Out with the New, in with the new

St Andrews biggest hall of student residence is seeking a new name – 19 years after it first adopted the “temporary” title of New Hall.

Students living in the Hall – at North Haugh, St Andrews – want to help mark the University’s 600^th Anniversary by inviting nominations for a new, permanent name from staff, students and members of the local community.

Opened in 1993, New Hall is the largest hall of residence building in the University of St Andrews, housing over 550 Undergraduate and Postgraduate students. The building was initially named ‘New Hall’ as a temporary measure at the time of its opening.

Matt Harrison, the Senior Student at New Hall stated, “New Hall currently finds itself in a period of transition, becoming fully self-catered for the first time and in the process of establishing a new sense of community. Many of the present students living in New Hall were only just born at the time the hall was built and we’ve decided that it is time for a change. There is a shared goal in the hall of making 2012 a successful year –  a year characterised by ambition and forward thinking:  the campaign to find a new and permanent name that we can feel proud of is a reflection of this”.

The University of St Andrews has embraced the students’ proposal. A panel has been established, including representatives from the University Court, student body, alumni and staff.

Nominations for a new name are invited from members of the University, alumni who have lived in New Hall and members of the local St Andrews community. Nominations should be sent to [email protected] by 5.00 on 9 March. They should be accompanied by a strict maximum of 150 words explaining the proposal, and must include the names, addresses and email addresses of at least 10 eligible people who support the name (for nominations from New Hall alumni, the number of supporters is reduced to 3).

Following the University’s Spring vacation, current students who are, or have been, New Hall residents will be able to vote for the new name from a shortlist established by the panel and published in early April.

Some of the inspiring suggestions put forward to date by New Hall residents include:

• Agnes Forbes-Blackadder, the first woman to graduate from the University of St Andrews who went on to have a distinguished medical career as a consultant dermatologist in London. She published papers on the forcible feeding of suffrage prisoners on hunger strike and played a central role as a radiographer in the Scottish Women’s Hospital at Royaumont, France, during the 1914-1918 War.
• Elizabeth Garrett-Anderson, a physician and feminist who studied anatomy at the University of St Andrews and who went on to become the first woman to gain a medical qualification in Britain and became the first female mayor in England.
• Fridtjof Nansen, who served as Rector in 1926, but is better known and hugely influential for his heroic crossing of the Greenland interior and his later humanitarian work with the League of Nations.
• David Brewster, who became Principal of the University of St Andrews in 1837, invented the kaleidoscope and specialized in mathematics, physics and astronomy. His works include a biography of Isaac Newton.

Matt Harrison, Senior Student at New Hall told us, “New Hall is home to over 500 students who come from all round the world; such diversity deserves a name that inspires.”

Issued by the University of St Andrews

More information: Niall Scott, tel 01334 462244, mobile 07711 223062

Email [email protected]