The precious pearl of learning

As Michaelmas Term gets underway, it’s an enormous honour to return to Clare as Master. My Installation on 1 October was a hugely moving occasion: it was wonderful to be joined by Fellows, staff, students and even some alumni too, including three dear friends who matriculated with me in 1981. Our Director of Music, Graham Ross, had only had a short time to rehearse the new Choir in advance so it was all the more impressive, when they sang the opening bars of Hadley’s My Beloved Spake, to hear them on such thrilling form.

I know I don’t have to explain to my fellow alumni why Clare means so much to me: those of us who had the privilege of studying here know the way our hearts soar each time we walk across Clare Bridge. Being here 40 years ago was such a transformational experience for me – not just because I met my husband, Christopher, on the Memorial Court lawns in 1982. A world-class education here opened the doors to what has been an extraordinarily varied, demanding and fascinating career so far. Being back even for a few days has highlighted how Clare is still a really friendly place, where community is as important as scholarship. I have received the warmest of welcomes that I would like to think of as Clare’s hallmark, and I look forward hugely to getting to know the whole Clare community.

Of course, we all know how tough it’s been over the past 18 months to sustain any sense of community in our lives. COVID has pushed us all into isolation and we have had to cope with some very difficult times without the benefit of one another’s company. Going round meeting Fellows, students and staff in all departments, I’ve been hearing just how tough it’s been at Clare as well.

Moving to online teaching in a matter of days, when students were still here dealing with COVID outbreaks on staircases, turning the meal provision into takeaway only, delivering food boxes to the self-isolating and managing it all with many staff on furlough, all this while life at home has been for all concerned both worrying and uncertain, has been as demanding as it has been impressive. Moreover, the intricacies generated by the Old Court building project, which means that much of Old Court and the gardens have been out of action, have added greatly to the complexity and the sense
of constraint.

It will be marvellous when the new River Room is completed, the Hall is back in use, and the new lift access on H Staircase is ready so that we can get Clare back to some sense of normality.

I’m sure the Freshers I admitted this week find it impossible to imagine how many of us experienced Cambridge – as a university full of places where women were either not welcome or regarded with some apprehension. It’s sometimes hard to take in that my big sister, who is only ten years older than me, would not have been considered suitable for admission to Clare simply because she is a woman. She was my English teacher at school, an outstanding teacher at that, without whom I probably would not have made it here myself.

These days, Clare is an altogether more diverse institution. I want to build on that in my time here, to ensure that we widen access and increase participation so that Clare is not only as open as possible but that, when people arrive here, they experience it as a place of welcome, inclusion and mutual support.

I’m looking forward to meeting as many as possible of the women who have studied at Clare, especially in the early days, hearing about their experiences here and since, and asking them, and the men who were around in the 1960s and early 70s, what we can learn about how good change happens and how the College can continue to evolve and improve.

I’m conscious of the special responsibility I carry as the first woman to hold the post of Master of Clare and hope that our great patron, Lady Clare, who has been an inspiration to me, would approve! It was Lady Clare who, after the pandemic of the Black Death in the 14th century, saw the need for Clare – or University Hall as it then was – to be placed on a more solid foundation after the ravages of the plague. She was convinced that ‘the precious pearl of learning’ was best acquired in a community of Fellows and students, selected on merit and not just on ability to pay. That vision is as relevant today as it was then. It is the vision that inspires me as the 44th Master of Clare.

Thank you to all of you who continue to support our students, financially and in other ways. We simply could not do what we do without your help. More than that, you continue to be key members of the Clare community. As I told the Freshers on Monday, and will tell the graduates matriculating later, membership of this community is a joy intended to be lifelong. I hope to see you before too long.

Loretta Minghella OBE
Master