The Hilda Box collection
These Antonian photographs and texts remember an experience unique to students that matriculated in 2019 – the ‘Hilda Box’!
The Hilda Box generation
Marianna Beltrami (MPhil Nature, Society and Environmental Governance, 2019)
St Antony’s students in 2019-2020 had the most peculiar academic year. And shared great collective resilience due to the big and small issues caused by (i) a global pandemic, and (ii) a box. Yes, a box!
We arrived and the Hilda Besse shut down, so all our activities were moved to the dreaded Hilda Box, a container on the courtyard. With time, we got fond of the Box, obtained some money, and formed a makeover squad to beautify it. It wasn’t much, mostly string lights and pictures, but it became a collectively built place where we danced, laughed, karaoke-d till late, until Covid forced us all out. Despite the very abrupt ending, everyone I met that year has a place in my heart. When I came back to Oxford to finish my MPhil, the Box was gone, my MSc friends were gone, but a sense of gratitude for this brave Antonian community is here, forever.
Last DPhil Formal at the ‘Box’
Dr Reynold Kai Won Tsang (DPhil History, 2019)
Attending the last DPhil Formal at the Hilda Box with Dr Samuel Tsang before COVID-19 struck a month later. The ‘Box’ is a rather poor venue for formal given its low ceiling, which reflects sounds around and makes it very difficult to chat with guests sitting opposite. Nonetheless, dining in the ‘Box’ is a unique and unforgettable experience for Antonians matriculated in 2019 and 2020!
The Hilda Box
By the late 2010s the Hilda Besse Building was showing signs of age. The award-winning concrete structure was in need of total refurbishment. A multi-million-pound project was launched to renovate it and restore the Grade II listed building to its former glory.
In order to carry out the vital renovation work, the building had to be emptied and a temporary home found for the dining hall, buttery and commons rooms which were the social heart of the College. In early summer 2019, the quad was cleared and prepared for the arrival of the temporary structure into which the Hilda Besse would be decanted for the duration of the works.
A call was put out to current students to name the new temporary building, and the winning suggestion was ‘Hilda Box’, suggested by the GCR Social Vice-President. The ‘Hilda Box’ was unboxed and erected on the lawn over the long vacation, ready for students returning in early October. Its first test was Freshers Week 2019 where it hosted a variety of events such as dinners and afterparties, and the St Antony’s freshers’ bop. October 2019 also saw it hosting a housewarming party with live music and dancing, as well as Halloqueen 2019, the College’s famous Halloween bop.
At the end of that year, the Hilda Box had a makeover and was wrapped in a bold graphic hoarding installation. Its design was based on the ceiling of the dining hall, celebrating its 1970s origins with the bright oranges and yellows that the original architects had envisioned for the building’s furnishings.
Image: the Hilda Box with hoarding, 2019
Two generations of Antonians
Bassam Gergi (MPhil Politics, 2012) with his parents Nora Colton (DPhil Economics, 1987) and Fawaz Gerges (DPhil International Relations, 1986) at graduation day in July 2014.
Bassam was born in Oxford in 1990 while his parents were both completing their DPhils at St Antony’s, and Bassam completed his MPhil at St Antony’s two decades later.
SABC: where lifelong friends are made
Alexandra Biggs (MSc Migration Studies, 2018)
Many of my happiest memories of St Antony’s were spent with the boat club, which provided the much-needed counterpoint to studying and left me with many of my closest friends. I was fortunate enough to both row and cox during my time at St Antony’s, and after graduating have been able to row in both Cairo and Istanbul while working in human rights and humanitarian protection in the Middle East. Among this group of accomplished women from our first regatta together in 2018 I have since celebrated weddings, 30th birthdays, and professional and personal successes.
Two short reflections from my time at St Antony’s
Sheridan Phelan (MSc African Studies, 2014)
Filed under: Desperation
Like many students before and after me, I spent a lot of time with my cohort in the Gulb bent over books and furiously typing out my dissertation. We had a tradition of writing our desperate pleas for good marks on slips of paper and tucking them between the library books upstairs. I’ve always wondered if any students ever found them — and, if so, whether they added their own.
Trade deals and team spirit
I rowed in undergrad and swore I’d never do it again— until one night during 0th week at the late bar, I pulled the fastest erg split and promptly talked myself into another season on the water. To soften the blow of early mornings, I coerced fellow Antonian Rosalind Duignan-Pearson to join me, but she exacted her revenge by insisting I play football in exchange. I had no business playing football and served mostly as moral support, but we won Cuppers all the same. Our warden, Margaret Macmillan, kindly hosted a high table in our honour — an overgenerous response to what was, in my case, mostly enthusiasm over skill.
