Honorary Fellow of King’s College, and that the University has already honoured you with the title of Doctor of Law. And if I must demonstrate your service to your country, were you not a Minister of State who, looking not to party interest but to the public good, drew praise and approbation from all sides for your seriousness of purpose and achievements in the cause of science and research? Of your munificence, you yourself provide the clearest evidence with those generous, careful, and foresighted benefactions, made through your Gatsby Foundation, with the aims of nurturing education and the arts, fostering research into plant sciences, neuroscience, and public policy, and improving the lot of the people of Africa. For it is your belief that private individuals, who can be bolder in their philanthropic activities than can governments, can set their sights on more difficult goals. And, as the eponym of your Foundation said, what matter if those goals elude us today, for ‘tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further. . . And one fine morning. . .’.
My predecessor once presented you to yours to receive the scarlet gown of a Doctor; now you have exchanged it for the golden robe of a Chancellor, allow me to repeat his words: we dare to hope that your sturdy and generous confidence in us is something we may continue to deserve.
DAVID JOHN Lord SAINSBURY of TURVILLE, we salute you as
CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
The Chancellor then stood and made the following reply:
It is fifty-six years since I gave up the study of Latin and Greek, but I have no hesitation in saying that that was a magnificent speech by the Orator, and I would like to thank him most sincerely for his eloquent words. As was the case fifty-six years ago, I found that having an English translation at hand greatly increased my appreciation of the Latin.
I am immensely honoured and pleased for many reasons to have been elected by the Senate as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. It is a great honour to follow in the footsteps of Prince Philip who has enthusiastically supported the University for thirty-five years.
It is also a great pleasure to be associated with one of the most intellectually exciting places in the world, and a university which can credibly claim that over the last eight hundred years it has made a greater contribution to civilization and the advancement of knowledge than any other. To list only a few of the brilliant and creative men and women who have studied, taught or done research here is to be filled with awe at the contribution that Cambridge has made; Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Ernest Rutherford, Alan Turing, Dorothy Hodgkin and Francis Crick. John Donne, Milton, William Wordsworth, Tennyson and Sylvia Plath. Alfred Marshal, John Maynard Keynes and Joan Robinson. James Frazer and Dorothy Garrod.
The four years that I spent at Cambridge, reading first of all history and then psychology, was also the period when I gained the confidence to think for myself and to apply my knowledge and intellectual skills to the problems of the day. Cambridge has always, therefore, been for me a moveable feast which has stayed with me wherever I have gone. It was also at Cambridge that I learnt about the power of ideas, and my life in industry and politics has confirmed my view that Keynes was right when he said at the end of ‘The General Theory’:
“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. . . I am sure that the power of vested interest is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas.”
Finally, I am sure that in the years ahead universities will play an even greater role in the complex world in which we live. We are today faced with major challenges in the fields of climate change, food security and the necessary restructuring of the global economy, and in all of them we need the universities to advance our knowledge if we are to avoid disaster.
There is then the important question of what role the Chancellor should play, and I was interested to read the following slightly alarming paragraph in a history of Cambridge:
“On the whole Cambridge University has been well served by its Chancellors. John Fisher and Lord Burghley in the sixteenth century and Prince Albert in the nineteenth were all instrumental in bringing about much-needed changes which improved the standing and the working of the university. Most of the others had the wisdom to carry out their duties with dignity, without attempting to interfere in its internal affairs. The prominence of the Chancellor’s position has not, in the past made for security: seven have ended their period of office on the executioner’s block.”
Not something the Nomination Board told me when they approached me about becoming a candidate. Bearing this historical record in mind, I have decided to confine my activities as Chancellor to persuading the politicians and the public that universities play a key role in our national life, to bringing about a more intelligent dialogue between universities and the government in areas such as access and the impact of research, to defending the academic freedom and autonomy of the university if they are threatened, and to promoting Cambridge at home and abroad. It is a task that I approach with great enthusiasm as I hope you can see from these brief remarks.
