After a very wet start to the year – January 2026 was the fourth wettest in nearly 120 years, with 162% of the expected rainfall – daffodils and other bulbs are at long last signalling the long-awaited start of Spring. Bright flowers, fruit blossoms and, increasingly, magnolias are doing a wonderful job of cheering-up spirts after a particularly long winter. As I write, we have just had a short period of unseasonably warm weather with blue skies and radiant sunshine. The Fellows’ Garden, still a little soddened, but recovering quickly, has been a haven for students embracing the warmer temperatures on picnic blankets. And the Front Quad has proved to be a popular suntrap and meeting place. The new teakwood benches are a great draw in bright warm sunlight, surrounded by neatly cultivated flowerbeds increasingly flooded with colour.
Exeter College Fellows’ Garden in the Spring weather
Despite the challenging weather conditions at the start of Hilary Term, the College has been awash with activity and betterment. There has been a very nice ‘buzz’ of confidence around the estate. The year started with an uplifting Gaudy for those who matriculated between 1965 and 1969. Huw Alban-Davies (1966, Psychology, Philosophy & Physiology) kindly provided an insightful, articulate, and often humorous speech, which landed extremely well with the 64 alumni in attendance. Overall, the evening was a great success and appeared to be thoroughly enjoyed by all. Other events have included a series of ‘Conversations on Consciousness’, organised and moderated by Professor Charles Foster (Supernumerary Fellow, Law) and Professor Kerry Walker (Tutorial Fellow and Associate Professor Neuroscience). Split over three dates, supported by external academics, and delivered in the Fitzhugh Auditorium in Cohen Quad, the conversations focused on: What does it mean to say, ‘I am’? Is the sense of subjectivity a delusion? Are only humans conscious? What about whales, AI, and electrons? And how should we use our consciousness? Each event drew a packed audience (from across the University and beyond), and the expert speakers in conversation with one another and with the audience proved to be a winning format. A second series is under consideration.
Images from the ‘Conversations on Consciousness’ series
Other College events have included a day-long symposium on renowned Exeter alumus Qian Zhongshu (1935, Literature) and his intellectual legacy. This included a keynote speech from Associate Professor Tiziana Lioi, who travelled all the way from the University of Rome to support the event. In addition, two Subject Family Symposia occurred during Hilary Term. The first was on 2 February and concentrated on medical and life sciences. Sessions included a talk on ‘vascularised stem cell therapies for type 1 diabetes’ (Rea Tresa, DPhil in Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics) and ‘decoding SteE activity using the inactive arsenophonus’ (Edie Allden, fourth year Biochemistry). The second symposium occurred on 2 March and focused on maths and physical sciences. Sessions integrated talks on ‘reinforcement learning in the era of large language models’ (Silvia Sapora, DPhil in Statistics) and ‘embedding complex networks with random walk first time distribution’ (Vedanta Thapar, DPhil in Mathematics). Both events were a resounding success, and my thanks go out to all speakers and the academic leads who coordinated the events.
On the sporting front, Hilary Term saw ECBC’s first external preseason since 2022. Students travelled to Reading Rowing Club, conducting both land and water training, with boats on the water for five of the six days. This was an impressive achievement for a club whose Hilary preseasons have been exclusively land based for the last three years. However, despite this strong and careful preparation, the incessant rain and high river levels on the Isis resulted in the cancellation of this year’s Torpids. However, due to improved conditions at the eleventh hour, ‘Torpheads’ (where boats race against the clock rather than trying to physically bump the boat in front) occurred on 7 March. Both crews put in first-rate performances: the Women’s first boat came second in their division, and eighth overall (out of 34 crews) and the Open first boat won their division, coming fifth overall (out of 35 crews). Deeply impressive stuff. The Torpids Dinner, that night, further underlined the vitality, energy, and enthusiasm of ECBC. It was a super occasion. The club is now laser-focused on success in Summer Eights 2026 and fielding multiple boats. More widely, Hannah Wilson Kemsley (2022, Earth Sciences) and Cordelia Lamming (2023, Literae Humaniores) represented Oxford in this year’s Varsity Real Tennis matches against Cambridge (held at Lord’s on 27–28 February 2026), continuing the College’s strong connection to one of the University’s oldest sports. Oxford Women lost 2-4 overall, with both victories coming from Hannah and Cordelia in their singles matches, each defeating higher ranked opponents. The Oxford Men secured an impressive 5–1 win. Finally, it is with great disappointment I report that Exeter and Hertford Colleges plans to improve their sports grounds at Marston have come to naught. In 2025 the Colleges announced a joint proposal, designed to upgrade existing facilities, restore buildings, improve access, and make the site available to residents, schools and community groups – including free use for children from East Oxford schools without sports facilities during term time. On 18 November 2025, Oxford City Council’s Planning Committee considered the planning application. Unfortunately, the Committee decided not to grant planning permission. I wish to use this opportunity to thank everyone who engaged thoughtfully with the proposals and supported the Colleges’ ambition to improve and widen access to sporting facilities. Please be assured that this Council decision in no way constrains or dampens our sporting ambitions.
Turning to other matters, Exeter College won the Inspire HE Award (for employers with less than 1,000 staff) for our results in the Employee Survey that we ran last year. The Inspire HE Award is designed to recognise excellence and improvement within the UK Higher Education Sector. This is an exceptional achievement and a real testament to the positive culture and strong employee experience at Exeter. Work continues across the Thomas Wood building to improve the lived experience of those in staircases 12, 13, and 14 and better the environmental performance of our estate. And extensive activity continues to enhance the appearance of Cohen Quad and fix the long-standing water ingress challenges. I am hopeful that the latter, now a College fiscal and work priority, will be addressed – once and for all – by the late summer. We will also replace the AV system in the Fitzhugh Auditorium, which has proved ineffective over recent months. You would also wish to know that work (re-pointing, new roof, guttering, and windows) will start on Stapeldon House in the long vacation. This is well overdue. Further work on Stapeldon (including internal improvement and redevelopment) will continue for the next few years, with phase II of the improvements to Palmer’s Tower occurring in 2027. And planning is well under way to start the refurbishment of the Turl Street staircases in 2028. We have also upgraded 19 Essex Street over recent months. There is considerable betterment occurring across the estate, including in the visual appearance of the College. My thanks go to Babis Karakoulas, the Domestic Bursar, and his hardworking team.
Images showing the working taking place across the College sites
All-in-all it has been a busy, productive, and exciting term. Our students are excelling (I have just completed the next round of Rector’s Collections and College Discussions with the Senior Tutor), there is real advancement across the estate (lots of scaffolding, workers, and the smell of fresh paint), we continue to deliver first-rate academic and social events, and there is a very nice feel to the College. On top of that we are about to submit a planning application for ‘EXOq’ – well done to Nick Badman, the Finance & Estates Bursar, who has delivered this in record time – and we are well down the track for designing and implementing a new College website. Of course, a sad note to the term has been the death of David Webb MBE (1983, Mathematics), who passed away peacefully in Hong Kong on 13 January. David was a highly respected Hong Kong activist investor who campaigned for market transparency and democratic accountability. He was also a tremendous supporter of the College who cared deeply about academic performance. I wish to close this short update by thanking and highlighting our outstanding choir. They contribute significantly to College life and I have been remiss in not highlighting their exceptional impact over recent updates, for which I apologise.
Rector Dr Andrew Roe
