On Tuesday 10 March, a showcase of creative responses to 40 years of women at Univ was held in the College bar. Organised by Melissa Pierce Murray, Visitor in the Creative Arts, Elizabeth Adams, Librarian, and Laura Varnam, Lecturer in English, the project brought together undergraduates, graduates, and staff to celebrate and reflect upon what the anniversary had meant to them.

The College bar was decorated with the artwork that students and staff had produced across the term. This included the “Women at Univ” posters, stencilled by Melissa and the students and the hand-printed posters made during a workshop in the Bodleian Library print room, which included their favourite quotations from writers such as Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, and Daphne du Maurier.

During the evening, we shared a range of the creative work that had been submitted for the project. There were poetry readings from Laura, Amber Madden-Nadeau (2016, DPhil Environmental Research), and Michael-Akolade Ayodeji (2018, PPE). Laura also shared archivist Robin Darwall-Smith’s reflections on putting together last term’s “Women at Univ” exhibition. We were also delighted to see artwork from Charlotte Bunney (2017, Classics) and Lizzie Daly (2017, Medicine) , and a handprinted souvenir of the moment when the College agreed to admit women, by Elizabeth. Students were also able to stencil their own “Women at Univ” posters.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the project this term and to Michael-Akolade for the photographs. If any Old Members would like to contribute an artwork, photograph, or reflection to the archive for this project, please contact Laura Varnam.

Published: 27 March 2020

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