Summer Celebrations

The start of the summer vacation has been filled with celebrations, featuring a choir reunion, the annual Benefactors’ Garden Party and a special event honouring Stephen Heyworth’s retirement with a Celebration of Classics.

On Saturday 5 July we were thrilled to welcome back over 200 alumni, family and guests for our annual Benefactors’ Garden Party, held in the Fellows’ Private Garden under (predominantly) sunny skies.

Guests ranged in age, from 15 months to nearly a century, and it was wonderful to see the spectrum of our generous alumni community come together, united by their appreciation of what Wadham meant to them, and their commitment to ensuring that current and future generations of bright, young students could benefit from the same educational opportunities. Many of those with young families made energetic use of the bouncy castle and garden games, in a space that just a few weeks ago was being used for tutorials in the open air.

The Warden, Robert Hannigan, thanked our alumni for their extraordinary, generous support – Wadham consistently ranks among the top Oxford colleges of alumni giving back – and updated guests on the College’s academic achievements and funding priorities, reiterating that Wadham could not operate without alumni support.

He spoke of the importance of safeguarding for generations to come the unique but costly educational model at Wadham, noting that alumni often emphasise how the tutorial system transformed their way of thinking and shaped their lives. With public funding for higher education in steady decline – and Wadham’s endowment still modest compared to many colleges (and leaving us with an annual deficit) – he outlined plans underway to launch a bold, but necessary campaign to expand the college’s endowment significantly over the next five years. Such a campaign will depend on every donation, small to large, to succeed.

Wadham classicists from throughout the decades gathered on Sunday 6 July to celebrate Classics. This year Stephen Heyworth retires after an incredible 37 years at Wadham, and generations of former students gathered for the occasion. The afternoon began with talks in the Holywell Music Room, where many speakers took the opportunity to note Stephen’s vital contribution to College over the years, as well as his personal impact on his colleagues and tutees. The celebration then moved to the Gardens, where the sun shone down on a BBQ buffet and guests enjoyed wine handpicked from Wadham’s cellars by Stephen, in his role as Wine Steward. As night fell a band of Stephen’s students and colleagues at Wadham struck up a traditional cèilidh.

Many of our Chapel Choir alumni joined us to celebrate of music and friendship at Wadham on 22 June. Former choristers reconnected with friends and made new connections with our current choir members and new Director of Music, Hannah Zaki. We were delighted once again to be joined by former Director of Chapel Music, Katie Pardee. Evensong in our beautiful Chapel was a fitting tribute to the musical legacy and bright future of music-making at Wadham.