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34 | Somerville Magzine The Somerville Campaign: Your chance to make a difference In the summer of 2009, Somerville College launched an ambitious £25 million fundraising campaign to secure the future of a pioneering institution. The response from alumni and friends has been overwhelming…but there is still a long way to go. Artists impression of a corridor in one of the new Student Accommodation Blocks, with Donor Plaque outside each bedroom door by Niall McLaughlin Architects JULIE HAGE Head of Development Julie Hage became Somerville’s Head of Development in September 2009. She studied the history of ideas at universities in Denmark and France, and has an MA from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. She has previously worked in policy development and fundraising at UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre in Paris, the Danish Ministry for Culture and the National Museum of Denmark. Most recently she worked for the University of Aberdeen’s £150 million campaign. If you would like to hear more about the Campaign, please contact Julie on julie.hage@some.ox.ac.uk or 01865 280596. gifts of all sizes from Somervillians of all ages have a great impact Somerville may have some exceptional alumni – like Margaret Thatcher, Indira Ghandi and Dorothy Hodgkin. Yet what really makes this place special is less the exception than the rule: the ‘ordinary’ Somervillians who have given the College such extraordinary support over the years. It was this long tradition of support from alumni and friends that gave Somerville the confi dence to launch a major new campaign last year. The simple fact is that Oxford’s unique tutorial system and collegiate structure are expensive to maintain. No college can rely on state funding, combined with fees, to balance its books every year – let alone for capital projects. And, while other Oxford colleges have vast endowment funds swelled by several hundred years of investment, Somerville relies on the generosity of its former students, supplemented by income from a modest endowment. The Somerville Campaign has three vital priorities. First, there is student support. We are proud that the College has one of Oxford’s highest percentages of students receiving bursaries (26% in 2008–09). However, if we are to continue to compete for talent in these times of increasing student hardship, funding must increase. Second there are academic and teaching posts. The shortfall in Fellowship funding currently stands at over £500,000 a year, the equivalent of income from a £15 million endowment. Support for fellowships is therefore vital to the College’s future. Third – and most pressing – are our plans for new student accommodation on the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter (ROQ) site, which will become the hub of Campaign figures Overall Target Total reached to date Target for new buildings £25 million £13 million £2 million by September 2011 Total raised for new buildings £550,000 Total number of donors to the Campaign 1500 the University of Oxford, with new central offices and buildings for Humanities and Mathematics. We are fortunate that it is right next door to Somerville. With our two new buildings (see page 32), Somerville will be able to house all of its undergraduates throughout their studies. On an individual level, the new facilities will ease financial burdens and enable resident students to feel part of a thriving academic community. On a College level, the accommodation will help us to attract students and raise academic standards yet further – while the 68 new en-suite rooms will bring in vital income from conferences during vacations. The total project cost of £11 million will be partially met through loans and by selling property, but at least £2 million needs to be raised from philanthropy by the end of the next academic year. Alumni and friends have already responded with generous contributions, and more than £550,000 has been raised for the new buildings. We hope our innovative designs for donor recognition will inspire many other individuals and groups to give generously, following the example of the class of 1959 (see page 6). Currently, around 13% of Somervillians give to their former College. This is very respectable in UK terms. However, in certain US institutions more than 60% of alumni give regular support. So Somerville still has great potential to improve. As the recent telephone appeal showed (see page 4), gifts of all sizes from Somervillians of all ages have a great impact. Two graduates of 1989 and 1990 have also shown great initiative in producing a recent Campaign mailing to enlist support for the new buildings. So far, our total is over half way to the overall target. The £13 million raised to date is the result of more than 1,500 donations from alumni and friends. It tells a very important story about a dedicated community of donors and a highly developed culture of giving. Yet there is a long way to go. Every week, the newspaper headlines about falling university funding make our endeavour seem all the more urgent. Ultimately, to secure Somerville’s future, it will be necessary to reach out to alumni of all ages to engage them in support of College priorities. The fi nal goal is thus not just to exceed the target of £25 million, but to build a culture of giving which will secure the College’s future for decades to come.
