A New President for Magdalene

On 1st October, Dr Jane Hughes (1987), retired after five years as President of the College.

Professor Brendan Burchell, Drury Fellow in the Social Sciences and a member of the Department of Sociology, has been appointed to succeed her. Professor Burchell writes about his new role.

It is six months now since I started in my new role as President of Magdalene College and it seems a good time to reflect back. Previous presidents told me that it’s a great job and, in that respect, they were absolutely right. I’d been in awe of the Masters and Presidents when I was first elected to a Fellowship back in 1990, and I could not quite believe that it was now me doing the job of President.

Over my 31 years as a Fellow, I’ve played quite a few very different roles, each bringing me into contact with contrasting parts of College life. First, as a Director of Studies, my main focus was on the relatively small number of students studying SPS (later HSPS). Then, as Rooms Tutor, I was working with the JCR and MCR involving all corners of the College estates, some very grand sets and some, well, “quirky” or “quaint” rooms. I was a Tutor for several years, which meant helping undergrads through all sorts of difficulties in their path through Cambridge. For five years I was one of the Admissions Tutors specialising in outreach, taking groups of our students to big events in Liverpool and the North West, and arranging school visits to Cambridge. Those trips were a lot of fun, and it brought me into the world of schools and teachers.

I am still in awe at how much goes on in College, and how well coordinated everything is (most of the time) to keep the show on the road. Working closely with the Master and Bursars I now appreciate how tough those roles can be. It has been a uniquely challenging time in the history of the College with the combination of Brexit and then the pandemic; we’ve relied heavily on the College staff so that university life could continue after a fashion. I have a renewed admiration for all those who put the food on our plates, maintain the buildings, keep the gardens looking stunning and clean up after us; the porters and the less visible but equally valuable roles in admin, HR, IT and accounts.

There has been a lot to learn, but ultimately, I see the most important function of the President is to maintain the community of Fellows. That has been more difficult through the pandemic as we hardly saw each other for a year and a half. As a sociologist, I’m acutely aware of just how important communities are for so many aspects of our lives and our wellbeing, and for so many months we were deprived of all the interactions that make Magdalene such a special place.

In my first Michaelmas Term as President the College was starting to return to normal life; Covid rates were reducing, most Members of the College were getting vaccinated, and we could dine together in Hall. All was going so well until the new Omicron variant hit in December and it felt like we were back in crisis mode. Fortunately, that didn’t last long and the route back to life as we knew it was on track again. Perhaps the highlight of Lent term was the Pepys Dinner, our first proper feast in two years with the Hall filled with the JCR, MCR, SCR, Choir and alumni. It made me realise how much we’d missed each other over the pandemic, and how important it is to re-establish Magdalene as such a special place in the lives of all Members of the College.

I cannot imagine a better ‘day at the office’ than wandering around College, chatting to gardeners, students, porters and Fellows, sharing lunch or dinner with colleagues, all mixed in with supervising exceedingly bright and motivated students and pushing ahead with my research. Just in the last few weeks it feels like we’re back in that world, and I’m a very happy President.

By Professor Brendan Burchell (1990), President

This article was first published in Magdalene Matters Spring/Summer 2022 Issue 52.