NYC DINNER: 85th Annual Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race Dinner

The Program, Thursday, April 5, University Club (click on each page to enlarge)

Photos of the 2018 NYC Dinner, via Cambridge in America. 

Stephen Hawking at 21

Moment of Silence for Professor Stephen Hawking

John Tepper Marlin, Trinity College, Oxford 

It is an honor to rise in memory of Stephen Hawking, who died three weeks ago at 76 years of age. He was born in Oxford, because his parents believed that even Hitler would not bomb Oxford… which turned out to have been true. 

Soon after his 21st birthday, Hawking was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, known in this country as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He was given few years to live. He actually lived for 55 more years, and became the Number One Celebrity Scientist as well as the Poster Child for battling disease and disability. He wrote a book called “A Brief History of Time” that sold 25 million copies.

He set out to finish Einstein’s quest for a general theory of everything. He wanted to understand the universe, “why it is as it is and why it exists at all,” and he focused on Black Holes.

Hawking as Cox of the Univ 2nd Eight

Hawking’s life revolved around Oxford and Cambridge. At Oxford, he coxed the Univ 2nd Eight, and reportedly steered with as little effort or propriety as he studied physics and chemistry. Getting into the water-borne shell helped him get out of his own. At Cambridge, he taught for more than 50 years. He said: "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

Hawking also said: "We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special."

Ladies and gentlemen, may we have a minute of silence in memory of this very special inspirational force, Stephen Hawking, whose happiest moments might have been in the stern of the Univ 2nd eight. (284 words, 2 minutes)

Other Posts on Stephen Hawking
Obituaries

The Committee

Committee (R to L): Dhaval Patel (MC), Hervé Gouraige (Chair), John Tepper Marlin,
Lee Li, Andrew Cunningham, Daniel Vasquez Sally Fan, Jack Carlson, Cassie
Llewellyn-Smith, Seth Lesser.

The Newark Boys Chorus

Previous Boat Race Dinners
2017 2016 2015 2014 & Earlier . History of the Boat Race

Alumni Boat Races and Other Reunions
Boat Races 2017 .  Branches Reunion 2012

Other Events
Talk on Oxford Colleges' Coats of Arms,  Oxford-Cambridge Club, April 16, 2018

OXFORD-CAMBRIDGE DINNER | New York City's 85th, April 5

The late Stephen Hawking as an Oxford
undergraduate, coxing the Univ 2nd Eight.

The 2018 Boat Race will be on March 24. 

Both men's and women's boat races will be held that day.

A festive dinner to celebrate the event will be held at the University Club in New York on Thursday, April 5. It will be the 85th consecutive uninterrupted boat race dinner in New York City. As usual, the dress code for men is black tie or boat club blazer. (The dinner program and some remarks are posted.)

The Newark Boys Chorus will sing the American and British national anthems and their own song.


For further details and to reserve a place or two, go to the Cambridge University website.

Information on the 2017 NYC Boat Race Dinner and the 83 previous boat race dinners in New York may be found here. The outcome of the Boat Race in 2017 may be found here.

More information on the 2018 Boat Race may be found on the Oxford-Cambridge NYC Boat Race Dinner site or on the official boat race site.

A brief history of the boat race says that the boats use "much the same equipment as in 1829." Well, yes, if you don't consider significant the improving outrigger of the earliest years, the move from a wherry to a flat shell, the offset oarlocks, and above all the sliding seats starting in 1869 and the composite shells in the 20th century. See my review of boat innovations for more details.

On April 16, I will be giving a presentation on the Oxford colleges' coats of arms to the Oxford University Society in London (at the Oxford-Cambridge Club).  I will be posting details shortly here.

The next evening, I will be talking to the Oxford-Cambridge Club membership about the coats of arms of the Oxford and Cambridge colleges. This event is nearly sold out, one month in advance.

BOAT RACE: 82nd NYC Dinner 2015

The program is posted here.

Links to photos and remarks are posted if and when received.

Boat Race Events in North America - 2015.

The History of Boat Race Dinners in North America.

PROGRAM

6:30 pm

Drinks

7:30 pm

Dinner

Welcome

Sally Fan (Green Templeton, Oxford)

Introduction of Fr. Leahy

Antonia Apps (Magdalen, Oxford)

Grace

Fr. Edwin Leahy

Introduction of Seth Lesser

Antonia Apps

The Boat Races

Seth Lesser (Magdalen, Oxford)

Introduction of Peter Sealy

Antonia Apps

Toast to the President

Peter Sealy (Pembroke, Cambridge)

Introduction of John Tepper Marlin

Antonia Apps

Toast to the Queen

John Tepper Marlin (Trinity, Oxford)

In 1740 Thomas Arne wrote the original music for James Thomson's patriotic poem for a unified Britain, "Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves!"

At that time, Britain's ruling the waves was aspirational. But it became a reality. 

On Tuesday, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 89th birthday. She has completed the 63rd year of her reign.

Over the many years, she has unforgettably mastered three different waves.

First, the erase-the-blackboard wave. 

Second, the wipe-the-window wave.

Finally, the wave for which she is best known, the screw-in-the-light-bulb wave.

It is hard for me to imagine the darkness of a world without her.  

Please be upstanding.

Ladies and Gentlemen... The Queen.

Introduction of Paul Bernstein

Antonia Apps

Toast to the Universities

Paul Bernstein (Jesus, Cambridge)

Introduction of Herve Gouraige

Antonia Apps

Introduction of Steve Trachtenberg

Herve Gouraige (Merton, Oxford)

Response from the Universities

Steve Trachtenberg (Nuffield, Oxford)

Closing Remarks

Antonia Apps