SUMMER EIGHTS: May 19-27, 2017

The Wolfson Eight / On the water did great.
Now the crew / Has a job to do.😁
Clerihew by JT Marlin.

5th Week, Trinity Term

Rowing On, May 19-21, 2017

Bumps  May 24-27, 2017

Last Year (2016)

1938: Movietone film of a bump 

For more information, consult the O.U. Rowing Clubs, a confederation of the four varsity clubs: OUBC, OUWBC, OULRC, and OUWLRC.

For Oxford-Cambridge blue boat races and events in North America, go here. Great information here.

Related Links: Punting at Oxford . History of Thames Rowing .  Head of the Charles (Harvard) . Boat Club Blazers . Coats of Arms of Oxford Colleges . Arms as Brands . The Joy of Heraldry .  Coat of Arms vs. Crest . Sinister Questions . Visit to the College of Arms . Windsor Herald in NYC . Shaming of Harvard Law Arms . The Expansion of Oxford's Colleges . Oxford Stars . Heraldry Superlink . Harris Manchester College . Linacre College . St Catherine's . St Cross College . St Edmund Hall . St Peter's College . Trinity College . Regent's Park College . St Benet's Hall

FYI: Intercollegiate rowing at Oxford is sponsored by the London-based Neptune Investment Management.

HARVARD: President's Letter on Trump Ban

Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust at the
unveiling of her Harvard Club of NYC portrait.

We Are All Harvard

January 29, 2017

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 

Dear Members of the Harvard Community,

Last Friday’s executive order imposing restrictions on travel to the United States has provoked uncertainty and escalating anxiety among many people in our own University and others. Although the situation remains in flux and doubt, I write to share information about resources available to students and faculty and to underscore that our international students and scholars are essential to our identity and excellence. We are all Harvard.

In times of unsettling change, we look toward our deepest values and ideals. Among them is the recognition that drawing people together from across the nation and around the world is a paramount source of our University’s strength. Thousands of students and scholars and visitors come to Harvard each year from all over the globe—to study, to teach, to propel our research enterprise, to join in conferences and colloquia, to share insights and abilities that transcend nationality. Thousands more leave Harvard each year to travel abroad, learning from experiences they could not replicate here, gaining insight into cultures and perspectives different from their own, visiting colleagues and family and friends, forming and sustaining the human bonds essential to mutual understanding.

Our robust commitment to internationalism is not an incidental or dispensable accessory. It is integral to all we do, in the laboratory, in the classroom, in the conference hall, in the world. It fuels the capacity of universities to spur innovation, to advance scholarship and scientific discovery, and to help address society’s hardest challenges. It is a crucial ingredient in making American higher education a singular national asset, the destination of choice for countless scholars and students whose contributions serve our nation and our world. Especially at a time of sharp divisions at home and abroad, we must do all we can to sustain the ability of U.S. universities to bring people from around the world to our campuses and to enable people from our campuses to engage the world. Nearly half of the deans of Harvard’s schools are immigrants—from India, China, Northern Ireland, Jamaica, and Iran. Benefiting from the talents and energy, the knowledge and ideas of people from nations around the globe is not just a vital interest of the University; it long has been, and it fully remains, a vital interest of our nation. 

As I write, we are still working to understand the concrete implications of the new travel restrictions, and we are following related developments in the courts. But the disruption and disorientation flowing from these restrictions are palpable and distressing. While questions may at this point be far more apparent than answers, the restrictions are already posing barriers to scholars and students seeking to enter the country and are inhibiting others from pursuing important travel abroad, fearful about their ability to return. Amid this widespread doubt and unease, we will continue to insist that policymakers take full account of how fundamentally our universities depend on the ability of people to travel across borders without undue constraint. National security is, of course, an essential element of our nation’s immigration policy. But we are confident those considerations can be fairly addressed while avoiding the large-scale disruption and distress that the new restrictions portend—and while honoring the ideals of openness, nondiscrimination, and opportunity that our universities and our nation hold dear. We urge the administration, the Congress, and the courts to address these concerns without delay. 

