Cambridge Union welcomes the Hoff

Highlights of the Union’s termcard include Baywatch star David Hasselhoff and former Doctor Whos Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann

'The Hoff' will be speaking in Week 5Arturo J. Paniagua

by Daisy Hessenberger

This article is 11 years old

Tuesday April 22 2014, 11:59am

Doctor Who fans will be delighted by the Union's line-up this term. Ex time lord actors Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann bookend this terms speakers, their appearance a suitable celebration of 50 years of Doctor Who.

The celebrity star speaker of the term however is “The Hoff”. Although most associate David Hasselhoff with Bay Watch, he has many other claims to fame from helping end the Cold War to saving SpongeBob SquarePants.

Kicking off the term to a fiery start, the debate this Thursday, ‘This House believes the Catholic Church is a Force for Good’, is expected to attract interest, with speakers including Melanie McDonagh, the lead writer at the Evening Standard and former President of the Union, and David Greenwood, a solicitor at Stop Child Abuse UK. On a controversial note closer to home, Easter term will end with the May Week Presidential Debate, ‘This House Believes that Feminism Should Exclude Men’. President Michael Dunn Goekjian will be proposing the motion, essentially arguing to exclude himself from feminism.

Although there is a 50/50 gender split in the debate line up this term, the speaker line up is still predominately male with only 2 women speakers out of 11. A Union spokesperson attributes the current speaker inequality to “the success rates of our invitations and the fact that historical factors mean more men have a connection to Cambridge and the Union than do women.”

Hoping to change this in the future, the Union assures us that it “is utterly committed to creating a diverse line up, and getting as much female and minority representation as we can,” and is hosting a Women’s Public Speaking Workshop in the first week of term.

Week 4 will provide a chance to catch up on current affairs as the tension in Crimea features in an exciting back-to-back speaker event. The Russian ambassador to the UK, Alexander Kramarenko, will be followed the next day by the Ukrainian ambassador, His Excellency Volodymyr Khandogiy.

Catch the President of the Union on Cam FM at 9am this Thursday where he will be answering questions live on air.

Support Varsity

Varsity is the independent newspaper for the University of Cambridge, established in its current form in 1947. In order to maintain our editorial independence, our print newspaper and news website receives no funding from the University of Cambridge or its constituent Colleges.

We are therefore almost entirely reliant on advertising for funding and we expect to have a tough few months and years ahead.

In spite of this situation, we are going to look at inventive ways to look at serving our readership with digital content and of course in print too!

Therefore we are asking our readers, if they wish, to make a donation from as little as £1, to help with our running costs. Many thanks, we hope you can help!