Somerville Magzine | 35 The gift of education Inspired by Margaret Thatcher, an entrepreneur with no previous Somerville connection is generously funding graduate scholarships at Somerville. “S he stood by her beliefs, carrying her decisions all the way through” says Lord Harris of Peckham admiringly of Baroness Thatcher. This typically Somervillian trait could equally be ascribed to Lord Harris, a dyslexic south London schoolboy turned multimillionaire benefactor. Instead of completing his education, he took over the family business when his father died, giving up his dream of becoming a professional footballer. Over half a century later he is generously supporting students at the highest academic levels, by funding Somerville’s three new Thatcher Scholarships for the next ten years. In 1957, 15 year-old Philip Harris found himself running three carpet shops. With the determination and leadership skills practised on the football field, he turned a small family business into the 1,700-store Harris Queensway group, which he eventually sold for £450 million. After 31 years of work, his £67 million share of the proceeds might have been reward enough. But two months later he began again. Focussing on what he knew, Lord Harris established Carpetright, which now sells 20% of all UK floor coverings. By a strange twist of fate his new company was floated in the same month that his old one collapsed. Despite over 50 years in the retail business, Lord Harris has not lost his enthusiasm for carpets. On the morning I interviewed him, he had dashed down to the warehouse and had to be located amongst the rolls. But we talked mainly about his support for education, which he believes is the key to social change: “It gives bright kids who lack opportunities a chance in life. It’s about motivation. You instil motivation by making a child want to come to school, and then make him want to learn.” Lord Harris believes that everyone should be given the encouragement to succeed. He sponsors the Harris Federation of South London Schools, an educational foundation that now runs nine City Academies, seven specialist and four primary schools, teaching 20,000 children. Rather than huge investments in new buildings and equipment, the Federation concentrates on uniform, discipline and rewards, and encourages sport. But most important is a firm belief that the children can succeed. The results are impressive. From failing, undersubscribed schools, four of the six academies inspected have been judged outstanding by Ofsted. One went from inadequate to outstanding in two years. Examination results are steadily improving and the schools are vastly oversubscribed. These results have been achieved without selective entrance, and the pupils are certainly not privileged: 43% get free school meals and 20% cannot read or write when they arrive. The link with Somerville becomes more obvious when Lord Harris talks about his ambitions for these children. He wants to send three-quarters of sixth form students to university. As usual, he has invested his time and money in seeing this through, building links with Oriel, and Lucy Cavendish College in Cambridge. He also supports Harris Manchester College, which became part of Oxford University in 1990 and focuses on mature students to provide higher education for those traditionally excluded from it. “Somerville’s ethos has always been to improve access to non-traditional backgrounds and to make the college more approachable,” says Dame Fiona Caldicott. “Somerville has one of the largest proportions of students on student bursaries.” Australian Robert Simpson is one of them. He is reading for a DPhil in philosophy, researching contemporary free speech issues and liberal multiculturalism. For him, the scholarship means the chance to study outside Australia. “As a recipient of the Thatcher scholarship, I have an opportunity to work in one of the best centres for philosophy and political studies in the world. I feel very lucky to be here, working in such an intellectually rich environment, and this would not have been possible without the Thatcher scholarship.” Talented young academics are essential to the future of a thriving international academic community, but student bursaries may not be enough. Competition from wealthier institutions is tough. The first three Thatcher Graduate Scholars have impressed Lord Harris already with their willingness to listen and learn. With bursaries like these, Somerville can continue to provide a springboard for outstanding academics like Dorothy Hodgkin, who went on to tutor a certain Margaret Roberts. And we all know what became of her. CLARE HOWARTH (Latham, 1985, PPE) It gives bright kids who lack opportunities a chance in life (l – r) Oliver Gregory (2009, MSt candidate in English 1780 – 1900), Franziska Maria Hack (2009, DPhil candidate in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology), Lord Harris of Peckham, Robert Simpson (2009, DPhil candidate in Philosophy)
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