Meanwhile, we are taking immediate steps to better inform and assist the members of our community in the face of the new restraints on travel. The Harvard International Office (HIO) has written to Harvard’s international students, faculty, and staff offering immediate advice in light of the executive order. The HIO is available as a resource to all community members with questions or concerns. The University’s Global Support Services has likewise offered guidance and stands ready to assist community members who are already abroad and may experience difficulties in seeking to return. This Wednesday at 4:00 p.m., the University will hold a town hall in Science Center B, where representatives of the HIO, the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs, and Harvard Law School’s Immigration and Refugee Clinic will offer information and perspectives on the present situation and take questions from all interested members of the Harvard community. Our federal relations staff are aggressively pursuing these issues with contacts in Washington and locally, and have been in touch directly with the Massachusetts congressional delegation, state leaders, and city officials in Boston and Cambridge to convey our grave concern. HIO staff are working assiduously to develop travel guidance with whatever clarity can be achieved given the circumstances. This weekend, the Association of American Universities, of which Harvard is a member, issued a statement expressing deep concern about the new executive order. I intend to keep working vigorously with my counterparts in other universities—both to share information and to advocate approaches meant to sustain the international flow of students and scholars, and thereby safeguard a vital national interest.

Our undocumented students are also experiencing the present moment with anxiety, even fear, in view of reports that federal policy toward them may change. Having strongly advocated for the DREAM Act, I have joined other college and university presidents in urging that the federal government preserve DACA—the program prescribing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals—and that Congress incorporate its protections into the proposed legislation known as the BRIDGE Act. With others in the higher education community, we will continue to press this case, hopeful that the rumored changes will not come to pass. At the same time, we are strengthening our efforts to aid students potentially affected by such changes. I detailed our expanding efforts in a letter to the community on November 28.

Since then, with support from my office, Harvard Law School’s Immigration and Refugee Clinic has amplified its capacity in this area by engaging a new, full-time staff attorney specially focused on representing and advising undocumented students in the Harvard community. We have launched and are further developing a website pointing toward resources of particular interest to undocumented students and their friends and colleagues. We have initiated several in-person information sessions and webinars, as well as training sessions to inform key staff about the concerns facing undocumented students and about how they can help. This work will continue, and we will calibrate our next steps as circumstances evolve.

Let me also take this opportunity to note the anxieties and concerns prevalent among members of our community who are also members of the Islamic faith. Ours is a nation founded and built on the bedrock of religious pluralism and religious freedom. Our University embraces that commitment, in the spirit not of mere tolerance but of genuine inclusion. We must not and will not conflate people of a venerable faith with people predisposed to acts of terrorism and violence. And, recognizing the special concerns of the Muslims among us at this moment in our national life, I believe we must pursue more tangible ways to support their distinctive needs. With this in mind, at the recommendation of the Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church, I have initiated a search for Harvard’s first Muslim chaplain, who will serve full-time to provide guidance and support to members of the Islamic faith and to join colleagues in promoting a wider sense of community and understanding among members of different spiritual traditions at Harvard. I hope that this new appointment will bring a welcome measure of further institutional support for valued members of our University who have particular reason to feel a sense of vulnerability at this time.

I have focused this letter on just a few of the issues and challenges brought to the fore by Friday’s executive order and related developments. As we address those matters, we have a close eye on other potential changes in the policy landscape affecting universities, and we must work energetically to advance a far wider range of vital interests—in the progress of university-based science and in the vitality of the humanities and the arts, in the expansion of educational opportunity and in the effort to redress inequality, in seeking ways for people with starkly different views to speak and to listen across widening divides, and in striving for a shared commitment to the pursuit of truth. These and other present concerns are anything but endnotes; they lie at the core of our University.

In these times of change, I hope and trust that all of us committed to the strength of American higher education can pursue these efforts together. Let us do so—to borrow the words of the poet Seamus Heaney, one of Harvard’s most beloved visitors from other shores—with our gates unbarred.

Sincerely,
Drew Faust

BLOG VIEWS: 180K, Top 10 Posts in January

This blog has passed 180,000 page views.  Thank you for reading!  Top ten posts in January, based on page views in the last four weeks, are below with links. WW2: Why Wasn't Oxford Bombed? (20K Views... Jun 8, 2013, 3 comments

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WW2: London's Second Great Fire

This photo by Herbert Mason of St. Paul's Cathedral,
Dec. 30, 1940, has been called "War's Greatest Picture."

December 29 – This day, 76 years ago, Nazi bombers commenced dropping 124,000 bombs in one night on London.