Dr Neil Carrier — the kindest, most patient, and long-suffering advisor one could hope for.
Dr Kuukuwa Manful (MSc African Studies, 2014)
Oxford: my 8-year-long dream
Andranik Israyelyan (MSc in Russian and East European Studies, 2019)
Oxford University was so far biggest dream of my life. I fought for 8 very long years to get my acceptance letter. That meant persevering through years of rejections, doubts, people teasing my ambitions and telling me I am not good enough. In 2016 I prepared for my essays and IELTS while laying on operating table for 3 hours of leg surgery. But Oxford was worth it. One year in Oxford meant a world to me. I met bunch of incredible people, I felt special finally and finally proved my worth: I truly deserved the world best.
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I would like to say that St Antony’s was the warmest, hospitable college.
I miss it all – all nighters, pizzas in the basement at night, bells of the church, visitor foxes in the evenings, exam scares, imposter syndrome…except for cold rooms that as an Armenian I never became accustomed to.
Thank you my beloved college.
Reconnecting after too long!
David Holt (MSt Global and Imperial History, 2012)
Browsing through some photos from my time at St Antony’s, I came across a great shot of me and Pablo, outside the Sheldonian. Looking sharp on matriculation day!
The human pyramid was St Antony’s M2 boat after a strong showing at Summer eights. Celebrations were in order!!
Anda Totoreanu (MSc Russian and East European Studies, 2015)
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Christmas lunch in the Hilda Besse
Dr Qianhan Lin (DPhil Sociology, 2005)
December 2011, Dining Hall: our last Christmas lunch together as Chinese doctoral students in Sociology. Not long after, most of us graduated, left the college, and scattered across the globe. The Dining Hall in Hilda Besse holds cherished memories of friendship, laughter, and the occasional deep conversation. And the Christmas lunch—with turkey, all the trimmings, and cranberry sauce—never let us down!
Joel Ng
(DPhil International Development, 2013)
Priscilla Otero Guerra
(MPhil Latin American Studies, 2018)
Launching new edition of the St Antony’s International Review
Dr Marco Moraes (MPhil/DPhil International Relations, 2015)
One of my fondest memories from St Antony’s was working at the St Antony’s International Review (STAIR), which I was managing editor of 2016-2017. A great initiative launched by students before my time, and which I’ve been happy to see flourish since, always with great support from the College. Here I am launching our 2017 edition.
‘One more cup of coffee…’
Helena F. S. Lopes (DPhil History, 2013)
Matriculation day, October 2013
Fond memories of a joyful morning and afternoon in Oxford with colleagues and friends, many new to Oxford like me. St Antony’s gave us globetrotters a space of dialogue and belonging. A memorable day!
Path to the library in the snow, 1 February 2019
Achille Versaevel (MSc Migration Studies, 2019)
My friends and I spent most of our year in Oxford in the Gulbenkian Reading Room. When I woke up early on the morning of 1 February 2019 to take photographs of the city under a thick coat of snow, my steps naturally took me to the front door of the Library. The snow was unspoiled, except for a set of fresh footsteps—those of the Porter on duty that night, perhaps. This souvenir is an artistic rendition of the scene by my grandmother Thérèse Versaevel, a painting I will forever cherish for the memories it brings back of “the Gulb” and of a city fast asleep in its white dress.
Cake and Facebook
Linnea Sundberg (MPhil European Politics, 2011)
During my time at St Antony’s, I cultivated my entrepreneurial spirit and helped run the Cafe. We had cakes and coffee for £1.
The margins were atrocious.
Sadly for us all, I never learned how to delegate the Cafe’s Facebook page, announcing the weekly flavour of cake, so that still belongs to me! If anyone wants it back, do let me know…
The memory of my time at St Antony’s always makes me smile. It truly is a special place.
Snooker in the Buttery
Isaac Owusu Nsiah (MSc African Studies, 2018)
Matriculation Day in 2017
Sheng Peng (DPhil History, 2015)
I was at the Matriculation Day ceremony during Michaelmas term 2017 with my old Leica camera. I sneaked behind the speaker and took this photo of him, with his grey hairs contrasting the blurred young faces of all the new students. The students saw me and were laughing loudly, and the speaker was obviously very confused. Then I got kicked out by the official photographer team. Best prank ever.
Moments and memories
Click on the images to expand them and see more information. All the images and captions are taken from editions of The Antonian!
The photograph at the top of this page has been reproduced by kind permission of Gillman & Soame photographers and can be ordered online here.