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Birkbeck celebrates Foundation Day

The Speaker of the House of Commons the Rt. Hon. John Bercow MP was the guest of honour at this year’s Foundation Day dinner.

The Speaker with Baroness Bakewell

The Speaker of the House of Commons the Rt. Hon. John Bercow MP was the guest of honour at this year’s Foundation Day dinner, celebrated as close to or on 2nd December each year, the date of the College’s foundation in 1823.

Friends and supporters of the College came together to celebrate the foundation of the College by Dr George Birkbeck, hosted by Professor David Latchman CBE, Master of the College, along with President of Birkbeck Baroness Bakewell and Chairman of Governors Sir Harvey McGrath, with those assembled including Mary Curnock Cook OBE, a Fellow of the College and current Chief Executive of UCAS.

Mr Speaker who – as Speaker of the House of Commons – was required to be present on the parliamentary debate on military action in Syria last year and so not able to attend the 2015 Foundation Day dinner, spoke about his gratitude and pleasure in being able to be present at this year’s celebrations and at “such a prestigious fixture in the Birkbeck calendar.” 

“The very distinctive feature of Birkbeck College is that it is an institution, I think, which is without parallel in UK higher education,” he added, referring to the College’s unique offering of evening education. The Speaker also spoke of what a progressive institution Birkbeck was by the standards of the time in admitted women only a few years after its foundation.

Speaking after the Dinner, Professor David Latchman, CBE, Master of Birkbeck, added:

“It has been an honour to host the Speaker both at our Foundation Day celebrations and during a visit to the College’s Babylab in 2014.We thank him for his support of the College’s mission and the work we do here, both educating working Londoners and our world-leading research across a range of areas.

“As we come ever closer to the College’s 200th anniversary, Foundation Day dinner is an important moment for members of the Birkbeck community to come together to remember the spirit in which the College was founded and to affirm our continuing commitment to George Birkbeck’s original mission.

“Our commitment to his mission is such that, I believe, he would still recognise what the College offers today as true to that vision – the opportunity for working Londoners to better themselves through studying in the evening, whatever their background.”

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