Most of the bombs were incendiaries, which started 1,500 fires.  The conflagration became known as "The Second Great Fire of London." In a few hours, almost one-third of the city was destroyed.

The damage included 19 churches, 31 guildhalls, and London's publishing center (Paternoster Row) along with five million books.

The timing of the air raid was planned to coincide with low tide in the River Thames, which meant water was in short supply.

It was the 114th in an unbroken chain of bombing raids over London called "The Blitz," which began in September 1940.

The fires stretched south from Islington to the edge of the St. Paul's Cathedral churchyard, a far greater area than burned in the first Great London fire, in 1666.

Winston Churchill made it a priority to save St. Paul's Cathedral, the national treasure designed by Christopher Wren. The cathedral was destroyed in the 1666 fire and was rebuilt (Wren's tomb is in it).

France, Belgium, Holland, and Norway had already fallen to Germany as of May 1940, and Adolf Hitler was bent on defeating Britain in an invasion named "Operation Sea Lion". But  the British people were stirred to determination by their new prime minister, Winston Churchill, who declared Britain would "never surrender."

Schoolchildren who had not been evacuated from London practiced air raid drills by hiding beneath desks and pinning their hands over the backs of their necks. Those who had a place to go left London for the countryside. Others purchased steel "Anderson shelters," which could be constructed in a backyard garden, or a "Morrison shelter" – an iron cage that could double as an indoor table. 

Thousands of Britons slept every night in the underground tube stations where the government brought bunk beds and extra toilets. During the day, in the rubble, people on the street tacked up "Business as Usual" signs. The motto was "Keep Calm and Carry On."

Edward R. Murrow reported from London: "Not once have I heard a man, woman, or child suggest that Britain should throw her hand." Britain never surrendered.

In June 1940, after he had accepted the position of prime minister, Winston Churchill barked in his unforgettable bulldog voice:

Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him all Europe may be free, and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands; but if we fail, then the whole world will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say: "This was their finest hour."

It was indeed.

The Blitz lasted until May 1941, when Hitler gave up, recognizing that he had underestimated British resilience, of its public and its air defenses. He switched his battleground to the Soviet Union, where his Wehrmacht destroyed everything it could on the way to Moscow and was then itself in turn destroyed, like Napoleon's army, by Russian tenacity and the frigid winter.

In 1944, the bells of St. Paul's Cathedral pealed when news arrived of the liberation of Paris.

HERALDRY: Chavasse Coat of Arms

Martlets sable (St Peter's
Website)

The St Peter's College arms are impaled with the St Peter's Church arms dexter and the Chavasse arms sinister. The arms of the church are straightforward – keys for St Peter and a building for the church.

The arms of Chavasse include a four martlets (shown sometimes in outline as at left and sometimes as sable as at right) around a cross of St George, with a miter or at center. The miter is explained by the bishopric of Francis James Chavasse. But where do the martlets come from?

University College. One possible source of the martlets is the Univ coat of arms, which includes five martlets sable. The Chavasse family has had an association with Univ at least since May 1880, when after a bump supper an undergraduate played a practical joke on Fellow Albert Sidney Chavasse, cousin of Francis James Chavasse, by screwing tight the door to his room. Since Chavasse, who was a Univ. Fellow from 1864 to 1902, had recently been appointed Senior Proctor, both the university and College were angered at this affront to their authority. After a vote by the Univ Fellows, the Master (George Bradley) responded by sending down ("rusticating") the entire Univ student body unless the guilty person(s) came forward. Chavasse was the sole Fellow who was good-humored about the prank and who voted against the proposal. The undergraduates who knew the name of the perpetrator refused to squeal (snitch, peach) and the others refused to engage in a witch-hunt among their members. So they all left en masse that day. In any case, the perpetrator – one Samuel Sandbach – had already gone down to a yeomanry camp. When he was informed what had happened he confessed immediately and the undergraduates were permitted to return after a week's involuntary absence. The incident attracted newspaper comment to the effect that while the prank was ill conceived, the scope of the College's punishment was excessive. A large number of cartoons appeared about the incident, one of them with Chavasse climbing into his bedroom on a ladder. Possibly the Chavasse family takes special pride in the incident because Albert Chavasse, the victim, took the incident in his stride and did not overreact like his colleagues.

