This week I had a golden opportunity to visit my Alma Mater since my niece has just started as an undergraduate at Oxford. I was able to have lunch with her and a couple of friends and to visit Lincoln College (above) which is a gem that I never really got to know as a student. On my next visit, I'm bringing my gown as I understand that they still have formal Hall every day and that the chef earned a Michelin star.
On my last visit, I was challenged a couple of times on visiting the Oxford Union so I resolved to get myself a new fancy electronic membership card this time. I have to say that the Term Card is a significant improvement on the late 1970s. The classic debates are still the mainstay, but there are far more social events and visiting speakers than I remember. The Union is able to attract major figures, and this term includes debates on education, Russia, Israel, democracy and the regulation of the press.
The last debate of the term is still the silly one where undergraduates mess about. This term's Farewell Debate is on the motion "This House believes that girls can't throw." Current President, Izzy Westbury, an international cricketer, is speaking against.
Naturally I had to go and visit dear old Corpus, founded in 1517 by Bishop Foxe, a friend of St John Fisher. The emblem of the college is the pelican, seen here atop the sundial in the main quad:
Here is the chapel with its pre-reformation brass eagle lectern:
