Ideals in Action
The precarious first years of
Wolfson College
Wolfson College is a modern Cambridge college that combines tradition with an outward-facing view.
It is a diverse and international community, hosting over a thousand students from over ninety countries.
Now entering its fifty-fifth year, it remains true to its founding values of internationalism and inclusivity.
For the first few years of its existence, its future was uncertain.
This is the story of how its first fellows set out to create a distinctive institution, a vision that its founding benefactors
placed their trust in.
It is the story of how Wolfson College got its name.
Wolfson College was founded in 1965 as University College. Set up in a decade marked by student activism, University College was an experiment of ideals put into action.
Its values were unorthodox and revolutionary in its time: it was the first mixed college in the University’s history, admitting fellows and members of either sex. It distinguished itself by linking up with the world outside Cambridge, making connections with European universities, and with businesses and industry.
This experimental graduate college was given ten years to find its own endowment, failing which it would be disbanded. This online exhibition commemorates the benefactions that allowed Wolfson College to survive and thrive.
Wolfson College was founded in 1965 as University College. Set up in a decade marked by student activism, University College was an experiment of ideals put into action.
Its values were unorthodox and revolutionary in its time: it was the first mixed college in the University’s history, admitting fellows and members of either sex. It distinguished itself by linking up with the world outside Cambridge, making connections with European universities, and with businesses and industry.
This experimental graduate college was given ten years to find its own endowment, failing which it would be disbanded. This online exhibition commemorates the benefactions that allowed Wolfson College to survive and thrive.
"I can remember… all the horrors that came before about not being allowed to dine in any of the men’s colleges as a guest, all these kind of things are very deeply engrained in my memory. It was all such a relief and so pleasant and so very different to be here."
Professor Mary B. Hesse (1924-2016)
Fellow (1965), Vice-President (1976-80)
"The late 60’s and early 70’s… was the time of student troubles in universities and therefore not exactly a favourable time to try to raise funds for causes connected with students…
[We] approached many individuals, together with television, car, building, electric light, property, newspaper, banking and manufacturing companies and also Foundations… We were mostly unsuccessful but it had to be done.
Jack N. King MBE (1928-2007)
Founding Fellow and Bursar (1968-79)
Capital funding was sparse and difficult
to secure. In its first seven years, the
College cobbled together £500,000 for
its endowment. Even with early major contributions from the Gulbenkian Foundation and The Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr. Foundation, University College still required over £2 million to avoid disbandment.
Initial discussions with the Wolfson Foundation were unsuccessful as the
College could not raise a matching sum
for its endowment. In 1972, friends of
the College wrote in support of a second application, and Sir Leonard Wolfson made an impromptu visit to see the
College himself. Trusting in the College’s vision, the Wolfson Foundation waived
its requirement for matched funding and granted the £2 million needed to secure
the College’s future.
"Nothing is more dangerous, or doomed to failure than to launch a handsome ship and then not be able to keep it afloat properly… If the new college is to come into being and to bear your distinguished name, you will have to think in large terms; otherwise better to do nothing at all."
Sir Isaiah Berlin, President of Wolfson College, Oxford, in a letter to Sir Leonard Wolfson (1971)
"The Vice-Chancellor announces the grant of £2m. by the Wolfson Foundation to University College... In recognition of this most valuable benefaction the College, with the approval of the Council of the Senate, will adopt the name of Wolfson College, Cambridge, from 1 January 1973"
'Benefaction to University College’, Cambridge University Reporter (8 Nov 1972)
At a luncheon in celebration of the College's benefactors, Founding President John Morrison thanked the Wolfson Foundation for their generosity. He expressed the College's determination to prove worthy of their trust, ending his toast with a reference to the handbell on Sir Isaac Wolfson's Coat of Arms - now incorporated into the College Arms:
We shall, you can be sure, Ring True
By giving their name and most generous benefactions… [the Wolfson Foundation] have expressed in a unique way their confidence both in the past and in the future, a confidence that an ancient University through new institutions with new aims can make its opportunities for learning and research the means to produce new knowledge and ideas with which the society of the future will be built.
Her Majesty The Queen
at the College’s Royal Opening (1977)
Set on a secure footing, Wolfson College has built a distinctive identity based on its founding ethos of diversity and egalitarianism. Today the College is arguably the most international college in Cambridge. It continues to engage with business and industry through partnerships with the Institute for Manufacturing. The College is also the proud home of many distinguished women, from computer scientist Professor Karen Spärck Jones FBA (1935-2007) to the award-winning filmmaker Sabiha Sumar (1984).
The College owes a great debt to its founding benefactors, who believed in a college both respectful of tradition and unafraid to innovate. Their visionary support helped a nascent institution grow and flourish. Wolfson College today is a thriving community of learning and knowledge-sharing, a site of transformative experiences and a fusion of ideals and action.
Open, warm, friendly, welcoming, supportive, and inspiring across cultures and disciplines – that is Wolfson, everywhere.
"The Wolfson College of today is focusing on our future – as the College of choice for exceptional scholars from across the world. To build this future we have a new funding challenge: for scholarships and bursaries, to develop our estate and to enrich the academic, cultural and social experience of our community. Our students are our future – we will empower them to tackle the major challenges faced by our world in the 21st century. "
Professor Jane Clarke
President (2017-present)
Wolfson College celebrates its 55th Anniversary in 2020
This unique institution continues to support a thriving international community of scholars, true to its founding ideals of diversity, inclusiveness and collaboration.
You can support our mission in the following ways:
- Spread the word about Wolfson
- Make a gift to our General Fund or Student Support Fund
- Keep in touch and up-to-date with College events and initiatives by updating your details
This is an online adaptation of Wolfson College: Ideals in Action, an exhibition currently on display in the College Gallery. It features items and documents from our earliest years. We hope to welcome you soon to see these treasures in person.
June 2020
Wolfson College is a Registered Charity (No. 1138143). We promise to ensure our fundraising is legal, open, honest and respectful.
Copyright 2018 Wolfson College, Barton Road, Cambridge CB3 9BB Tel: +44 (0)1223 335900 | Registered Charity Number 1138143 | VAT Registration Number 195 8858 32
Built with Shorthand