Arms of Clare College: Arms of de Clare (Or, three chevrons gules) impaling de Burgh (Or, a cross gules) all within a bordure sable guttée d'or. Elizabeth de Clare's first husband was John de Burgh (1286–1313). Usually, the arms of the husband appear in the dexter half, the position of greatest honour, here occupied by the arms of de Clare. This shield with its bordure of gouttes d'or (golden droplets) appears on the personal seal of Elizabeth de Clare.
Scarf colours: black, with two equally-spaced narrow yellow stripes
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge[4] in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded in 1338 as Clare Hall by an endowment from Elizabeth de Clare, and took on its current name in 1856. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "The Backs" (the back of the colleges that overlook the River Cam).
History
The college was founded in 1326 by the university's Chancellor, Richard Badew, and was originally named University Hall. Providing maintenance for only two fellows, it soon hit financial hardship. In 1338, the college was refounded as Clare Hall by an endowment from Elizabeth de Clare, a granddaughter of Edward I, which provided for twenty fellows and ten students.[5]
The college was known as Clare Hall until 1856, when it changed its name to "Clare College".[6] (A new "Clare Hall" was founded by Clare College as an exclusively postgraduate institution in 1966.)
Women were accepted as undergraduates in 1972, one of the first three previously all-male colleges to do so.[7]
Buildings
Old Court
Old Court from King's Bridge, Cambridge
Clare's Old Court, a Grade I listed building, frames King's College Chapel. It was built between 1638 and 1715,[6] with a long interruption for the English Civil War. The period spans the arrival of classicism into the mainstream of British architecture, such that its progress can be traced in the marked differences between the oldest wing to the north, which still has vaulting and other features in the unbroken tradition of English Gothic, and the final southern block, which shows a fully articulated classic style.[citation needed]
Fourteen stone balls decorate it, one of which has a missing section. A number of apocryphal stories circulate concerning this – the one cited by members of the college is that the original builder of the bridge was not paid the full amount for his work and so removed the segment to balance the difference in payment. A more likely explanation is that a wedge of stone cemented into the ball as part of a repair job became loose and fell out.[citation needed]
Memorial Court
Clare's bridge connects Old Court to Memorial Court, which was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and dedicated in 1926. Memorial Court was extended in the 1950s by the construction of Thirkill Court, and was later divided into two parts when the College's Forbes Mellon Library was constructed in the centre of Memorial Court; the new courtyard created in the west was renamed Ashby Court.[11]
Lerner Court
A new court, Lerner Court, designed by the architects van Heyningen and Haward, was opened in January 2008.[12] It occupies the last piece of undeveloped land in the central area of the College next to Memorial Court and houses a lecture theatre, catering, fellows offices, residential accommodation and a student laundry.
Clare is known as a liberal and progressive college.[citation needed] In 1972 it became one of the three male Cambridge colleges that led the way in admitting female undergraduates (the other two being Churchill and King's). Clare continues in this tradition and has been praised for the transparency of its admissions process.[13]
Clare College Bar
Clare is known as a musical college in Cambridge.[citation needed] Its choir has performed all over the world. Many Clare students play instruments, and the Clare College Music Society is well known, particularly the orchestra. Like most Cambridge colleges, Clare allows students to have a piano in their college rooms.[citation needed]
Clare Ents
As well as jazz and comedy nights, Clare is known for Clare Ents, a student night held every Friday in term time.[citation needed] The night is popular with students across the university and in the past it has hosted such acts as Tinie Tempah, Bombay Bicycle Club and Chase and Status.[14]
Clareification
Clare's student newspaper, Clareification, won "Best University College Paper" in The Cambridge Student in 2005.[citation needed] Published by the Union of Clare Students, it comprises satirical articles mocking Cambridge traditions, reports on silly student antics, and college gossip in the "Clareifornication" column.[citation needed]
On 3 February 2007, the college cut its funding to the paper following the publication of the guest-edited edition of 2 February, retitled Crucification.[citation needed] In addition to the paper's usual satirical attacks on Christianity, this edition also featured several articles which mocked Islam, and a reproduction of the cartoon illustrations of the prophet Mohammed which provoked international protest when they first appeared in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005.[15]
May Ball
Clare hosts an annual May Ball, during which the college is lavishly decorated.
Clare holds an annual May ball on the Monday of May Week in the middle of June. It is one of the largest may balls in Cambridge and is well known for securing popular headliners.[citation needed]
Clare Boat Club
Clare Boat Club is the rowing club for current members of Clare College. There is a separate club, De Burgh Boat Club, for alumni. In 2012, Clare Boat Club had the highest membership relative to the size of its student body of any college-affiliated boat club in Cambridge, fielding six men's VIIIs in the May Bumps competition.[citation needed]
The club's Head Coach and Boathouse Manager, Anton Wright, appeared on Channel 4's year-long reality TV show, Eden.[16]
Old Court Panorama
Academic performance
The undergraduates of Clare College have usually performed very well based on the results published in the Tompkins Table, placing Clare within the top ten colleges from 2000 to 2005.[17] However, their performance in the following years (2006–09) was poorer, leaving them in 12th in 2006 and 18th in 2009. Their 2010 performance (8th position) however showed an increase of 10 places over their previous year's performance, and in 2011 they reached fourth place.[18] In 2018, Clare placed 16th out of 29 colleges recorded in the table. In 2019, it fell to 24th place. In 2022, it rose to 12th place.
Entrance into Clare College is competitive, with approximately five applicants per place.[citation needed] However, the high quality of applicants means that many of them are awarded places at other colleges through the Winter Pool.[citation needed] Of applicants in 2007, 151 were given offers by Clare, and a further 75 applicants were made offers at other Cambridge colleges.[19]
^Clare College, Cambridge (11 October 2017). "Statutes of Clare College"(PDF). clare.cam.ac.uk. Archived(PDF) from the original on 29 April 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
^Walker, Timea (19 January 2022). "Clare College". undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
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