{{Short description|Constituent college of Durham University}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Use British English|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox residential college |university = Durham University |name = Josephine Butler College |photo = 290px |shield = 150px |shield_caption = Arms of Josephine Butler College |blazon = Gules on a chevron Or charged with a Cross formy, with cotises invected, between in chief two lions Argent and in base an open book charged with two covered cups |motto = {{langx|fr|Comme je trouve}} |motto_English = As I find |colours = {{Color box|red|border=darkgray}} {{Color box|gold|border=darkgray}} {{Color box|silver|border=darkgray}} |namesake = Josephine Butler |named_for = Josephine Butler |established = 2006 |principal = Gillian Hampden-Thompson |vice_principal = Harriet Tebbs |undergraduates = 1300 |postgraduates = 110 |website = {{unbulleted list | [http://www.dur.ac.uk/butler.college/ Josephine Butler College] | [https://web.archive.org/web/20210518115219/https://www.butlerjcr.co.uk/ JCR Website] | [https://web.archive.org/web/20220627022218/https://www.butlerjcr.co.uk/the-mcr/ MCR Website] }} | coordinates = {{coord|54.7592|-1.5789|display=inline,title}} |location_map = Durham |map_size = 275 |charities = [https://gracehouse.co.uk/ Grace House] |events = {{unbulleted list | Butler Day | Summer Ball | Winter Ball }} |named_after = Josephine Butler |caption=College buildings at the Howlands Farm site}}
'''Josephine Butler College''' is a constituent college of Durham University.<ref name=":1" /> The college was opened in 2006.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-11-23 |title=Durham's latest College salutes social reformer and women's campaigner - Durham University |url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=983 |access-date=2023-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123084232/https://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=983 |archive-date=23 November 2022 }}</ref> It is named after Josephine Elizabeth Butler, a 19th-century feminist and social reformer who had a significant role in improving women's public health and education in England. Butler's father was the cousin of the 2nd Earl Grey,<ref>{{Cite ODNB |title=Grey, John (1785–1868), agriculturist and land agent |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-11550 |access-date=2023-11-07 |date=2004 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/11550}}</ref> after whom Grey College, Durham is named.<ref name=":0" />
The college is a fully self-catered college of the university, and, unique in comparison to other Durham colleges, all rooms are en-suite.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=University |first=Durham |title=Josephine Butler College - Durham University |url=https://www.durham.ac.uk/colleges-and-student-experience/colleges/josephine-butler/ |access-date=2023-06-11 |website=www.durham.ac.uk |language=en-gb}}</ref> It is one of the university's first fully self-catered constituent colleges in Durham.<ref name=":0" /> The college also has extensive leisure facilities including a library, study spaces, sports hall, outdoor tennis court and music room.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=University |first=Durham |title=Facilities - Durham University |url=https://www.durham.ac.uk/colleges-and-student-experience/colleges/josephine-butler/facilities/ |access-date=2023-06-11 |website=www.durham.ac.uk |language=en-gb}}</ref> It is located within the Howlands Farm site along South Road, next to Stephenson College, Durham.<ref name=":1" />
== History == Josephine Butler College was opened in 2006. It became the first new college at a British university in 25 years, and the first completely new college to open in Durham itself since the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Alexandra |date=2006-10-05 |title=UK's first new college in 25 years opens at Durham |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/oct/05/highereducation.news1 |access-date=2023-06-18 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Watson |first=Nigel |title=The Durham Difference |publisher=James & James (Publishers) Ltd. |year=2007 |location=London}}</ref>
=== Shield and motto === The college arms are blazoned as "Gules on a chevron Or charged with a Cross formy, with cotises invected, between in chief two lions Argent and in base an open book charged with two covered cups".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/university.calendar/volumei/arms_and_mottos/ |title=University Calendar : Arms and Mottos - Durham University |website=Dur.ac.uk |date=2015-09-30 |access-date=2017-06-01}}</ref> The arms represent in large the heritage of Josephine Butler, with the lion argent being a symbol of the Grey family. The covered cups on the pages of the books are a heraldic symbol of the Butler family.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ormonde Coat of Arms {{!}} Kilkenny Castle |url=https://kilkennycastle.ie/11801/ |access-date=2023-06-11 |language=en-US}}</ref>
The college's motto is ''"Comme je trouve"'', which can be translated to "As I Find," and is intended to mean "we take life as we find it and make of it the best we can".<ref name=":1" />
==Facilities== ===Howlands Building=== The Howlands building is shared with Josephine Butler's neighbouring college, Stephenson College. It contains the college gym, laundry and music room.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Josephine Butler College - The Howlands Building - Howlands Social Block 2 {{!}} AccessAble |url=https://www.accessable.co.uk/durham-university/hill-colleges-and-sites/access-guides/josephine-butler-college-the-howlands-building-howlands-social-block-2 |access-date=2023-06-11 |website=Josephine Butler College - The Howlands Building - Howlands Social Block 2 {{!}} AccessAble |language=en}}</ref> A large multi-purpose hall is also contained in the building that is used to host formal dinners and sports practice sessions.
