The Queen's College, Oxford

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The Queen's College, Oxford

College name

The Queen's College

Collegii Reginae

Named after

Queen Philippa of Hainault

Established

1341

Sister College

Pembroke College

Provost

Sir Alan Budd

JCR President

Vishal Mashru

Undergraduates

350

MCR President

Matthias Range

Graduates

133

Homepage

Boatclub

High Street entrance to Queen's College from the main quad.

Queen's Lane, Oxford.

The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on the High Street. It is one of the wealthier colleges with an estimated financial endowment of £88m (2003).

1 History
2 College Chapel
3 College Life
- 3.1 Sport
- 3.2 Academic issues
4 Notable former students
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

The college was founded during the 14th century by a chaplain, Robert de Eglesfield, of Queen Philippa of Hainault, wife of King Edward III of England, hence the name. It should be noted that whilst the name of Queens' College, Cambridge is plural, the Oxford college is singular. The coat of arms of three red eagles on a white background was inspired by the chaplain's surname. The magnificent frontage was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, part of a substantial rebuilding in the 18th century during which the impressive library was built.

The college has had a long association with the north of England, in part because of its founder. Eglesfield is a village in Cumberland. This was reinforced for many years until relatively recently by the large number of Hastings Scholarships given to men from 20 schools in Yorkshire, Westmorland and Cumberland. One of the most famous feasts of the College is the Boar's Head Gaudy, which originally was the Christmas Dinner for members of the College who were unable to return home to the north of England over the Christmas break between terms, but is now a feast for old members of the College on the Saturday before Christmas.

[edit] College Chapel

The College Chapel is noted for its excellent Frobenius organ in the west gallery. It was installed in 1965, replacing a Rushworth and Dreaper organ from 1931. The earliest mention of an organ is 1826. The Chapel Choir has been particularly successful and busy in recent years.

[edit] College Life

Queen's is an active community performing strongly in intercollegiate sport competitions, having a variety of societies and, as one of the larger colleges, hosting triennial Commemoration balls. The 2004 ball was notable for the presence of Chesney Hawkes and his rendition of "The One and Only", while the 2007 ball coincides with the 666th anniversary of the college. Queen's is host to a number of dining, drinking and sports societies as well as some which are more academically orientated such as a medical society.

[edit] Sport

The Queen's College competes strongly in most of the intercollegiate Cuppers (tournament style) and league sports with many first teams placed in the 1st division. In 2005 the 1st XI football team won the league competition and netball has been especially strong.

The College is notable for having one of the oldest boat clubs in the world. In 1837, The Queen's College Boat Club represented Oxford in the third Boat Race against Lady Margaret Boat Club, representing Cambridge, and won. This event, held on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames, is credited with leading to support from the town for the establishment of the Henley Royal Regatta, one of the most famous rowing events in the world, in 1839. Rowing is still a major sport in the College, with the men placed 9th in Torpids and 13th in Eights and the women 2nd in Torpids and 8th in Eights. The women are closing in on the Head of the River in Torpids.

Rowing is not the only sport in which members of the college excel. In 2005, in addition to two Blues in women's rowing, 11 other members of the college were awarded a Blue and 11 were awarded Half Blues.

[edit] Academic issues

The college has been strong academically for many years. In 2005, 21 members of the college were awarded First Class B. A. degrees, 6 were awarded University Prizes and 17 were awarded D. Phil. degrees.