Grey College, Durham
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Template:Durham college Grey College is a college of the University of Durham in England. It is named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, who was Prime Minister at the time of the University's foundation (and who also gives his name to Earl Grey tea).
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History
Founded in 1959, Grey was the first college of the University's post-war expansion, and the second college to open on Elvet Hill after St Mary's. It was also the last college founded before the separation of Durham and Newcastle in 1963. The college initially only admitted men, but has been mixed since 1984.
In March 1959, just a few months before the opening of the college, the Elvet block (then the main block of the college) was devastated by fire. However the college recovered to open as scheduled in October and has since adopted the phoenix as its unofficial badge. The college coat of arms features a scaling ladder (or gré — the badge of the Grey family) between two St Cuthbert's crosses (the symbol of Durham). A new grant of arms in 2004 confirmed these and added the phoenix as a crest.
The head of the college is known as the Master. The first Master was Dr Sydney Holgate, who was head of the college from its foundation until 1980. He was followed by Eric Halladay who was Master until 1988 when Victor Watts took over. The current Master is Professor J. Martyn Chamberlain, appointed after the sudden death of Victor Watts in 2002. The college has a fellowship in Mathematics (the Alan David Richards Fellowship) and a general fellowship scheme (the Sydney Holgate Fellowships), which includes funding for Research Fellows and an Artist in Residence.
During the 1966 World Cup, Grey was home to the Soviet Union's football team who were playing their group matches in Sunderland and Middlesbrough. They won all their matches while based in Durham, but eventually lost to West Germany in the semi-finals.
About The College
There are four accommodation blocks on site: Hollingside (the main building), Elvet, Oswald, and Holgate House. Grey was the first college in Durham to have all of its bedrooms connected to the university computer network. The college offers a number of other facilities: Hollingside contains the 350-seater dining room (the college is fully catered), the college bar and the JCR, which has the largest TV of any Durham college, while Holgate House has a conference centre and a library with over 7,000 books. A fifth building, Fountains Hall, is the home of Fountains Theatre Company, and also contains the college chapel, a multi-purpose hall (for everything from badminton to band practice), and a pizza bar. The University Botanic Garden and the High Wood are located next door to the college, and a path leads directly to the Science Site.
Grey is renowned for having an excellent college spirit and a vibrant social calender. Notable social events include the Cheese Societies' "Winter Wonderland of Cheese", infamous for its "secret recipe" punch (made of vodka and white lightning amongst other things), "The Informal Ball" with it's fancy dress themes including 2005's "Music Legends" (with people dressed as anything from Mozart to The Spice Girls to The Crazy Frog) and Grey Day, with its mix of fun events on the lawn and college bands, traditionally accompanied with the consumption of alcohol. The year comes to an end with "The Phoenix Ball", one of the largest and most popular balls in the entire University.
Another infamous college event is the Cheese Society's "Pilgrimage to Wendsleydale" which revolves around a coach trip to a number of breweries and dairies in Yorkshire. The event has attracted controversy in past years for a number of reasons; copious drinking, theft from places visited and the picking up of an old man who the society was drinking with amongst other things have nearly lead to it being banned.
Members of the college sometimes refer to themself as the "Grey Army" and can be found at many college sporting events (usually rugby games) supporting the team. Another mascot of the college is the "Trout"- a Big Mouth Billy Bass toy that in the past has been stationed behind the bar but currently resides in the college shop.
Notable Alumni
- 50 Pence- International Comedy Rapper
External links
- Grey College official website
- Grey College JCR undergraduate student organisation
- Grey College MCR postgraduate student organisation
- Grey College SCR staff organisation
- Grey College Association alumni organisation
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| Collingwood | George Stephenson | Grey | Hatfield | John Snow | Josephine Butler | St Aidan's | St Chad's | St Cuthbert's Society | St Hild and St Bede | St John's | St Mary's | Trevelyan | University | Ushaw | Ustinov | Van Mildert |
