Exciting day, exciting news...! Particularly for any NH alumnae out there!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Tuesday 17 June, at the Garden Party in New Hall we told students and
staff who were able to be there that the College has received a huge and
generous donation from one of our former students and her husband. Ros
Smith (Mrs Edwards) and Steve Edwards are giving the College £30
million. The gift is coming in instalments, to be completed by 2013.
This donation is really the endowment of the College, the financial base
on which it can rely through all the ups and downs of life. Most
colleges have this when they are founded and they are named then, by
their founders. That is why we have college names like Pembroke (after
the Countess of Pembroke) or Robinson (after Mr Robinson). This gift is
New Hall's endowment (only 50+ years after we began) and to mark this
great donation, the Governing Body has agreed with the donors that we
will be changing our name.
The story behind this event dates back to the origins of the College in
1954. When we began in Silver Street no one could agree on a name and,
as I said, we had no endowment. The Tutor-in-charge, Miss Murray (later
Dame Rosemary) linked the two and suggested that for the time being the
college should be known as the 'New Hall, Cambridge'. Meanwhile we would
go on searching for a substantial endowment to give us the secure
financial basis on which the College could thrive and the donors of such
a future endowment should be asked to suggest a College name.
While this has been an active part of the College's thinking ever since,
fifty years have passed in which 'New Hall' has established itself as a
strong and independent institution, with over 4,400 alumnae and a
history and values of which it is rightly proud.
It is these values and this history which persuaded our donors to make
their gift. They have asked that Rosemary Murray should be remembered in
it, as our Founder. After careful consideration the Governing Body has
decided that it is appropriate to name the college for its remarkable
founder and to recognise the contribution of the donors who have endowed
us, embodying the College's history in its name in the Cambridge
tradition. For these reasons, we have chosen the name 'Murray Edwards
College'.
We have no idea if the Media will be interested in this story and there
may always be journalists looking for a negative slant. We don't want to
tell students what they should be saying to the media (we’re very proud
that you all have minds of your own!). So please do say what you think,
but when speaking to the media remember that you are being seen as a
representative of the College, and you may be quoted in the national press.
[contact details removed]
I hope that you will share my delight at this wonderful news for the
College.
Best wishes,
Anne Lonsdale
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[edit] New website is now live
http://www.murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk/And for those curious about the benefactors
this is what google found.
Wikipedia is now up to date
I am personally very excited and grateful that we got such a generous endowment and got a name for the college.
New Hall obviously held fond memories for me--- it's hard not to when I have cheered on so many New Hall boats and crews and raced wearing New Hall colours and the New Hall crest. It marks our boats, it marks my bike; I've gotten used to seeing (NH) next to my name on academic lists. But yes, at the end of the day, it was a placeholder name, like on the periodic table for not yet synthesised elements. It speaks potential, and now it has grown. It has a name.
I have never met Dame Rosemary Murray, the founder of the college. She passed away in 2004, the year I came to New Hall. But I did go to her service in Great St Mary's, and since then learnt much about her time at New Hall. From the many recollections I've heard of her over the years, she is an amazing woman who is inspiring to many young women, who had a vision that is kept alive to this day. I would have loved to known her. It is fitting that she is remembered in the new name of the college.
Ros Edwards is an alumna of New Hall. During her speech this afternoon in the gardens, she said she wants to give something back. Perhaps it is a choice--- to be happy on your own, or to make many people happy. If you had 30 million pounds, what is your choice? I don't think there can be a right or wrong, it's a personal choice, that I find admirable.
I will probably never have 30 million pounds in my life, but more importantly, I do not know if I can give with such grace. What do I have to give back? These days I have a habit of travelling light. I don't want too much fame, or friends, or money, or things. But later, when I'm settled down, with fame and friends and money and things, will I give back?
