Darwin College, Kent

Darwin College
University	University of Kent
Established	1970
Named for	Charles Darwin
Master	Dermot O'Brien
President	Grace Mercer
Website	www.kent.ac.uk

Darwin College is the fourth-oldest college of the University of Kent, an English institution in the United Kingdom. It was opened in 1970.^[1]

Namesake

After heavy debate, it was named after Charles Darwin, the biologist.^[2] Unusually for a namesake of a Kent college, Darwin had strong connections to the historic county of Kent, having lived in Down House at Downe (now in the London Borough of Bromley) for the last forty years of his life.

Other names considered in the lengthy process included:

• Anselm, after Anselm a former Archbishop of Canterbury
• Attlee, after Clement Attlee, the post war Prime Minister
• Becket, after Thomas Becket, another former Archbishop (this was the recommendation of the college's provisional committee but rejected by the University Senate)
• Conrad
• Elgar, after Edward Elgar
• Maitland
• Marlowe, after Christopher Marlowe
• Russell, after Bertrand Russell (this was the recommendation of the Senate but rejected by the Council; Russell's political activism was the cause of much opposition)
• Tyler, after both Wat Tyler and the nearby Tyler Hill

The name was eventually decided by a postal ballot of members of the Senate, choosing from: Attlee, Conrad, Darwin, Elgar,Maitland, Marlowe and Tyler.^[3]

Darwin Student Committee (DSC)

Darwin Student Committee or the DSC are a group of students who volunteer their time to make the life of Darwin College students more enjoyable. They are made up of a committee of students who meet and discuss the issues that concern the students, deal with problems, organise Freshers week, listen to concerns and improve your experience at Darwin College.

It is in weekly DSC meetings that events in Darwin College (such as the Masquerade Ball) are planned, as well as discussing issues affecting students, which campaigns to run, and passing on important messages from Kent Union and the Sabbatical officers.

References

1. "About Kent - History - 1970-1979". University of Kent. 2007-01-11. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
2. Graham Martin, From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury (University of Kent at Canterbury, 1990) page 125-126 ISBN 0-904938-03-4
3. Graham Martin, From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury (University of Kent at Canterbury, 1990) pages 122-126 ISBN 0-904938-03-4

External links

• Darwin Student Committee
• University of Kent