Autumn 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of your arrival as Freshers at Somerville in 1976. We are celebrating this milestone with a Golden Reunion in College and we would love to see you.
The reunion is a chance to catch up with those you knew at College and to meet properly those you did not. Somervillians are interesting people! As well as meals back in Hall and finding out about how the College has developed since you were last here (and, of course, what never changes), there will be plenty of time to talk less formally. We would very much like to welcome back alumnae who studied for either undergraduate or graduate courses from 1976.
We are aware that reunions are not everyone’s cup of tea but we hope that the informality and joy of this special one will attract you! Alumnae who have come to their Golden Reunions in the past have been hugely positive in their feedback…
“Several of us had misgivings beforehand about reunions. I’m really glad I overcame my doubts and hesitations and turned up – it was far more interesting and entertaining than I expected and led to some quite unusual reflections on the past, both mine personally and that of our generation.”
Please spread the word to any of your contemporaries who may not be on email, or not in touch with the College at all. If you know anyone who wants to re-establish contact with College please ask them to email Jackie Watson jacqueline.watson@some.ox.ac.uk so that we may include them.
The University’s annual Alumni Weekend, Meeting Minds, takes place immediately after your reunion, on 19 – 20 September, and we hope this may make a journey to Somerville even more worthwhile for those who live further away. We will hold our Alumni Formal Hall, for all alumni, on Saturday 19 September.
If you would like to come to your reunion but need help with the booking costs, then remember that the Senior Members Fund offers financial assistance (email Jackie Watson jacqueline.watson@some.ox.ac.uk to enquire). We would very much like all those in this year group to be able to attend.
B&B is available from Wednesday to Saturday nights, and bookable using the code AlumniSept26. (Please note: you will need to input this code before checking availability and booking – it will allow you to access alumni prices). Though the reunion is for alumnae only, a limited number of twin rooms are available.
Programme
Thursday 17 September:
11am Arrival, check-in for those staying over, and tea/coffee and pastries in Mary Somerville Room (former JCR)
12pm Pre-lunch drinks
1pm Buffet lunch in Hall
2pm Tea/coffee, with a light-hearted College quiz, then a tour of the College site, including highlights of the art collection or garden tour with the Head Gardener (until about 5pm)
6pm Drinks and a musical interlude with ‘the 1976 Special Choir’, including an opportunity for remembrance.
7pm Gala dinner in Hall, with second dessert afterwards.
An exhibition covering Somerville 1976-80, as well as books published recently by Somervillians, will be available in the Library foyer, and the Mary Somerville Room will be available throughout, for people to have tea/coffee and a chat.
Friday 18 September:
10am After breakfast, a walk around the University’s Radcliffe Observatory Quarter developments (including the site of Somerville’s new building and the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities).
12.30 Drinks
1pm Buffet lunch in Hall
2pm Finish
Year group booklet – a request for EVERYONE
It has become a tradition to produce a booklet at these key milestones, so that people can find out about those in their year group they have lost contact with, whether they can come to the Golden Reunion or not. The booklet will be available to all of you and is a really important part of the College archive. A printed copy of the booklet will be available free to those attending the reunion. A digital copy will be sent to all members of the year group, so do please send your contribution, whether or not you are able to come to the event itself.
Here are some suggestions about putting your entry together:
- A length up to 500 words would be helpful
- Photographs of you (perhaps then and now?) – and any other photographs of student days that you can find…
- You could write about any aspects of life at or since Somerville: home and work, any community involvement, travels or moves, changes or developments of your interests and opinions. This is not all about amazing successes in life, but about those things that have been important to you. All lives and experiences are worth reading about!
- It would be interesting to read any reflections you want to share now, about your time at Somerville and how, if at all, the experience affected your life subsequently
Please feel free to write as you like; an informal style has worked well in the past. Here are some examples of previous entries , to give you an idea.
Please send your entry, and any photographs, to Honey Hinkson (development.assistant@some.ox.ac.uk) by the end of July.
If you have any material relating to your time in College that you’d be willing to contribute to Somerville’s Archive, do let Jackie know.
You can purchase a copy of the 1976 matric photo on the Gillman and Soame website here.