Keble College, Oxford

Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. To the north is Keble Road and to the south is Museum Road.

History

The best-known of Keble's Victorian founders was Edward Pusey, after whom parts of the College are named. The College itself is named after John Keble, one of Pusey's colleagues in the Oxford Movement, who died four years before its foundation in 1870. William Butterfield was appointed architect, and produced a masterpiece of Victorian Gothic. The College is built of red, blue, and white bricks; the main structure is of red brick, with white and blue patterned banding.

On its construction, Keble was not widely admired within the University, particularly by the undergraduate population of nearby St John's College (from which Keble had purchased their land). A secret society was founded, entrance to which depended upon removing one brick from the College and presenting it to the society's elders. Some accounts specify that one of the commonest red bricks was necessary for ordinary membership, a rarer white brick for higher-level membership, and one of the rarest blue bricks for chairmanship. The hope was that eventually Keble would be completely demolished.

Keble is mentioned in John Betjeman's poem "Myfanwy at Oxford", as well as in the writings of John Ruskin and John Cleese.

Ronald Reagan, former President of the United States of America (1981-89) was an Honorary Fellow of the College until his death in 2004.

College life

The College publishes a quarterly magazine called The Brick which is sent to Keble alumni to update them on College life. Students publish an irreverent spoof version on the last Friday of each term, also named The Brick, recording college gossip. Recently the College reported selling its stock of local houses to fund the acquisition of a new building to provide accommodation for a greater number of students. This reverses a trend of the early 1990s when the number of rooms on campus was reduced in order to make conversions into en suite rooms, making them more attractive to conference delegates. Like many colleges, Keble receives most of its income not from student fees, but as a venue for Conferences during the holidays.

Keble houses the original of William Holman Hunt's painting, The Light of the World in a side room off the large chapel. The version in St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a later copy.

In 2005, Keble College featured in the national U.K. press when its bursar, Roger Boden, was found guilty of racial discrimination by an employment tribunal. ( An appeal was launched by the College and Mr Boden against the tribunal's judgement, resulting in a financial out-of-court settlement with the aggrieved employee ([http://www.keble.ox.ac.uk/life/governance/employmenttribunalstatement.pdf).

The current Warden of Keble College, Prof. Averil Cameron, has been made a Dame of the British Empire.

Notable former students

See also Former students of Keble College, Oxford.

External links

Colleges of the University of Oxford | Educational institutions established in 1870

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History

College life

Notable former students

External links