Thanks to the generosity of alumni and friends of Jesus College, we’ll be welcoming the first recipient of a new undergraduate bursary in Modern Languages this coming Michaelmas term. 

At the end of 2021, we launched an appeal to raise £100,000 to endow in perpetuity an undergraduate bursary in Modern Languages, in memory of Dr Anthony Pilkington. Anthony was Zeitlyn Fellow and Tutor in French Language and Literature at Jesus from 1966-2005, and also served ‘wholly effectively and with quiet grace’ (as recorded in the new College history ‘Jesus College: The First 450 Years’ ) as Acting Principal during Sir Peter North’s Vice-Chancellorship of the University from 1993-97. During his long service to College, he touched innumerable lives, both of those language students in his charge and the wider College community.

 

It is with great pleasure that we can announce that we have achieved our ambitious target and will be welcoming the first recipient of the Anthony Pilkington Memorial Bursary this coming Michaelmas term. The success of the appeal has demonstrated the profound respect held by the Jesus community towards Anthony, and the firmly held belief amongst not just Modern Linguist alumni but many other subjects from Mathematics to Physics that the study of language and literature should be protected and enjoyed by future students.

It is with sincere gratitude that we thank all those who have supported the appeal at any level. It is a remarkable collective achievement to have raised just over £100k from alumni and friends. We are indebted to Bob Yates (1965) and Tom Brown (1975) for initiating the Bursary appeal, and for driving approaches to their peers and friends. Tom says,‘At a time when the teaching of humanities is under pressure at many universities, we have been very heartened by the response from our Jesus friends of all ages and interests’. The result is a wonderful legacy to Anthony’s teaching and a significant boost to our language support and provision at Jesus.

It is evident from the many heartfelt recollections sent to us that Anthony touched the lives of countless students, leaving them with a lifelong love and appreciation for language, culture and the importance of critical thinking. Thank you for helping us to achieve our target to endow this bursary and supporting the future of modern languages and literature at Jesus.