Exeter College, Oxford

Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street. As of 2006, the college had an estimated financial endowment of £47m.

History
Still situated in its original location in Turl Street, Exeter College was founded in 1314 by Walter de Stapeldon of Devon, Bishop of Exeter and later treasurer to Edward II, as a school to educate clergy. During its first century, it was known as Stapeldon Hall and was significantly smaller, with just twelve to fourteen students. The college grew significantly from the 15th century onward, and began offering rooms to its students. The College motto is "Floreat Exon", meaning "Let Exeter Flourish".

In the 16th century, donations from Sir William Petre, a former Exeter graduate, helped to expand and transform the college. In a clever move by the bursar to fill the new buildings as they were completed, a significant number of noble Roman Catholic students were invited to enroll and take classes at the enlarged college; however, they were not allowed to matriculate. As a result, over time, Exeter College became one of the leading colleges in the University.

In the 18th century the college experienced declining popularity, as did all of Oxford's other colleges. University reforms in the 1850s helped to end this period of stagnation.

Until 1979 the college did not allow women students, but in 1993 Exeter College became the first of the former all-male colleges to elect a woman, Marilyn Butler, as its Rector. When Butler's tenure expired in October 2004, the college elected another woman – Frances Cairncross, former Senior Editor of The Economist – as Rector.

Front Quadrangle
The Front Quadrangle sits on roughly the site of the medieval college, although of the earliest buildings, only Palmer's Tower in the north-eastern corner remains. Constructed in 1432, the tower, which was once the primary entrance to the College, now houses various offices and lodgings for Fellows, and at its base is a memorial to Members who were killed in the Second World War. The Quadrangle is dominated by the chapel, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and constructed in 1854-60, which was heavily inspired by the Sainte Chapelle in Paris. On the opposite side stands the Hall, constructed in 1618, notable for its vaulted ceilings and numerous fine portraits, underneath which is the College bar. Building work over the following century resulted in the Quadrangle taking on its current appearance in 1710.

The Front Quadrangle also houses the Junior, Middle and Senior Common Rooms, as well as lodgings for Fellows and undergraduates.

Margary Quadrangle
The Margary Quadrangle was completed in 1964 with the construction of the Thomas Wood building to commemorate the 650th anniversary of the College, although the Quadrangle also incorporates a number of buildings that were constructed prior to this date. The Rector's Lodgings were designed by Gilbert Scott and constructed in 1864, with staircases nine, ten and eleven also being erected during the nineteenth century.

Fellows' Garden
A passageway from the Front Quadrangle leads through to the College's Fellows' Garden, in which stands the library, designed by Gilbert Scott in the 13th century style. The area is also bounded on the left hand side by Convocation House, the Divinity School and the Bodleian Library, and on the right by Brasenose Lane. The Mound, situated at the end of the Garden, offers views over Radcliffe Square, including All Souls College and the Radcliffe Camera.



Walton Street
In 2007-08, the College purchased the main site of Ruskin College on nearby Walton Street for £7 million. It will be refurbished as a third city centre quadrangle.

Student life
As one of the smaller Oxford Colleges, Exeter has a reputation for having a close-knit student body, and Common Rooms that are noted for their friendliness and openness to new students. First year undergraduates are housed on-site in the College’s Turl St. site, and there is dedicated Graduate accommodation for the college on Iffley Road.

As the University’s fourth oldest college, a certain emphasis is placed on tradition, especially during special occasions such as the annual ‘Burns’ Night,’ a dinner in honour of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, when a traditional meal of haggis is always served. The College’s ties with Williams College in the United States, as well as the generally international composition of the MCR makes the annual Thanksgiving dinner a popular occasion as well. The MCR hosts a large number of married students, and non-studying spouses are encouraged to actively participate in the life of college.

The MCR hosts a large number of specialists in Law and Byzantine studies, and the JCR has a high concentration of students reading the popular Modern History and PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) degrees. However, like most other Oxford colleges no single discipline can be said to dominate either common room, and the atmosphere is one of a great deal of interdisciplinary mingling.

Sports
Like all Oxford Colleges Exeter prides itself on its athletic achievements as well as its academic: in 2005/2006 Exeter students competed at a University level on the varsity lacrosse, football, golf, fencing, rugby, powerlifting, gymnastics, darts, croquet, basketball, ice hockey and wine tasting teams. It also fields several teams on an intra-university college level, particularly in rowing, Rugby, Hockey, Netball and Cricket.

In December 2010 Exeter College Hockey Team, under the leadership of James Hunter, won the men's intra-university premier division and will compete on 8 March 2011 in the College Varsity Match against St Catharine's College, Cambridge at Southgate HC, London.

In 2010/2011, in what is now commonly referred to as the Invictus season, the college Rugby team under the leadership of Tom Blight achieved a perfect season, winning 10 games from 10 and in doing so gained a double promotion.

Careers Office
The college also places an emphasis on preparing students for their future careers once they leave the university. Unusually for an Oxford college, Exeter boasts a dedicated Careers Office and internship programme, with links to a wide range of companies around the globe. The college’s Development Office works not only to help fund the college but also to provide networking opportunities for students through its alumni contacts, and through its annual ‘City Drinks.’

Prominent academics/tutors

 * Christine Cheng - Politics and International Relations
 * Frank Close
 * Shamita Das
 * Cornelia Druţu
 * Raymond Dwek
 * Tyler Fisher
 * Sandra Fredman
 * William Gould
 * Michael Hart
 * Jonathan Herring
 * Jane Hiddleston
 * Elizabeth Jeffreys
 * Jeri Johnson - English
 * Eric Waldram Kemp — Fellow, Tutor, and Chaplain 1946-69, later bishop of Chichester
 * Jacob Klein
 * George Alfred Kolkhorst — Reader in Spanish 1931-58
 * John Maddicott — History fellow
 * Ben Morgan - English
 * George Rawlinson
 * Lucy Sackville - History
 * Andrew Steane
 * Magdi Wahba - Egyptian academic and lexicographer
 * Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly — Official Fellow and Tutor in German
 * Edwin Williamson

In fiction
Exeter College is the real-life basis for the fictional Jordan College in Philip Pullman's novel trilogy His Dark Materials. The 2007 film version of the first novel, The Golden Compass (originally Northern Lights), used the college for location filming.

In the 1997 novel Great Apes by Will Self, an old Exonian, the author imagines an Earth where chimpanzees have evolved as the dominant, sentient species. One scene is set in Exeter College Hall, where the chimpanzee dons rampage around the High Table, showing in their conversation the very high intelligence to be expected of Oxford academics, but all the while exhibiting in their behaviour the manners and habits of chimpanzees.

In the final Morse episode, "The Remorseful Day", Inspector Morse collapses from a heart attack in the front quadrangle as Fauré's In Paradisum is being sung in chapel.

Williams College
Exeter College has a close relationship with Williams College, a top-ranked U.S.-based liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts. In the early 1980s, Williams purchased a group of houses, today known as the Ephraim Williams House, on Banbury Road and Lathbury Road, in North Oxford. The Williams-Exeter Programme was founded in 1985. Since that time, twenty six undergraduate students from Williams spend their junior year at Exeter each year as full members of the college.