Ripon newsletter: March 2023
Welcome to your first Ripon newsletter of 2023! Today actually marks one year since the alumni team decided to launch a Ripon newsletter. This time last year we began planning, checking our alumni database, and everything else needed for when we sent the first newsletter to you in June 2022. How time flies!
Since then, we hope you’ve enjoyed receiving a quarterly newsletter just for our Ripon College and Ripon campus alumni. This year, we’ll also be uploading each Ripon newsletter to our blog and will upload last year’s newsletters in due course. As always, if you know of anyone who attended Ripon College or campus who doesn’t receive this newsletter, please ask them to contact us to be added to the mailing list.
In this newsletter we’re sharing some opportunities for you to shed some light on Ripon College and Ripon campus in your own words.
Looking back: Ripon College in 1923
Last week we marked International Women’s Day on 8 March with a week of content dedicated to our alumnae community. Part of this was a new blog post about what life was like at Ripon College a century ago in 1923. Initially, we weren’t sure how much information we’d find about life for our students at the time, but after contacting the team who oversee the university archive, they were able to identify a wealth of documents for us. These included original photographs, letters, books of correspondence and past copies of The Ripon Association magazine.
It was a privilege to look through these documents and piece together a coherent idea of what life was like in 1923 for our students. We learnt what sports students played, the clubs they could join and about the beginning of the Corridor system. We also uncovered lots of new photos which we’re still in the process of going through for future use in blogs and online content.
Find out more about life in 1923 for our students at Ripon College on our blog. You can also reread our blog for last year’s International Women’s Day celebrations exploring the unknown story of our first alumna.
News from Ripon
We know that our alumni live around the UK and around the world. Despite the rise of social media and online news websites, it can still be difficult to find out what’s been happening elsewhere. We can’t give you a full rundown in every newsletter, but here are three interesting news stories from the past few months:
- Ripon will once again be hosting its own Theatre Festival after the success of last year’s. Including open air theatre performances and events for the whole family, you can keep an eye on what’s happening over the festival in June on their website.
- Ripon’s Civic Society criticised the cathedral’s latest plans to create more facilities and improved disability access due to the proposed positioning of the building near the Cathedral. BBC News wrote a useful article explaining the proposal and each side’s position.
- You might also have seen at the start of February news stories about a ‘Stonehenge of the North’ being gifted to the nation. But did you know that the Thornborough Henges are near Ripon? Now managed by English Heritage, and open for free, did you ever visit these nearby henges? You can read more about them in a BBC News article and on the English Heritage website.
A fundraising year
If you follow us on social media and have been reading the monthly newsletter over the past year, you might have noticed that we’ve started talking about student scholarships a lot more than we used to. This is for one very simple reason: we’d like to support more students.
This year we’ve introduced two fun ways for alumni to get involved: attending Your YSJ Reunion and running the York 10K with us. Each reunion ticket includes a £10 contribution to our alumni-funded scholarships, and each York 10K runner has a fundraising target of £100. From reunion ticket and raffle ticket sales alone, we’ve raised over £2000!
This year we’re also introducing the group scholarship, a new way for alumni to support students at a lower personal cost. A group scholarship is the chance for a group of alumni to come together and create a scholarship that fits their criteria. The only stipulation is that the scholarship is to the value of £1000 a year, for three years. This sounds like a lot of money (and it is), but split between a group of friends, this should make supporting students cheaper.
For example, if ten alumni create a scholarship together and each donate £8.50 a month, for three years, that would support an undergraduate student for the entirety of their degree. Supporting a student together doesn’t have to be expensive, but it will make a big difference.
You can find out more about supporting students on our website. You can also see more about the criteria for our alumni-funded scholarships on our website too.
Help us tell the story of Ripon
We’ve just started a new project and we need your help. We’d like to record an audio tour of our York campus, which will include sections about the foundation of Ripon College and some archival items on display from Ripon.
We want alumni from Ripon to help narrate parts of this tour because who knows Ripon College and Ripon campus better than those who studied there?
To get involved, please email us a recording of you reading the following paragraph by Friday 24 March. Don’t worry about recording quality – we just want to hear your voice!
The college opened with a single student, 16 year old Edward Preston Cordukes from York. 1 more student arrived in July and another 2 in September. These candidates for the college had to bring a certificate with them to show their “moral character, docility and general aptitude”.
In the Summer of 1846, 3 young women carrying their tin trunks arrived at the gloomy building at 14 Monkgate and The Diocesan Institution for Female Teachers was launched. It wouldn’t be until 1862 that the two institutions split into St John’s College and Ripon College.
Upcoming events
This June Newby Hall will be holding Tractor Fest, the largest vintage tractor and engine show in the UK! Find out more about this fantastic event on the VisitRipon website.
At York St John, there’s always an event happening! Including inaugural lectures, musical performances and student showcases, browse our upcoming events on Eventbrite.
Many of our events are also recorded, including our recent Chancellor’s lecture where our Chancellor Reeta Chakrabarti welcomed fellow BBC news presented Ben Brown to be a guest speaker about his career. You can watch this fascinating and insightful lecture for free on YouTube.
This month we’ll also be holding our second annual Cordukes Circle event. Composed of individuals who have committed to regular donations, pledged a legacy or donated over £1000, we can’t wait to welcome them to campus and thank them for their continued generosity and commitment to supporting our students. You can learn more about the Cordukes Circle and how to join on our website.
Tell us your YSJ Family stories
Do you have a relative who studied at Ripon College, Ripon campus or at York St John? We’d like to learn more about the families who studied with us from one generation to the next. You might have seen us talk about this in the monthly newsletter you received two weeks ago, but we want to reiterate that we’re looking for stories from Ripon too.
If you have a relative who also studied with us, please share your stories with us.
Warmer weather is on its way
The weather hasn’t been great recently, so we thought we’d share this photo of Ripon Wing from warmer times! Although there’s no blossom on campus yet, we can’t wait for some warmer weather soon.
News from YSJ
- This month we’re sponsoring York Literature Festival, a month long celebration of literature around the city. Including free and low cost events, you can find out more about York Literature Festival on our website.
- This week York St John will be holding our third annual Green Week. Including workshops, film screenings and other events, you can find out more our Green Week events on our website.
- Three of our second year History students have shed new light on Margaret Clitherow’s relic housed at Bar Convent in York. Their work is showcased in a new display at Bar Convent to mark International Women’s Day and the anniversary of her martyrdom. You can find out more about this work on our website.
Old Students’ Day
Whilst we were looking for information for our International Women’s Day blog, we rediscovered that it’s not just York St John that invited alumni back for sporting fixtures! The first weekend in December was Ripon College’s Old Students Day, where alumnae were invited back for hockey and netball matches before enjoying tea and cakes afterwards.
We know that in 1923, it was the students who won both matches. This might be because although hockey was a well established sport, netball was a recent addition to the College curriculum, so alumni will have had less exposure to the sport.
Did you ever take part in an Old Student’s Day or sporting event?
Alumni Snapshots
What’s your favourite memory from when you studied with us? What have you done since receiving your certificate from us and what advice do you have for current students?
Since launching our alumni snapshots we haven’t had many back from you, our Ripon alumni. This means that when we publish our alumni snapshots, Ripon College and Ripon campus will not be equally represented.
This is your chance to change that by telling us more about your time studying with us and about your career. Complete your alumni snapshot on our website.
We hope you find time to enjoy Spring and are looking forward to the warmer weather ahead.
