The Queen's College Record 2020

But I am far more excited about the future off the pitch. Despite the large intake,
the incoming members took in the spirit of a very close club: an odd assortment
of individuals who when together looked after each other and tried to make the
environment around them better. Our official sponsorship by Movember was an
honour and I hope will ensure a legacy of the positive use of team spirit within the
club. The questionable team barbeque with faulty barbeques in November, for me, will
be remembered forever. And despite of course the curtailing of the season by COVID,
one of my favourite memories of the 2020 lockdown will be the frequent and ridiculous
club Zoom calls organised by Jack Wilson. This is the end of my stint at QCRFC, and
of my second captaincy. It has been an honour and a pleasure to associate with such
a group of men who I would cherish meeting for a drink at any time. That to me is the
essence of the club, that an unusual group all became bonded to every individual,
despite admittedly little rugby skill, even with an old 4 th year like me. I pass on to a very
capable new Captain Jack Wilson, VC Max Higdon, and Social Secs of Harry Turner
and James Hawke. I hope the club carries on like this, never taking itself too seriously,
and built on a core of simply good people, for a long time to come.
Reports and College Activities
QUEEN’S COLLEGE SYMPOSIA (QCS)
Alberto Corrado
This year the QCS has seen lively discussion of topics as wide-ranging as Japanese
literature and quantum mechanics, and has been a great nexus for sharing ideas
across disciplines between the Middle and Senior Common Rooms. Participation
increased significantly since last year, with attendees from across the College. We’ve
been delighted to have speakers from both the common rooms. From the SCR we
invited both junior members (namely, two Junior Research Fellows and a Laming
Fellow) and were also pleased to welcome the new Sedleian Professor of Natural
Philosophy, Jon Keating, who gave an extremely well-attended talk on his research.
From the MCR we invited both doctoral and Master’s students, and the symposium
is seen as a fantastic opportunity for newer members of the College to present their
research to an audience of mixed MCR and SCR. Unfortunately the Trinity term
sessions were not able to go ahead due to the COVID outbreak, but we look forward
to continuing next year and possibly trialling holding events at lunchtime to increase
participation even more.
SWIMMING
Ada Taggart
Oxford University Swimming Club (OUSC) is the University’s competitive swimming
team, and this year the team members from Queen’s included Declan Pang, Janet
Chan, Maarten Swart and Ada Taggart.
College Record 2020 | The Queen’s College 81