Senior Tutor's

Having been unsure in June of 2020 that we would see the arrival of students in person in October, we welcomed not just our usual cohort, but a slightly larger than usual group of Freshers. The matriculation ceremony saw every student still signing the great book, albeit in masks and at a greater distance than usual; shaking hands was replaced with some very ‘unClare’ bowing; and the matriculation dinner took place in three different locations, and with some of our overseas students still in quarantine. The UCS and the MCR worked hard to make Freshers’ Week a welcoming social experience, although the usual events were almost all online.

Teaching too has been online for many students and for much of the year. Many of us have quickly learned new ways of doing things, and we have learned too how not to do things. Masked supervisions and supervisions in marquees have been the alternative to Zoom and Teams, though even these came to a halt in Lent Term as the country once again went into lockdown. Undergraduate students remained at home, though the College still hosted those students for whom this was not an option. Graduate students too were asked to consider where they might sensibly want to be. However, there was none of the previous year’s urgency.

As a College, we have quickly adapted to a world in which three plans must be produced for every scenario, and where we are always waiting for the next piece of government guidance.

This, of course, leads me to praise the staff, who have continued to work tirelessly in what has inevitably been a hugely demanding year. Life has not been easy for our students, and this has placed great demands on the staff, who have nevertheless been patient, accommodating, resourceful and very adaptable. This is true of all the departments, so it would be difficult to single anyone out, especially as they see themselves more than ever as a team: their combined effort has simply been momentous. Extraordinary too has been the work of all the Fellows in ensuring that the cohort has made it through the year: from those who have been selected in our first online admissions exercise, to those who have been the first Cambridge students to experience online proctoring and 24-hour exam windows.

The last few weeks of the academic year saw a return to (almost) normal summer activities, after the government eased restrictions on 21 June. The punts returned to the river and, while there was no May Ball, the students held a summer event at the Bentley Road sportsground. The risk assessment was the most detailed I’d ever seen for any event, but the party was a huge success and praised both by the City Council and by the Cambridge police. It was a great credit to its student organisers and a tribute to all the students who attended it. For their sake, we all hope that the year to come will see a re-establishment of the normal rhythms and ways of the College. Some aspects, such as admissions interviewing, will remain online, this being a sensible and fair way to deal with COVID uncertainty; but, otherwise, we will try wherever possible (and regulations permitting) to get back to life at Clare as we all know it.

Dr Jacqueline Tasioulas
Senior Tutor