Rector’s eNews 09 – 13 March 2024

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Our Board has asked me to update you on the search for the new Rector who will take over from me in January 2026. The search is being headed by Leon Ayo of Sterling Bell; he advertised the position internationally and attracted 181 candidates. He then slimmed down this number to fewer than 10 suitable candidates and produced a shortlist. The Nominations Committee of the Board has begun the process of interviewing the most likely candidates online and I have been asked to be part of that process. Strong candidates will be visited at their schools and referees interviewed over the next couple of months. There will then be an opportunity for the short-list to visit Michaelhouse for further interviews and acclimatisation and to meet other Board members who are not on the Nominations Committee as well as the Bishop who is our Visitor.

The expectation is that this process will be completed by September or sooner and an announcement will then be made enabling the successful candidate to give a full year’s notice to his school and also, during 2025, to visit Michaelhouse on several occasions to further familiarise himself with our school and to be completely up to speed in all aspects of what is a complex organisation by the time he assumes the Rectorship in January 2026.

On an entirely different matter, the Transformation and Diversity Advisory Committee suggested that we should have a Random Acts of Kindness Week and I am happy to announce that this week has been designated as such. It focuses on simply being kind to others and, of course, we hope this becomes a habit. Every boy and staff member is charged with being overtly kind to at least one other person this week. It could be a family member, a senior, a peer, a junior, someone who cleans his room, a Housemother or someone else in our Michaelhouse Community. We all need acts of kindness towards us from time to time and so hopefully this will move our boys and staff to be focussed on an aspect of our community life that is really important.

Last Thursday, the Tatham boys and staff were joined by the Tatham family and specially selected guests at the official opening of their new House. The Chairman of the Board, Andrew Schaefer, in officially opening Tatham, thanked those who had been involved in the building process, from the architect, Nick Grice, through to the builders, Russell Byrne, Prithy Harrypersadh and all the workmen involved in the project. The guests toured the building and commented on the spaciousness of the facilities, how attractive the rooms are and how compelling the outlook is from many of the dorms/rooms– especially those which look onto Pennington Quad or over the Reserve in the distance.

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