Van Mildert College, Durham

Van Mildert College
Durham University
Van Mildert Main College and Tyne Block viewed from Lake Mildert
Arms of Van Mildert College
Arms: Gules, two scythe blades in saltire, in chief the cross of St. Cuthbert argent.
                                               
LocationMill Hill Lane, Durham, DH1 3LH
Coordinates54°45′47″N 1°34′52″W / 54.7631°N 1.5810°W / 54.7631; -1.5810
AbbreviationVM
MottoLatin: Sic vos non vobis
Motto in EnglishThus do ye, Not for yourselves
Established1965
Named afterWilliam Van Mildert, Prince Bishop of Durham
Sister collegeHalifax College, York[1]
PrincipalTom Mole
Vice principalKatie Dowson
Undergraduates1376 (2022/23)[2]
Postgraduates± 200 (2022/23)[3]
WebsiteVan Mildert College
JCRVM Junior Common Room
MCRVM Middle Common Room
SCRVM Senior Common Room
Boat clubVan Mildert College Boat Club
Map
Van Mildert College, Durham is located in Durham, England
Van Mildert College, Durham
Location in Durham, England

Van Mildert College (colloquially known as Van Mil or Mildert[4][5]) is one of the 17 constituent colleges of Durham University. The college was founded in 1965 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 college to become mixed.[7]

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 1960s.[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.

  1. ^ [1] Archived 16 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Undergraduate College Comparison Table". Durham University. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Van Mildert College Middle Common Room". Durham University. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Home Page". www.mildert.co.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  5. ^ "What does Mildert mean?". Durham University - Student Blogs. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  6. ^ "Van Mildert College : Building the College - Durham University". www.dur.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Durham University Records: Colleges: Van Mildert College". Durham University Library Archives & Special Collections Catalogue. 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Back to School in the Mid-20th Century: Modernist Student Accommodation". www.historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Compare Our Colleges". www.durham.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Admission of students from non-selective schools by college". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2024.