Beach activities – one of the Christmas Can Do activities made possible by the Winter 2020 Appeal Photo credit: Gayle McIntyre, University of St Andrews
St Andrews in the News
January 2021
Happy New Year and welcome to the January edition of St Andrews in the News. With three vaccines now being rolled out around the world, there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel!
We hope you enjoy this month’s edition, which features news, live and watch-again events and fascinating alumni stories and experiences. Please contact us if you would like to contribute your story, video or podcast to share with our online community.
Calling all alumni, parents and friends! You are warmly invited to join this month’s Winter Festival event -The University of St Andrews Global Burns Night – on Monday 25 January between 8.00 and 9.30pm GMT.
This live event features recitations of Burns poems, research highlights about the tradition of Burns Suppers and an exclusive opportunity to view the unique document that tells the story of the very first Burns Supper. The evening will also include performances by contemporary poets and musicians, as well as traditional elements such as a piper and the toast to the haggis. Wherever you are in the world, honour Scotland’s national bard with your own Burns Night in.
Register now and receive the event link in advance or please contact Edward Findlay Edward.Findlay@st-andrews.ac.uk to find out which Alumni Clubs are holding their own event.
Dr Katharine Whitehorn
We were sad to hear of the recent death of Dr Katharine Whitehorn – the University’s first female Rector from 1982-1985. Katharine was a writer and journalist famous for her wit and observations on the role of women.
Whitehorn student hall of residence was named in her honour in 2018. Read more...
International internships – our students are ready for your challenge!
Happy New Year from the Careers Centre and thank you for all the support you have given our students during 2020 – either by giving them practical experience or advice about career paths. They need your help now more than ever, so if you have – or know of – a paid internship, please get in touch.
Santander Universities Black Inclusion Programme
Santander Universities have recently launched their Black Inclusion Programme, which will be delivered in conjunction with Finance Unlocked. It is an online learning programme exclusively for 3,000 Black and Black mixed university students/recent graduates (graduating academic year 2019-2020) in the UK.
Find out more...
Telephone Campaign – it will be good to talk!
We are delighted to announce that we’re gearing up for our first ever offsite telethon, and our student caller recruitment is underway. Calling will take place between 21 February and 21 March, so please look out for an email and take ten minutes – if you can – to talk to one of our students. They are excited at the prospect of working and connecting with the St Andrews University community.
Winter 2020 Appeal update
Around 1500 students had to remain in St Andrews during the Christmas break – many of them because travel restrictions made it impossible for them to get home to their families.
Thanks to your support, the University was able to provide them with a host of Can Do events and activities – from brunch in St Salvator’s Quadrangle and free meals every day in the Students’ Association (including Christmas Day) to golf lessons, beach activities and cartoon drawing. We couldn’t have done this without you.
Find out more about how you can continue to help these students during this current lockdown.
SaintsFunder
We are delighted to launch two new projects this month.
Saints Performance Automotive Design (SPAD) has formed the first student team at the University to enter Formula Student – Europe’s most established educational engineering competition.
Art for all is the brainchild of two St Andrews Museum and Gallery Studies MLitt students whose mission is to make the University’s art collection available to everyone – all over the world.
SaintsFunder is open to all students, alumni and University staff, so send your ideas to SaintsFunder@st-andrews.ac.uk.
Goodbye Erasmus – hello Turing!
The new Turing Scheme for students will replace the UK’s participation in Erasmus+ and enable students to continue to study and work abroad. Read more...
Were you an Erasmus student at St Andrews? Email us at alumni@st-andrews.ac.uk and tell us your story.
ALUMNI AND STUDENT STORIES
This month’s selection features stories from Sam Shaber (First Year Abroad 1990-1991) about her journey from St Andrews to spokesperson for people struggling with infertility and Holly Hetherington (MA 2020) about how St Andrews – and Saints Sport – have shaped the person she is today. Finally, three of Katharine Whitehorn’s Assessors share their memories of the University’s first female Rector.
STAY CONNECTED
Alumni Weekend is going virtual for 2021!
Save the date now for a Virtual Alumni Weekend from 16-18 April 2021.
Take this opportunity to relive your student days in St Andrews - online this year.
Details will be available soon and will include this year’s annual University Public Meeting when representatives of the governing body of the University will address the key issues and opportunities facing the University and take questions.
In the meantime, if you’ve got a special graduation anniversary coming up or if there’s anything else we can help you to organise, then contact us at: alumni@st-andrews.ac.uk.
Meet the Author with Paul Cumbo on 17 February 2021
Join Creative Writing postgraduate Paul Cumbo (MLitt 2005) on Wednesday 17 February at 5pm GMT (12 noon EST) to discuss his second novel - Wilderness Therapy, a story of loss and redemption that won first place in the annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards. This will be followed by a moderated Q&A session.
The event will take place on Microsoft Teams Live* You can either send questions to alumni@st-andrews.ac.uk by Monday 15 February or ask questions during the event using the Q&A function.
Coming soon are ‘Writing Chinese History with Images’ on Wednesday 27 January at 19:00 UTC and ‘Children’s Literature Without Borders’ on Wednesday 24 February at 19:00 UTC.
Enjoy lots of other high-quality online performances, music, images, objects, films, poetry, literature and podcasts from the University of St Andrews.
Save the date on Thursday 4 March between 5.15pm and 6.30pm for the inaugural James Wilson Lecture in Law and Government – ‘The Forgetting of James Wilson’ – by William Ewald, Professor of Law and Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.
The ILCR has also recently published its inaugural edition of the University of St Andrews Law Journal which offers a variety of articles, reviews and analyses in the field of law and legal humanities.
Esther Casares Carmona, Postgraduate in Spanish Letters
This Land of Snow: A Journey Across the North in Winter
Anders Morley, MLitt 2004
RECONNECT
Three students in their ‘flat bubble’ on the beach
Reconnect
While in-person events continue to be restricted by the pandemic, remember that you can still keep in touch with alumni clubs, friendship groups and old classmates online. Let us know if you want help to reconnect. If you’re a Club, we would be delighted to help you promote your online events. Just get in touch at alumni@st-andrews.ac.uk.
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