Alumni Day and Association Dinner 2023 – Recent graduates

Saturday 23 September 2023

Please note that the 'Recent graduate' category includes only those who graduated in 2017 or since. If you graduated in 2016 or before, you need to book here.

The offer for recent graduates is to book for the Association Dinner and a single room on Saturday night for only £55. You are welcome to bring a guest, and to book rooms for Friday and Sunday nights, but these will be charged at the full price. (If your guest is also a recent graduate who wants only to attend the dinner and stay in a single room on Saturday night, then they can also access the offer).

Alumni Day starts this year at 12.00, when registration opens in the Grace Howard Room. Many daytime events, and the Association Dinner, may be booked below, where you can also book your Alumni Weekend accommodation.

The programme for Alumni Day is given below.

From 12.00	Registration in the Grace Howard Room. Please collect your name badge to register. Complimentary tea and coffee will be available. Downing College Alumni Association merchandise will be on sale in The Grace Howard Room.
12.00 –13.30	Cafeteria Lunch, pay-as-you-dine, in the Hall. Service finishes promptly at 13.30. Please note that cash payments are not accepted in College; please pay by credit/debit card or Apple/Google Pay.
13:30 – 15:30	Archive Exhibitions in the Maitland Robinson Library with the College Archivist, highlighting the Centenary of the Alumni Association; the history of the Chapel to mark the 70th anniversary of its dedication; and ‘Royal Connections and Coronations’. Drop in, no pre-booking required.
13.30 – 14.00	Film installation in the Heong Gallery 1 Curator and Bye-Fellow, Prerona Prasad, will introduce Edward/Maurice, by Ian Giles. 'Artist Ian Giles' new film explores the legacy of two of Cambridge's most acclaimed writers: Christopher Marlowe and E M Forster.  Marlowe's 16th-century play Edward II and Forster’s novel Maurice both feature fully-realised, complex gay protagonists within historic settings. These men and their stories are beacons from the past – they are points on a queer map reaching back through time. By holding these texts up against each other, the film offers an unbound mapping of love, class, and the natural world through a queer lens.' Booking essential, please meet outside the Gallery. (Limited to 15 people.)
13:30 –14:20	Wine Tasting Session 1 - Taking a walk on the wild side - less familiar finds from around the world that can take on the 'usual suspects' - in the Fleet Room with the current Steward, Professor Chris Haniff. (Booking essential, £25 per person, limited to 17 people).
14:00 – 16.00	Afternoon Tea (complimentary) in the Grace Howard Room.
14.30 – 15.15	Tour of the College Gardens, covering the history of the gardens, future plans and interesting trees and plants, led by Jack Sharp, the Head Gardener, and Craig Gibson, the Deputy Head Gardener. Booking essential, meet in the Grace Howard Room (limited to 40 people in total).
14.30 – 15.00	Film installation in the Heong Gallery 2 Curator and Bye-Fellow, Prerona Prasad, will introduce Edward/Maurice, by Ian Giles (see above for more details). Please meet outside the Gallery. (Limited to 15 people.)
14:50 – 15:40	Wine Tasting Session 2 - 'Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour': challenging the Shakespearean myth - a tasty tour of sweet wines that won't disappoint - in West Lodge with the current Steward, Professor Chris Haniff. (Booking essential, £25 per person, limited to 17 people).
16.00 – 17.00	Lecture in the Howard Theatre: Intrepid epidemiology in action: A disease detective’s journey between humanitarian emergencies, pandemic response and virus hunting Dr Charlotte Hammer, Fellow in Emerging Infectious Diseases and Everitt Butterfield Fellow in Biomedical Sciences, will introduce us to Applied Epidemiology and specifically to her own three research themes (outbreaks in crises; response to outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics; and One Health (inc. virus hunting and Covid origins)), and outline broad lessons learned for the future. Followed by Q&A session. Please book in advance, so we have an idea of numbers. All welcome.
17.00 – 17.30	Downing College Alumni Association AGM in the Howard Theatre.
18.15 – 18.55	Choral Evensong with the Chapel Choir of Downing College in the College Chapel - guests to attend in black tie, then go straight to the drinks reception.
19.00 – 19.30	Pre-dinner drinks reception in the Grace Howard Room.
19.30 – 22.00	95th Association Dinner in the Hall. Dress code is black tie.
22.00 - 23.59	Bar in the Howard Building Drawing Room.

The Heong Gallery will be open from 12.00 to 17.00 daily, if you are unable to attend either of the introductions.

Refunds and cancellations

Please note that payments cannot be refunded after the closing date for bookings, Monday 4 September at 13.00. If you wish to cancel paid-for items before this date, we will refund your payment, less a £5 administration fee. See our Terms & Conditions here.

Weather permitting, we hope to open the Paddock for overflow parking for this weekend. Please follow instructions from the Porters when you arrive. If you require a disabled parking space, please inform us when booking and we will ask the Porters to reserve you a space.

Please note, you must log in to view the list of alumni signed up.

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THOSE Already registered for Association Dinner 2024

Please note that only Downing College alumni will be shown below - guests are not listed here - and your name will only appear in the directory once your booking has been processed during normal working hours. 

You can change the order to year of matriculation by clicking on the Matric. year heading.