The Queen's College Record 2023

Old Members’ Activities
Credit: John Cairns
DEVELOPMENT AND OLD MEMBER
RELATIONS REPORT
Dr Justin B. Jacobs
Director of
Development &
Supernumerary Fellow
With the sad news of former Provost Sir Alan Budd’s
passing in Michaelmas Term, it was fitting that this year
should also see the welcome return of the full Old
Members’ events programme. Sir Alan was the driving
force behind the College’s nascent efforts to reconnect the
College with its Old Members and Friends and he
established the Old Members’ Office to maintain this
connection throughout their lives. As Provost, he also
championed the College’s active efforts to fundraise –
something for which he was challenged at the time by
some who felt it was all a bit ‘too American’. He stayed the
course, however, and by forming the Appeal Committee
signalled to the College and its Old Membership the
important role fundraising must play in sustaining and
enhancing the Queen’s experience.
The connections and contributions Sir Alan sought have carried the College steadily
forward for the past 20 years and Sir Alan’s tremendous legacy was clearly on
display throughout the 2022-23 academic year. In September the College hosted
the traditional Old Members’ Dinner and in July over 600 people attended the first
Garden Party held since 2019. In between, the Boar’s Head and Needle and Thread
Gaudies happily returned, the Taberdars’ Society met in London and Oxford, the
College celebrated its own part in the 400 th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio
at the London Reception held at Stationers’ Hall, and the Queen’s Society was
welcomed back for a ‘thank you’ reception in the Provost’s Garden.
This was also the year the College was able to make its first international trip in
over three years. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, however, and over the first
week of December the Provost and members of the Old Members’ Office met Old
Members and Friends over dinner and drinks in Washington, DC, New York City, and
Boston. Outside of these events, it was also a pleasure to be able to make individual
visits to meet Old Members based in San Francisco and Palo Alto, Switzerland, and
at a mountain lodge nestled in the Appalachians of northern Virginia. Wherever we
met Old Members this year, the welcome we received was warm and gracious and
we are grateful to all of those who hosted us.
Further highlights and details from our year of Old Members’ events and relations
can be found in the report of the President of the Old Members’ Association
on the following pages. On behalf of the Old Members’ Office, I would like to
take this opportunity to extend our thanks to outgoing President Paul Newton
64 The Queen’s College | College Record 2023