| Senate House | |
|---|---|
 The Senate House viewed from the Great St Mary's tower. | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Academic |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical |
| Location | King's Parade, Cambridge |
| Construction started | 1722 |
| Completed | 1730 |
| Owner | University of Cambridge |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | James Gibbs |
The Senate House is a 1720s building of the University of Cambridge in England, used formerly for meetings of its senate and now mainly for graduation ceremonies.
The building, which is situated in the centre of the city between King's and Gonville and Caius Colleges, was designed by architect James Gibbs, based to an unclear extent on designs by the gentleman-architect Sir James Burrough, [1] and built in 1722–1730 by Gibbs in a neo-classical style using Portland stone. [2] The ceremony to lay the first stone was performed by Thomas Crosse, then Vice-Chancellor, on 22 June 1722. [3] The site was previously used for houses, which were purchased by an Act of Parliament, dated 11 June 1720. It was officially opened in July 1730, although the western end was not completed until 1768.
The Senate House was originally intended to be one side of a quadrangle, however the rest of the structure was never completed. [4] It forms part of the Old Schools Site. It is a Grade I listed building. [5]
Graduates receiving an undergraduate degree wear the academic dress that they were entitled to before graduating: for example, most students becoming Bachelors of Arts wear undergraduate gowns and not BA gowns. Graduates are presented in the Senate House college by college, in order of foundation or recognition by the university, except for the royal colleges.
The 31 colleges process to the Senate House in the following order: [6]
King's 
Trinity 
St John's 
Peterhouse 
Clare 
Pembroke 
Gonville & Caius 
Trinity Hall 
Corpus Christi 
Queens' 
St Catharine's 
Jesus 
Christ's 
Magdalene 
Emmanuel 
Sidney Sussex 
Downing 
Girton 
Newnham 
Selwyn 
Fitzwilliam 
Churchill 
Murray Edwards 
Darwin 
Wolfson 
Clare Hall 
Robinson 
Lucy Cavendish 
St Edmund's 
Hughes Hall 
Homerton During the congregation, graduands are brought forth by the Praelector of their college, who takes them by the right hand, and presents them to the vice-chancellor for the degree they are about to take. The Praelector presents graduands with the following Latin statement, substituting the name of the degree for "____":
"Dignissima domina, Domina Procancellaria et tota Academia praesento vobis hunc virum quem scio tam moribus quam doctrina esse idoneum ad gradum assequendum _____; idque tibi fide mea praesto totique Academiae.
(Most worthy Vice-Chancellor and the whole University, I present to you this man whom I know to be suitable as much by character as by learning to proceed to the degree of ____; for which I pledge my faith to you and to the whole University.)"
and female graduands with the following:
"Dignissima domina, Domina Procancellaria et tota Academia praesento vobis hanc mulierem quam scio tam moribus quam doctrina esse idoneam ad gradum assequendum ____; idque tibi fide mea praesto totique Academiae.
(Most worthy Vice-Chancellor and the whole University, I present to you this woman whom I know to be suitable as much by character as by learning to proceed to the degree of ____; for which I pledge my faith to you and to the whole University.)"
After presentation, the graduand is called by name and kneels before the vice-chancellor and proffers their hands to the vice-chancellor, who clasps them and then confers the degree through the following Latin statement—the Trinitarian formula (in nomine Patris...) may be omitted at the request of the graduand:
"Auctoritate mihi commissa admitto te ad gradum ____, in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.
(By the authority committed to me, I admit you to the degree of ____, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.)"
The now-graduate then rises, bows and leaves the Senate House through the Doctor's door, where he or she receives his or her certificate, into Senate House passage.
At the University of Cambridge, each graduation is a separate act of the university's governing body, the Regent House, and must be voted on as with any other act. A formal meeting of the Regent House, known as a Congregation, is held for this purpose. [7]
As part of the University's 800th anniversary celebrations in 2008, the side of the Senate House was illuminated with a light show, illustrating aspects of the history of the university. [8]
At the end of the academic year, class-lists for most degrees are posted up on the outer wall of the building. The results of Part II and Part III of the Mathematical Tripos, however, are read out to the waiting students from the balcony of the Senate House, after which piles of class-lists are thrown to the ground like confetti in a time-honoured manner.