Sutton Coldfield. Bishop Chavasse was born in Sutton Coldfield and his arms may incorporate the birds in the Sutton Coldfield arms, which were in turn derived from the arms of bishop John Vesey. However, these birds are not martlets because they have feet, like the birds of the arms of Thomas More–or the choughs in the arms of Thomas à Becket. The Chavasse arms may hark back to the attributed arms of Edward the Confessor, the blazon for which is "Azure a cross flory between five martlets or."

Liverpool. Bishop Chavasse was the second Bishop of Liverpool, and the Liver Bird is a symbol of the city. However, this bird looks like a cormorant, with a beak, long neck and feet. The martlets of the Chavasse family don't look like liver birds. (Paul McCartney adopted a singing liver bird with guitar for his coat of arms.)

Bottom Line. My best guess right now is that the martlets sable in the Chavasse arms reference the arms of Univ. or those of Edward the Confessor. However, I continue to be puzzled about this and would welcome alternative hypotheses or evidence.

Sources:
Chavasse, Albert S. Undergraduate Diary, 1865-68.
Darwall-Smith, Robin, A History of Univ. College Oxford (Oxford, 2008), 402-6.   
Mitchell, L.G. "The Screwing up of the Dean", Univ. College Record, XI:4 (1996), 69-81.
Sutton Coldfield. Town website.
Univ. Library. UC:P45/MS/1, originally sent to Wild by the son of Sir Michael Sadler.
Univ. website: The Sending Down of 1880. Further Sources on the Sending Down of 1880. (Both catalogued Jan. 1996.)
Univ. website: Cartoons about the Sending Down of 1880. (Catalogued June 2013)
Wild, J.H.S. Collection, Univ. Muniment Room, Aug. 1951.

Other Posts on the Arms of Oxford Colleges and PPHs: Original Article in Oxford Today . Heraldry as Branding . Heraldry as Fun .  Coat of Arms vs. Crest . Sinister Questions . Visit to the College of Arms . Windsor Herald Talks to New Yorkers . Shaming of Harvard Law Shield :: Rapid Expansion of Oxford's Colleges and Halls . Oxford Stars . HERALDRY SUPERLINK . Harris Manchester College . Linacre College . St Catherine's . St Cross College . St Edmund Hall . St Peter's College . Trinity College :: Regent's Park College . St Benet's Hall

Other Related Posts: Douglas Arms in France

HERALDRY: St. Peter's College and the Chavasse Arms

Arms of St Peter's College.

Blazon: Per pale Vert and Argent dexter two Keys in saltire Or surmounted by a triple towered Castle of the second masoned Sable sinister a Cross Gules surmounted by a Mitre of the third between four Martlets Sable the whole within a bordure Or. 

Authority: St. Peter's Hall was granted arms the year it was founded, on 19 Dec 1929. In 1947 St. Peter's Hall was given the full privileges of a College as a "New Foundation" and the name has been St Peter’s College since 1961.

Meaning: The St Peter's shield incorporates devices representing: (1) On the right (green) half as seen from the perspective of the shield-holder are the arms of the church of St Peter-le-Bailey, i.e., the crossed keys of St Peter and the superimposed bailey or castle fortification. (2) On the left half, the four birds around the English St George's red cross and the bishop's miter signify the arms of the founder Bishop Francis James Chavasse,

History: St Peter’s College was founded as St Peter's Hall in 1929 by Bishop Francis James Chavasse (1846-1928) and his son Christopher Maude Chavasse (1884-1962), later bishop of Rochester. Bishop Francis Chavasse's dreamed of a new Oxford hall that would seek out eligible young men from poor circumstances. It was realized the year after the Bishop's death. Bishop Chavasse's son Christopher became the first Master of St Peter's. Christopher Chavasse was awarded the Military Cross in World War I.

Noel Chavasse.

Christopher's twin brother Noel Chavasse won the only Victoria Cross with bar in World War I. Noel Chavasse has been described as the "Oxford's greatest military hero in the 20th century" by David Horan, author of Oxford: A Cultural and Literary Companion.

Noel and his twin brother Francis matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford in 1904 or 1905 and competed in sports (rugby and athletics) for the University; both ran for Britain in the Olympics. The 1920 Oxford University Roll of Service included the names of 820 Trinity men who served in the Great War. Of them, 153 or nearly one-fifth, died while serving their country.

