Key Stories From This Week

Students march in protest at divestment working group

In the aftermath of the Guardian’s report last week, around 180 students took to King’s Parade on Friday to protest what organisers described as the “corruption” behind the divestment working group, appointed by the University to find a way forward on divestment. Pinning a list of demands on the door of Old Schools, organisers called for a “transparent and democratic process” to be established to replace the report produced by the previous working group, which a spokesperson for Zero Carbon described as “riven with conflicted interests”.

‘Taylor’s Table’ highlights collegiate differences in bottom-rate pay

The collegiate league table, which was released by student campaigners this week, provides data on how much colleges pay their lowest-paid staff. Data from Freedom of Information requests indicate that 8 colleges pay all their workers at least the Real Living Wage, which stood at £8.75 per hour when data was collected. The table ranks colleges based on the proportion of their staff paid below this amount, with Robinson placing last among the 31 colleges. Commenting on the findings, Daniel Zeichner MP said, “We live in a great City - it needs to be great for everyone.”

No signs of improvement for Cambridge homeless

A report for the Ministry for Housing, Community and Local Government suggests that homelessness numbers in the city remained roughly similar between 2017 and 2018, despite a slight improvement in national figures. The count recorded 27 rough sleepers in November compared with 26 the year before. While Daniel Zeichner described the issue as a “national shame”, Richard Johnson of Cambridge City Council emphasised the need to place these figures in their long-term context, which has seen homelessness decrease in Cambridge since 2016.

Trinity gets first female Master

Dame Sally Davies has been appointed as the new Master of Trinity, commencing next Michaelmas. The appointment comes 40 years after women were first admitted as undergraduates to the college in 1978. In her new role Davies hopes to “continue building the prestigious legacy” of the college after a career in medicine, for which she was honoured with a CBE in 2009.

And on the lighter side…

£100m donated to Cambridge is biggest gift in recent history

The David and Claudia Harding Foundation this week announced an £100m donation to the University, a value surpassed only by a $210m (approx. £140m) made by Bill Gates and his wife in 2000. Most of the donation will contribute to fully-funded PhD scholarships, with portions set aside for undergraduate study and access programs. £25m of the fund will go to David Harding’s alma mater, St. Catharine’s. The donation comes as a welcome boost to the University’s Student Support Initiative, which hopes to raise £500m to fund an array of access and participation projects.