Letter from The Warden | December 2022

Dear Antonians,

Welcome to this winter edition of The Antonian. I very much hope that you will enjoy its main feature, the Advent Calendar. We decided to make this an all-round celebration of St Antony’s this year and, for the next 24 days, you can enjoy a selection of lesser-known facts relating to college life, pieces of art and the history of the College.  

It is always fantastic to read so many updates from our alumni. Please continue sending these to my colleagues in the Development Office – we always like to hear from you, and welcome updates of all kinds. It has also been such a pleasure to witness St Antony’s so full of life and activity this term. All our students have been able to come to Oxford this year; our events calendar is as packed and interesting as it ever was, and the Dining Hall is in full use. It has also been wonderful to welcome back so many Antonians to the College and I encourage you all to make use of your annual complimentary High Table dinner. For all the details and to sign-up, please follow this link.  

Visiting Parliamentary Fellowship Programme 

A good opportunity to visit the College would be to join one of the seminars over the next two terms being put on through the Visiting Parliamentary Fellows Programme. A few weeks ago, we bade farewell as Fellows to Baroness (Kate) Fall and Lord (Paul) Boateng, and welcomed Baroness (Arminka) Helić and Lord (Jonny) Oates by having a lively and interesting Question Time event on ‘The current state of British Politics’. We very much look forward to the seminars that Arminka and Jonny will be convening in Hilary and Trinity terms. Dates for Hilary Term VPF events will be available soon. All these events will be followed by a High Table. 

Two new post-doctoral Fellowships 

I am proud to announce that, through the generosity of two Antonians, we are about to advertise two new post-doc positions: the Ladipo Adamolekun Public Administration Postdoctoral Fellowship to promote Research Excellence on Public Administration in Nigeria and the Oriental Oak Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Chinese Humanities. Both posts will give an early career academic the opportunity to launch their career, present and discuss their research, interact with the College’s Area Studies Centres, exchange ideas, and take part in and contribute to the rich diversity of the academic and social community that is St Antony’s.  

The St Antony's DAC Scholarship 

In the previous edition of The Antonian, you will have read the eloquent testimonial of Samira Mohammed Ibn Moro (see here), a student from Ghana who is studying for an MSc in African Studies at the College. She is the first recipient of the College’s DAC Scholarship, an initiative proposed by the GCR and recently adopted by Governing Body as our number one funding priority. This scholarship is to support students from the Global South, who have undertaken their first degree at a university in a Development Assistance Country (DAC) - as defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. You can read more about the background and significance of this initiative here.

In this video, Professor Anand Menon (DPhil Politics 1988; GB Fellow 1996 – 2000 and current Chair of the College’s Equality and Diversity Committee) explains why he hopes the worldwide Antonian community will rally behind the DAC Scholarship. The Development Team is happy to answer any questions you may have.  

Thank you for your support and, of course, my best wishes for 2023.  

Professor Roger Goodman 

Warden