Here are the names of the four Chavasse men, two of whom were killed in action in World War I:

Capt Noel Chavasse was in the medical corps, treating injured soldiers, and for his bravery in August 1916 in Guillemot, Noel was awarded his first Victoria Cross, the highest military honor. He won a second VC in a battle in Belgium that killed him in 1917. He is the only soldier in World War I who won the VC a second time ("with Bar"). He is also only one of three soldiers ever to have won the VC with bar and the only Oxford alumnus. He is buried in Belgium.

Christopher Chavasse was an Army chaplain wounded at Cambrai in 1917, and, as mentioned, was awarded the MC.

Capt Francis Bernard Chavasse, also a medic with the RAMC, was wounded at Hooge and was awarded the MC. Francis became the first Master of St Peter's in 1929 and co-founder with his father of St. Peter's Hall (later College), Oxford.

Lt Aidan Chavasse, the youngest brother, also served with the 11th Battalion of the King’s Liverpool regiment, renowned as volunteering for dangerous missions and was judged by his Brigade-Major to be the bravest man under his command. He was wounded on a mission to inspect German wire near Sanctuary Wood in July 17. He sent his patrol back to safety and took cover in a shell-hole. His body was never found.

In total, the Chavasse boys were awarded 21 medals for their actions during WWI. Their two sisters, Marjorie and May, served as volunteer nurses at soldiers’ hospitals.

Memorials, 2016-2017

Several centennial events celebrate the bravery of the Chavasse family, and Noel in particular, along with an exhibition at the west end of the St Peter's College Chapel:

May 2016. General Sir Nicholas Houghton, then Chief of the Defence Staff, and a St Peter’s alumnus and Honorary Fellow, spoke about Noel Chavasse.

Oct. 13, 2016.  Award-winning broadcaster and author Jeremy Paxman delivered the second Chavasse memorial lecture at the Sheldonian Theatre before an audience of hundreds, including descendants of the Chavasse family. He spoke on "World War I: The War to End War", reminding his audience of the daily horrors of trench warfare and the sequence of events that led to it. He answered questions from the Master, Mark Damazer CBE, and members of the audience.

Memorial to Noel Chavasse at Trinity
College. Photo by JT Marlin.

Oct. 23, 2016. A ceremony at St Peter's College Chapel commemorated Noel Chavasse's two Victoria Crosses. The Chapel, originally the church of St Peter-le-Bailey, was where the twins were both baptized. The service was conducted by the chaplains of St Peter’s and Trinity and the two chapel choirs combined to number about 40 producing what is reported as "a glorious sound". The service concluded with the famous quatrain of Laurence Binyon (Trinity 1888) from his poem, “They shall not grow old” set to music by 13-year-old Zachary Roberts.

Feb. 2, 2017. A Trinity College lecture to commemorate Noel Chavasse will be delivered by Professor Mark Harrison, Professor of the History of Medicine, Director of the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine. His topic was "Part of the Family–the Medical Officer on the Western Front." A bronze of Noel Chavasse showing him dragging a wounded soldier from no-man’s land is located outside the library entrance. A bust of Chavasse is inside the library and a portrait of Chavasse in the Chavasse Suite on Staircase 16.

Sources: David Horan, Oxford: A Cultural and Literary Companion. Websites of St Peter's and Trinity College. Ian Senior, Trinity College Newsletter.

Other Posts on the Arms of Oxford Colleges and PPHs: In Alphabetical Order . 
Chavasse Coat of Arms . Original Article in Oxford Today . Heraldry as Branding . Heraldry as Fun .  Coat of Arms vs. Crest . Sinister Questions . Visit to the College of Arms . Windsor Herald Talks to New Yorkers . Shaming of Harvard Law Shield :: Rapid Expansion of Oxford's Colleges and Halls . Oxford Stars . HERALDRY SUPERLINK . Harris Manchester College . Linacre College . St Catherine's . St Cross College . St Edmund Hall . St Peter's College . Trinity College :: Regent's Park College . St Benet's Hall . 

BLOG VIEWS: Oct. 26, 150K Views, Top Posts

Cantabridgia Fools the Waves. Cambridge women's blue
boat appears to sinking under water. What seems to be a
periscope behind the cox is actually a movie camera.

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Comments are welcomed.

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