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53°56′50″N 1°02′59″W / 53.9473°N 1.0496°W / 53.9473; -1.0496

Langwith College is a college of the University of York, home to the English and Educational Studies departments and the first college (along with Derwent) to be opened following the university's foundation in 1963. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 22 October 1965.

Description

The smallest college at the university, Langwith is known to most students by virtue of its facilities - its college bar, for instance, is a common meeting venue, and its lecture theatre, with its retractable seating, is often used for functions such as the Battle Of The Bands and shows by the Gilbert & Sullivan society, as well as Mixed Martial Arts, Capoeira and Dance societies. Other notable features include an art gallery and a licensed outdoor seating complex. Langwith has one of the largest Junior Common Room Committees in the University. It has a strong rivalry with Derwent College and in 2005 it won the university's college sport league.

Langwith College is broken into several blocks on the main campus numbered A-D and also has blocks in the joint Derwent-Langwith (occasionally referred to as 'Derwith') extension, forming E and F block. These blocks will eventually be incorporated into Derwent College when Langwith moves to the new Heslington East development, which (as of June 2009) is in the early phases of construction.

The Norman Rea Art Gallery is situated above 'The Courtyard'. The gallery hosts exhibitions from Yorkshire artists and is run by the Langwith Arts committee as chaired by college Provost Dr. John Issitt.

Junior Common Room

All undergraduate residents of Langwith College are members of the Junior Common Room, and continue to remain members throughout their time at the university.

Langwith has a Junior Common Room Committee (JCRC) responsible for representing the interests of Langwith students, and organising the event & welfare provision.

The Junior Common Room Committee is elected annually from the undergraduate populations, and consists of around 40 members. Details of the currently serving members of the JCRC are viewable at The Langwith JCRC Website, and historic members of the executive brange of the college's JCRC as set out in the constitution have included:

Bar

As per the collegiate structure of the University, each college was originally set up around its social space; a bar and dining room. As part of a wider programme of a campus-wide reduction in opening hours of all facilities, which included the partial closing of the Alcuin College bar B'Henry's, and the total closure of Halifax College bar JJs; Langwith College Bar was issued with a notice of closure by the University of York Commercial Services in early 2008. As a counter measure, Langwith's 2008 JCRC submitted a prepared dossier outlining the social requirement for the space for the good of the college, and, crucially, a detailed and full proposal to both Students' Union and the University administration to use the space to create the University's first Union-run venue.

Representatives from both the student union and other colleges co-signed a UGM Motion, put forward by Langwith JCRC College Chair Zach Pepper, which served the purpose of cementing the pursuit of the college bar as detailed in the JCRC's dossier into formal Union policy.

The Students' Union was quick run feasibility studies into the proposal submitted by Langwith's JCRC, and a business plan was submitted to the University.

In the summer of 2008, Langwith college bar was closed and extensively refurbished, and after being rebranded "the Courtyard", reopened as a venue run solely by the student union in early January 2009.

History

Despite being the second oldest College (after Derwent College), with a rich past including having hosted Jimi Hendrix in 1967, the day to day history of Langwith College is largely undocumented, with much of the documentation from the early years being lost through fire damage. The college has an ongoing appeal to its alumni for any help they can be to chart and illustrate the history of Langwith.

Gallery

• Langwith College front entrance
• Langwith College B block
• Lake by Langwith College
• Langwith College view towards Derwent College

Notes

1. John Issitt http://www.york.ac.uk/education/our-staff/academic/john-issitt/
2. University of York, Colleges http://www.york.ac.uk/colleges/
3. http://www.theyorker.co.uk/news/uninews/1233
4. YUSU Union General Meeting Motion http://www.yusu.org/motion/173
5. the Courtyard http://www.yusu.org/courtyard
6. Nouse Archives http://www-student.cs.york.ac.uk/uni_history/jimi.html
7. Langwith College, appeal for information http://www.york.ac.uk/colleges/langwith/alumni/

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