A battered Austin Seven van was found on the apex of the Senate House roof on the morning of 8 June 1958. The van had been placed there the night before by a party of engineering students from Gonville & Caius College. They found the derelict Austin Seven in Harston and towed it into Cambridge. They removed the engine and rear axle to make it light enough to winch up to the roof, and hauled it up using cables and scaffolding they'd stolen from King's College. It took the University a week to get the van down and the prank received much media attention at the time. [9] [10]
A variety of similar student pranks have been carried out on the roof of the building since. Most notably, a fully-decorated Christmas tree was placed on the corner of the Senate House roof in November 2022, assumed to be the work of night climbers. [11]
On 31 May 2017, Senate House hosted the BBC Election Debate ahead of the UK General Election eight days later.
Mishal Husain chaired audience questions for Jeremy Corbyn, Tim Farron, Caroline Lucas, Paul Nuttall, Angus Robertson, Amber Rudd, and Leanne Wood. [12]
The University of Dublin, corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dublin. It was founded in 1592 when Queen Elizabeth I issued a charter for Trinity College as "the mother of a university", thereby making it Ireland's oldest operating university. It was modelled after the collegiate universities of Oxford and of Cambridge, but unlike these other ancient universities, only one college was established; as such, the designations "Trinity College" and "University of Dublin" are usually synonymous for practical purposes.
John Caius, also known as Johannes Caius and Ioannes Caius, was an English physician, and second founder of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
The Ascension Parish Burial Ground, formerly known as the burial ground for the parish of St Giles and St Peter's, is a cemetery off Huntingdon Road in Cambridge, England. Many notable University of Cambridge academics are buried there, including three Nobel Prize winners.
A Supplicant, one who supplicates, is a term applied to humble petitioners, and in particular to University of Oxford students who have qualified for but not yet been admitted into their degree.
William Branthwaite (1563–1619) was an English scholar and translator.
There are a number of popular legends associated with Cambridge University and its 800 year-old history, often recounted by punt guides to tourists while cruising the River Cam. Some are true, some contain elements of truth, and others are somewhat more fabricated. The myths and legends listed below represent a select few of the traditions and stories associated with Cambridge.
Sir Thomas Gooch, 2nd Baronet (1674–1754) was an English bishop.
Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius, is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of the wealthiest. In 1557, it was refounded by alumnus John Caius. The college has been attended by many students who have gone on to significant accomplishment, including fifteen Nobel Prize winners, the second-highest of any Oxbridge college after Trinity College, Cambridge.
Trinity Lane is a street in the centre of Cambridge, England. The lane leads off Trinity Street.
The Old Schools are part of the University of Cambridge, in the centre of Cambridge, England. The Old Schools house the Cambridge University Offices, which form the main administration for the University.
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third-oldest surviving university and one of its most prestigious, currently ranked second-best in the world and the best in Europe by QS World University Rankings. Among the university's most notable alumni are 11 Fields Medalists, seven Turing Award winners, 47 heads of state, 14 British prime ministers, 194 Olympic medal-winning athletes, and some of world history's most transformational and iconic figures across disciplines, including Francis Bacon, Lord Byron, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, John Maynard Keynes, John Milton, Vladimir Nabokov, Jawaharlal Nehru, Isaac Newton, Bertrand Russell, Manmohan Singh, Alan Turing, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and others. Cambridge alumni and faculty have won 121 Nobel Prizes, the most of any university in the world, according to the university.
John Gostlin was an English academic and physician, Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge from 1619 and Regius Professor of Physic.
Sir James Burrough was an English academic, antiquary, and amateur architect. He was Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and designed or refaced several of the buildings at Cambridge University in a Classical style.
Andrew John Schofield is an academic and administrator who is the Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University. A theoretical physicist, he was previously a Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Birmingham and Head of its College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. As an academic, his research focus is in the theory of correlated quantum systems, in particular non-Fermi liquids, quantum criticality and high-temperature superconductivity.
Sir John Ellys or Ellis (1634?–1716) was an English academic, Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge from 1703.
James Halman was an academic of the University of Cambridge. He held the office of Registrary of the university from 1683 to 1701 and was also the twenty-third Master of Gonville and Caius College.
Ernest Stewart Roberts was born in Swineshead, Lincolnshire; a classicist and academic administrator. He served as Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (1906-1908). He was admitted to Caius in 1865, elected Fellow in 1870 then Senior Tutor. He was elected President in 1894 and Master in 1903. He was involved in the foundation of the College magazine, The Caian and the College Mission at Battersea and in the organisation of the College rifle corps and boat club.
John Forbes Cameron was a Scottish mathematician, academic and academic administrator. He was Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge from 1928 to 1948 and was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1933 to 1935.
Richard Fisher BelwardD.D. FRS was an academic in England in the second half of the 18th century and the early years of the 19th. He was born Richard Fisher, adopting the name Belward in 1791.
William Buckenham was a 16th-century priest and academic.