The Chancellor’s remarks were followed by the Magnificat by Giles Swayne.
The Chancellor dissolved the Congregation and the National Anthem was sung.
The Chancellor then left in procession through the South Door. Music to accompany the processions and the installation was performed by Triumph Brass, led by Mr Shane Brennan.
After the Congregation, a reception in the Chancellor’s honour was held under cover of a marquee in Senate-House Yard.
This section is available to current staff and students of the University of Cambridge. Please log in.
By authority of Grace 1 of 22 February 2012, the Chancellor presented the sealed Address to Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, 27 March 2012. Other Privileged Bodies also presented their Address at the same ceremony. In accordance with the relevant regulation, as amended by Grace 2 of 22 February 2012, the Chancellor was accompanied by a deputation consisting of the Vice-Chancellor, the Registrary, the Orator, and the Proctors, and by the following members of the University nominated for this occasion: Dr Claire Pike (a Post-doctoral Researcher), Ms Amanda Talhat (a Graduate Student), and Mr Gerard Tully (President of the Cambridge University Students Union). The Esquire Bedells were in attendance on the Chancellor and the University Marshal attended upon the Vice-Chancellor.
The text of the Address delivered to Her Majesty by the Chancellor was as follows:
May it please Your Majesty,
We, Your Majesty’s loyal and devoted Subjects, the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Cambridge, offer our dutiful and heartfelt congratulations on the joyous occasion of Your Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee.
Our University has long benefited from connections with Your Majesty’s family, connections which have been particularly close during your own reign. Your sons The Prince of Wales and The Earl of Wessex, and your cousin The Duke of Gloucester, number among our alumni; The Duke of Edinburgh served with distinction as our Chancellor for thirty-five years. You have created two Regius Professorships, one in Botany to celebrate our eighth centenary, when you favoured us with a visit to our Senate-House and received our last Address, and a second in Engineering, to mark the retirement of Prince Philip as our Chancellor. For all these things we offer our most sincere thanks.
Your long reign has seen many changes take place in your Kingdom and Realms and in the world beyond, and they have not all been comfortable. But with a gentle hand upon the rudder of the ship of State you have kept us on a safe course. We give thanks for your wisdom, strength, and constancy, and as you have recently dedicated yourself anew to the service of your people, so now we take this opportunity to reaffirm our loyalty and devotion to the Throne and Person of Your Majesty.
God save The Queen.
Upon receipt of their Addresses, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN made the following gracious reply to the representatives of the Privileged Bodies present at Buckingham Palace:
It is ten years since you were last gathered here on the occasion of my Golden Jubilee. Over the past decade, you, the Privileged Bodies and corporations of the United Kingdom have continued your important work in supporting the core values of this nation, in helping to preserve our time-honoured traditions and most importantly, in shaping its future.
Today’s ceremony, on the occasion of my Diamond Jubilee, provides an opportunity to reflect on the significant contribution your diverse organisations have made to the fabric and well-being of society. Over the past 60 years, you have strengthened this country, boosting prosperity through innovation and development, and enriching its spiritual life.
For those bodies in the fields of education, science and the arts, you have added to our intellectual capital and enhanced our reputation for ingenuity and creativity; the Church and other religious bodies have offered a spiritual and social framework, sustained communities and helped the disadvantaged; while the civic and other bodies have provided vital services to support people in their daily lives. All of you have worked to promote cooperation and friendship within the communities of the United Kingdom, and the wider Commonwealth community.
Today’s gathering allows us to pay tribute to the leaders of the Privileged Bodies represented here today, but also to the staff and volunteers who are the strength of these organisations. I have enjoyed reading your Loyal Addresses which reflect the professional excellence and achievement for which you are internationally renowned.
Prince Philip and I thank you for your warm expressions of loyalty and affection, and for the dedicated service you continue to offer our nation.
J. W. NICHOLLS, Registrary
END OF THE OFFICIAL PART OF THE ‘REPORTER’