Jenny and I have loved being part of the College
for almost the whole of our time in Durham, first as Visitor, then as Rector
and, to my surprise when Joe Cassidy thrust a college hood over my head on
his last College Day, as a Fellow. I'm so grateful that the green St Chad's hood means
that I can continue to enjoy this precious relationship with St Chad's after
today when I become superannuated.
Being a friend means sharing dark times as well as
light. All of us who knew and loved Father Joe still miss his loss very keenly.
It was Joe who invited me to become the College's first Rector. He gave
everything he had to this college that he loved. He was to all of us an
inspiration, a truly transformative leader who took the long view and worked
incredibly hard to make it a reality. We could not have wished for a better
successor in Dr Margaret Masson who prized the aims and values for which St Chad's has
stood in recent times, but who has put her own imprint on them as we move into
the future. I loved working with Joe and I've loved working with Margaret. I've
loved working with their colleagues, both staff and governors, people of
exceptional ability and calibre.
And I've loved getting to know students too.
Sadly, not enough of you, and not as deeply as I'd have wanted, though I was always heartened
to get many a cheery wave when we passed one another in the Bailey. This
college has always emphasised the importance of being a good community that
prizes friendship. I've always felt that I was among friends in this college,
and that means more than I can say. Your excellence not only academically but
also in the arts, sport, volunteering and promoting social justice in the wider
community has been truly inspiring. Durham University is rightly proud of you. We all are.
I'd like to wish Dean Andrew Tremlett well as he
follows me in this role. It's good to know that as my successor at Durham Cathedral, he now has his feet well installed under the table with so many exciting
developments to celebrate, not least the completion of the cloister
project Open Treasure which I hope you will visit when the
treasures of St Cuthbert are installed in their final resting place next month.
I hope Andrew enjoys being Rector of St Chad's as much as I have.
So I shall follow the fortunes of the College from
across the hills, in the Tyne Valley where we now live. It goes without saying
that we shall miss our regular trips to Durham. However, we shall be back from
time to time, knowing that behind the green front door on the Bailey, there is
warmth and friendship and the stimulus of good conversation and a generosity of
spirit that has no equal in Durham. Thank you for all of it.
Finally, let me anticipate and congratulate you on the dazzling results I'm sure St Chad's will have achieved** in final exams this year. Indeed, congratulations on all the success you have enjoyed as members of this college. If
you are coming back in October, or your work is keeping you here, have a very
good summer. And if this summer is a time for farewells, well, you and I have
that much in common. There's no denying that it's poignant to say goodbye. So go with my very best wishes and prayers for the future, wherever it
will take you. You and I know that we shall always prize the fact that we belong to the St
Chad's family.
This isn't the parting of friends, but an opportunity to
discover how friendship enters a new dimension; not adieu but au revoir. Thank you again. God bless you. God bless St Chad's.
**Abundantly fulfilled when the results were published the following week, the best ever for St Chad's.
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