===Butler Building===
The Butler building acts as the main social building of the college and mainly contains the college bar (JB's) and some other rooms such as the college offices, porter's lodge and reception, in addition to the Junior Common Room (JCR), the Middle Common Room (MCR), library lounge, dance studio and study spaces.<ref name=":2" />
===Accommodation blocks and the Mound=== 250px|right|thumb|Student accommodation in the Kirknewton Building
Josephine Butler is built around a grass-covered hill called "the Mound", which stands between it and Stephenson College. The college has four separate self-contained accommodation blocks; Kirknewton, Dilston, Milfield and Wooler. Each building is divided up into 6 bed-roomed flats, with en-suite facilities. The main four accommodation blocks are all named after locations related to Josephine Butler's life: she was born in Milfield, spent a lot of her early life in Dilston, died in Wooler and is buried in Kirknewton.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} The buildings of Dilston, Milfield and Wooler are used to house first year undergraduate students, whilst Kirknewton is used for predominantly returners and post-graduates.
In July 2017, Josephine Butler College was ranked as the fourth-best student hall in the UK, based on an analysis of over 10,000 student and graduate reviews.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/news/top-50-student-accommodation-halls-uk|title=Top 50 student accommodation halls in the UK|date=17 July 2017|website=Student|accessdate=12 March 2021}}</ref>
==Student life== Undergraduate and postgraduate students are respectively members of the college's Junior Common Room (JCR) and Middle Common Room (MCR). A committee of students elected from JCR and MCR are elected annually to organise charity fundraisers, campaigning for causes, events, and volunteering initiatives.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-08-06 |title=Butler College JCR - Get Involved |url=http://butlerjcr.co.uk/involved/ |access-date=2023-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806054750/http://butlerjcr.co.uk/involved/ |archive-date=6 August 2018 }}</ref>
=== Societies === {{Expand section|date=June 2023}} While university-wide student associations and societies are associated with the Durham Students' Union,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Durham SU explained in 7 cat GIFs @ Durham SU |url=https://www.durhamsu.com/articles/durham-su-explained-in-7-cat-gifs |access-date=2023-06-19 |website=www.durhamsu.com |language=en}}</ref> the JCR governs the many student societies of the college.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-07 |title=Butler College JCR - Get Involved |url=http://butlerjcr.co.uk/involved/index/societies |access-date=2023-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807005836/http://butlerjcr.co.uk/involved/index/societies |archive-date=7 August 2016 }}</ref>
The Evangeline Theatre Company, formerly known as the Suffragette Theatre Company (STC), is the drama society for Josephine Butler College.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Durham Student Theatre |url=https://www.durhamstudenttheatre.org/colleges |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Durham Student Theatre |language=en-GB}}</ref> The Theatre Company accepts members from in and outside of the college, and focuses on politically and socially charged productions, such as its production of 'The Tempest' at the Gala Theatre in June 2019.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Suffragette Theatre Company |url=https://www.durhamstudenttheatre.org/society-of-theatrical-arts-at-butler/ |access-date=2023-06-11 |website=Durham Student Theatre |language=en-GB |archive-date=18 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318201407/https://www.durhamstudenttheatre.org/society-of-theatrical-arts-at-butler/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The society is primarily known in college for its formal that is held in Michaelmas term every year, involving a Murder Mystery style format.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-08-06 |title=STAB Formal - Durham University |url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/butler.college/?eventno=21789 |access-date=2023-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806024830/https://www.dur.ac.uk/butler.college/?eventno=21789 |archive-date=6 August 2018 }}</ref>
The college also has a separate musical theatre society called Mound Musical Society that they share with their neighbouring college Stephenson College. The society aims to put on one production in Epiphany term each year, previous productions include Firebringer (2023) and the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2024).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Butler JCR |url=https://butlerjcr.com/get-involved/societies/musical-society |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=butlerjcr.com}}</ref>
