Celebrating 65 years of women students at the University of Chester

Join us this summer to meet former students from the 60s to today. In a relaxed setting, we’ll share ideas and memories with these alumnae
About this Event

Celebrating 65 years of women students at the University of Chester

A very special event organised by the Diversity Festival in partnership with the Institute of Gender Studies

For over a century, since its foundation in 1839, the then Chester Diocesan Training College admitted only male students. But sixty-five years ago, in 1961, the very first cohort of women walked through its gates. They stepped into a space that hadn’t been built for them, and they made it their own. Every woman who has attended this institution since then is standing on the foundations that those pioneers established.

Join us this summer to meet former students from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. In a relaxed setting, we’ll share ideas and memories with these alumnae about how studying at Chester has changed over the decades, and we’ll reflect on the lives of women then and now.

Following a welcome from Rev Gill Reeves, the University’s Senior Chaplain, students from different decades will be seated around the room; you’ll be invited to join them, moving between tables, discussing topics such as:

What did the library, timetables and assignment deadlines and practicalities used to look like?

What made Chester campus life distinctive, then and now?

What doors has the University of Chester opened for women?

How did day-to-day life (employment, family, disability, hobbies, or similar) complement or complicate student life?

And what’s one key defining memory of your time as a Chester student?

A short break, during which tea and coffee will be served, will allow attendees to peruse a specially curated collection of photographs and memorabilia. Finally, a session facilitated by Prof. Emma Rees will bring together participants to create a unique, informal women’s history of the University.