Josephine Butler College is a
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
at
Durham University
, mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1)
, established = (university status)
, type = Public
, academic_staff = 1,830 (2020)
, administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19)
, chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen
, vice_chan ...
. It is located at the Howlands Farm site next to residences of
Stephenson College. In the centre of the college is a grass-covered hill, called "The Mound."
It is a fully self-catered college of the university with facilities far more modern than many of the existing undergraduate colleges in
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
(the newest of which was opened in 1972, with
South College
South College is a private for-profit college with its main campus in Knoxville, Tennessee. It offers more than 80 programs and concentrations, including certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, educational specialist, and doctoral programs ...
opening in 2020) and all rooms are
en-suite
A bathroom or washroom is a room, typically in a home or other residential building, that contains either a bathtub or a shower (or both). The inclusion of a wash basin is common. In some parts of the world e.g. India, a toilet is typically ...
. The college bar is the largest of all the college bars in Durham. The college has extensive leisure facilities including a library, study spaces, sports hall, outdoor tennis court and music room.
On 14 December 2005, it was announced that the college had been named after
Josephine Butler
Josephine Elizabeth Butler (' Grey; 13 April 1828 – 30 December 1906) was an English feminist and social reformer in the Victorian era. She campaigned for women's suffrage, the right of women to better education, the end of coverture ...
, a Victorian feminist campaigner and a grand-niece of the
2nd Earl Grey, after whom
Grey College was named.
Shield and motto
The college arms are blazoned as "Gules on a chevron Or charged with a Cross formy, with cotises invected, between in chief two lions Argent and in base an open book charged with two covered cups. The arms represent in large the heritage of Josephine Butler, with the lion argent being a symbol of the Grey family, of which Earl Grey (whom Grey College is named after) was Josephine Butler's uncle. Further the covered cups on the pages of the books are a heraldic symbol of the Butler family.
The college's
motto
A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...
is ''"Comme je trouve"'', which can be translated to "as I find" and is intended to mean 'we take life as we find it and make of it the best we can'.
Facilities
Howlands Building
The Howlands building is shared with Butler's neighbouring college,
Stephenson College. Howlands contains the college gym, laundry and music room. A large multi-purpose hall is also contained in the building that is used to host formal dinners and paves the way for some sports activities, where badminton and table tennis clubs practise.
Butler Building
The Butler building acts as the main social building of the college and mainly contains the college bar and some other rooms such as the college offices, porters lodge and reception, in addition to the
JCR, the MCR, TV room, college library lounge, IT suite, and study spaces.
Accommodation blocks and the Mound
![butleraccomm2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Butleraccomm2.JPG)
Butler is placed around the "Mound", which stands between Butler and Stephenson College. The college has four separate self-contained accommodation blocks; Kirknewton, Dilston, Milfield, Wooler, as well as a small fifth block called Elm. Each building is divided up into 6 bed-roomed flats, with en-suite facilities. The main four accommodation blocks are all named after locations related to Josephine Butler's life: she was born in Milfield, spent a lot of her early life in Dilston, died in Wooler and is buried in Kirknewton. The buildings of Dilston, Milfield and Wooler are used to house mainly first year undergraduate students, whilst Kirknewton is used for returners and post-graduate students.
In July 2017 Josephine Butler College accommodation was ranked fourth best student halls in the UK, based on analysis of over 10,000 student and graduate reviews.
Societies
The college has its own theatre company, Suffragette Theatre Company, as well as a Film Society and a Music Society. The JCR governs college societies.
Josephine Butler College Cricket Club (JBCCC)
Josephine Butler College Cricket Club (JBCCC) is the college's cricket team. As of 2018 the club consists of two outdoor sides, the A team and the Development team, and two indoor teams, an A and B team. Indoor cricket is played across the Epiphany term, and in the Easter term outdoor T20 cricket is played. The club won back to back indoor titles in 2014 and 2015. In 2018 they reached the final of the outdoor T20 competition. In the same year a 24-hour charity cricket match was held in the Howlands, which raised over £700 for the
Glenn McGrath Foundation.
Butler College Boat Club
Butler College Boat Club (BCBC) is the boat club of Josephine Butler College, at
Durham University
, mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1)
, established = (university status)
, type = Public
, academic_staff = 1,830 (2020)
, administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19)
, chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen
, vice_chan ...
. The club is responsible for hosting its own inter-collegiate head race, Butler Head. In 2015 a BCBC VIII beat 3 other boats including the
University of Leeds
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, ...
to get to the final of
Durham Regatta
Durham Regatta is a rowing regatta held annually on the second weekend in June on the River Wear in Durham, North East of England; It is known as the Henley of the North, but began several years before the more prestigious Henley Royal Regatta. ...
. The biggest success came to the boat club in the 2016 Durham Regatta season where the 2015 BCBC VIII took the title of Durham Regatta by winning the Alderman Thurlow Trophy.
Suffragette Theatre Company
Suffragette Theatre Company (STC), formerly known as the Society of Theatrical Arts at Butler (STAB), is the Drama society for Josephine Butler College. The Theatre Company accepts members from in and outside of the college, and focuses on politically and socially charged productions, such as its production of 'The Tempest' at the Gala Theatre in June 2019. The society is primarily known in college for its formal that is held in
Michaelmas term
Michaelmas term is the first academic term of the academic year in a number of English-speaking universities and schools in the northern hemisphere, especially in the United Kingdom. Michaelmas term derives its name from the Feast of St Micha ...
every year, involving a Murder Mystery style format.
Sports
Alongside its various societies, Josephine Butler College also has an extensive array of sports clubs open to its students. Some of the sports available include: football, rugby, badminton, boxing, running, rowing, lacrosse, basketball, dance etc., as well as more varied activities such as cheerleading, ultimate frisbee, pool and darts. Due to the collegiate system at Durham, there are over 700 different sports teams in the university, including
Team Durham
Team Durham (formerly Durham University Athletic Union, DUAU) is a student-run organisation responsible for sport at Durham University. In contrast to most British universities it is a separate organisation with the status of a students' union, ...
. Within Butler College itself there are over 40 teams and 20 sports available. Most sports also have multiple teams to cater for people of differing abilities, this allows complete beginners to pick up a new sports whilst also enabling experienced athletes to strive for success.
List of principals
The head of college is titled the
Principal. Adrian Simpson was the Principal from the college's foundation in 2006
announcing in 2022 that he was stepping down to take on the role of Principal at
St Mary's College. During periods of the Principal's absence, the Vice-Principal has taken on the role of Acting Principal.
References
External links
Official websiteJCR websiteMCR website
{{Authority control
Colleges of Durham University
Educational institutions established in 2006
2006 establishments in England