=== Sports === Josephine Butler College also has an extensive array of sports open to its students. Some of the sports available include: football, rugby, badminton, boxing, running, rowing, lacrosse, basketball, dance etc., as well as more varied activities such as cheerleading, ultimate frisbee, pool, and darts. Due to the collegiate system at Durham, there are over 700 different sports teams in the university,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Colleges & wider student experience : Sport - Durham University|url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/experience/sport/|access-date=2020-11-08|website=dur.ac.uk}}</ref> including Team Durham. Within Butler College itself, there are over 40 teams and 20 sports available.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Josephine Butler : Sport - Durham University|url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/butler.college/undergraduate/involved/sport/#:~:text=In%20past%20years,%20we%27ve,relative%20youth%20as%20a%20College.&text=We%20have%20a%20wide%20range,ultimate%20frisbee,%20lacrosse%20and%20rowing.|access-date=2020-11-08|website=dur.ac.uk}}</ref> Most sports also have multiple teams to cater for people of differing abilities, allowing complete beginners to pick up a new sports whilst also enabling experienced athletes to strive for success.
Josephine Butler College Cricket Club (JBCCC) is the college's cricket team. As of 2018, the club consists of two outdoor sides, the A team and the Development team, and two indoor teams, an A and B team. Indoor cricket is played across the Epiphany term, and in the Easter term outdoor T20 cricket is played. The club won back to back indoor titles in 2014 and 2015. In 2018 they reached the final of the outdoor T20 competition. In the same year a 24-hour charity cricket match was held in the Howlands, which raised over £700 for the Glenn McGrath Foundation.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
Butler College Boat Club (BCBC) is the boat club of Josephine Butler College at Durham University.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Butler College Boat Club |url=https://butlerboatclub.wordpress.com/ |access-date=2023-06-18 |website=Butler College Boat Club |language=en}}</ref> The club is responsible for hosting its own inter-collegiate head race, Butler Head.{{Update inline|date=November 2024}} In 2015, a BCBC VIII beat 3 other boats including the University of Leeds to get to the final of Durham Regatta.<ref>{{cite web |title=Our story |url=http://www.durham-regatta.org.uk/history/y2015/results-sunday-2015/ |access-date=2017-06-01 |publisher=Durham Regatta}}</ref> The biggest success came to the boat club in the 2016 Durham Regatta season where the 2015 BCBC VIII took the title of Durham Regatta by winning the Alderman Thurlow Trophy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-06-18 |title=BCBC |url=https://butlerboatclub.wordpress.com/about/ |access-date=2020-11-08 |website=Butler College Boat Club |language=en}}</ref>
BCBC is a registered Boat Club through British Rowing, with Boat Code "BTL"<ref> {{cite web | last = British Rowing Registration | title = British Rowing | access-date = 2025-01-13 | url = https://www.britishrowing.org/club/butler-college-bc/}} </ref> and is a member organisation of Durham College Rowing.<ref> {{cite web | last = Durham College Rowing | title = Durham College Rowing Member organisations | access-date = 2025-01-13 | url = https://durhamcollegerowing.webspace.durham.ac.uk/josephine-butler-college/}} </ref>
==Notable people==
=== Principals === The head of college is titled the Principal. Professor Adrian Simpson was the Principal from the college's foundation in 2006, announcing in 2022 that he was stepping down to take on the role of Principal at St Mary's College, Durham. In January 2023, it was announced that Professor Gillian Hampden-Thompson would succeed Professor Simpson as Principal of Josephine Butler College a post that she started on 1 July 2023.
=== Sports ===
* Claudia MacDonald, England international rugby union player
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.dur.ac.uk/butler.college/ Official website] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20210518115219/https://www.butlerjcr.co.uk/ Junior Common Room website] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20220627022218/https://www.butlerjcr.co.uk/the-mcr/ Middle Common Room website]
{{University of Durham}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Colleges of Durham University Category:Educational institutions established in 2006 Category:2006 establishments in England