UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL
Celebration gets under way

The 125th anniversary of the opening of University College, Bristol will be marked on Wednesday, October 10 by the launch of Celebration 2001 - a three-month programme of events including public lectures, music, drama and dance.

The University of Bristol's new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Eric Thomas, will signal the start of the celebrations at 2 pm by unfurling a special banner in the Wills Memorial Building.

At 6 pm at the same venue, Professor Joanna Foster, Chair of the Industrial Society's Work-Life Forum and former Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission, will give a free public lecture called 'Integrating Diversity at Work, in the Community and at Home'.

Among the 11 other people giving talks as part of Celebration 2001 are Paul Boateng, Financial Secretary to the Treasury (November 1); Dr Peter Lampl, Chairman and Founder of The Sutton Trust (November 14); and Sir Neil Cossons, Chairman of English Heritage (November 19).

One lecture will feature contributions on race issues by three well-known Bristol people: Peaches Golding, Regional Campaign Manager for Race for Opportunity; Paul Stephenson, Regional Director of the Focus Consultancy; and Maqsood Zamir, adviser to the Bath Equality Committee.

The programme of events also includes a series of free lunchtime concerts at the Victoria Rooms ranging from Russian piano music to improvised jazz to North Indian music. The University's Wickham Theatre is the venue for a range of drama and dance events featuring in the programme.

The theme running throughout the programme is 'opportunity and diversity'. The University was the first in the country to offer places to women on the same footing as men, and continues to be an innovator in a number of aspects of equal opportunities.

Professor Richard Hodder-Williams, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor who has been a driving force behind Celebration 2001, said: "On October 10 it will be 125 years to the day since University College welcomed its first students. Nearly 100 people - more than two-thirds of them women - registered on that day.

"Now we are one of the UK's leading universities for teaching and research, with more than 12,000 students from over 100 countries. We are proud to be truly international and to provide opportunities for talented people from all kinds of backgrounds."

Full details of the public events in Celebration 2001 - most of which are free - are available from the website at www.bristol.ac.uk/celebration2001 or by telephoning Bristol (0117) 928 8086.

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Email: public-relations@bristol.ac.uk
Copyright: 2001 The University of Bristol, UK
Updated: Friday, 12-Oct-2001 14:04:54 BST