Van Mildert College, Durham
Constituent college of the University of Durham / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Van Mildert College (colloquially known as Van Mil or Mildert[4][5]) is one of the 17 constituent colleges of the University of Durham. The college was founded in 1965 following the Robbins Report and takes its name from William Van Mildert,[6] the last Prince-Bishop to rule the County Palatine of Durham and a leading figure in the University’s foundation. Originally an all-male college, Van Mildert admitted female undergraduates for the first time in 1972, making it the first Durham colleges to become mixed.[7]
Van Mildert College | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
University of Durham | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Mill Hill Lane, Durham, DH1 3LH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 54.7631°N 1.5810°W / 54.7631; -1.5810 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abbreviation | VM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Motto | Latin: Sic vos non vobis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Motto in English | Thus do ye, Not for yourselves | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Established | 1965 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Named after | William Van Mildert, Prince Bishop of Durham | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sister college | Halifax College, York[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Principal | Tom Mole | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vice principal | Katie Dowson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Undergraduates | 1376 (2022/23)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Postgraduates | ± 200 (2022/23)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | Van Mildert College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
JCR | VM Junior Common Room | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MCR | VM Middle Common Room | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SCR | VM Senior Common Room | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Boat club | Van Mildert College Boat Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The college occupies grounds of 8 acres (3 hectares) alongside South Road and Mill Hill Lane, about 1 mile (2 kilometres) south of the university town, and is centred on a small lake. Designed by Middleton, Fletcher & Partners, the college was built in a modernist and egalitarian architectural stye that aims to house the sudden influx of students in the early 1960’s.[8] The college is notable for its lake, named Lake Mildert, and its Ann Dobson Dining Hall is the largest student dining hall in Durham.[7]
The college is the third largest collegiate body in the university by total numbers of affiliated students, just behind University College,[9] and is reputed for its community feel and relative informality compared with other Durham colleges. Almost half of home students admitted are from grammar school[10] and it is one of the 7 colleges of Durham that does not require its students to don their gown, though the traditional Durham custom of formal dining are still performed and taken pride of.
Among Mildertian’s notable alumni are former Minister of State for Women The Baroness Morgan of Huyton, World Record triple jump Olympic champion Jonathan Edwards, the cosmologist and Templeton Prize winner John D. Barrow, English judge of the UK Supreme Court Lord Hughes of Ombersley, and Turkish Prince Naz Osmanoglu.