Van Mildert College, Durham

Van Mildert College (colloquially known as Van Mil or Mildert) is one of the 17 constituent colleges of Durham University. The college was founded in 1965 and takes its name from William Van Mildert, the last Prince-Bishop to rule the County Palatine of Durham and a leading figure in the university's foundation. Originally an all-male college, Van Mildert admitted female undergraduates for the first time in 1972, making it the first Durham college to become mixed.

The college occupies grounds of 8 acres (3 hectares) alongside South Road and Mill Hill Lane, about 1 mile (2 kilometres) south of the university town, and is centred on a small lake. Designed by Middleton, Fletcher & Partners, the college was built in a modernist and egalitarian architectural style that aimed to house the sudden influx of students in the early 1960s. The college is notable for its lake, named Lake Mildert, and its Ann Dobson Dining Hall which is the largest student dining hall in Durham.

The college is the third largest collegiate body in the university by total numbers of affiliated students, just behind University College, and is reputed for its community feel and relative informality compared with other Durham colleges. Almost half of home students admitted are from grammar school and it is one of the 7 colleges of Durham that does not require its students to don their gown, though the traditional Durham custom of formal dining are still performed and taken pride of.

Among Van Mildert's notable alumni are former Minister of State for Women The Baroness Morgan of Huyton, World Record triple jump Olympic champion Jonathan Edwards, the cosmologist and Templeton Prize winner John D. Barrow, English judge of the UK Supreme Court Lord Hughes of Ombersley, and Turkish Prince Naz Osmanoglu.

Van Mildert College was established as a men's college in 1965 following recommendations of the Robbins Report looking into the future of higher education in the UK. In 1963, King's College in Newcastle declared itself independent from the University of Durham, meaning new colleges were required to meet the new university places that the Government wished to create. As a result, the university planned to establish three new colleges on Elvet Hill which went on to be named Collingwood College, Trevelyan College and Van Mildert College.

The college marks its foundation in 1965 when the first students were admitted, with the first college master, Dr Arthur Prowse, already been appointed in 1964. Initially, the college only accepted men, but during the college's early years, it also temporarily accommodated (albeit not accepting them as members) of over 50 women from other colleges. Together with the first Senior Tutor, Arnold Bradshaw, Prowse established the participatory, liberal, and forward-looking culture that Van Mildert maintains to this day. In October 1965, the founder students took up residence in Parson's Field House, though it was not long before the college moved to its permanent site on Elvet Hill by Michaelmas 1966. The College permanent site was designed by Middleton, Fletcher & Partners of Middlesbrough, which features a small lake to accommodate the site's tendency to become waterlogged. This lake, along with its flock of ducks, remains a distinctive feature of the college and the main College building, located next to the lake, included the Dining Hall and servery, a library, bar, common rooms, and offices.

On 13 June 1967, the college was officially opened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, who had previously served as Van Mildert Professor of Divinity at Durham and was a friend of Arthur Prowse. By this time, the college had reached its full capacity, with around 300 undergraduates, along with some graduate students and resident members of the Senior Common Room. This period also set the stage for Van Mildert to become mixed in the future.

In 1970, the Governing Body of the College took decision to go mixed and to construct a new accommodation block, named Middleton Stairs after architect Philip Middleton. In those time as well that the college cooperated closely with Collingwood College, and housed their initial students while their buildings were being finished. The two college shared facilities, with two Masters, Dr Paul Kent and Mr Peter Bayley, presiding over at opposite ends of the Hall. The College admitted its first female students in 1967 reading for Certificates in Education, though undergraduate women were only formally welcomed in Michaelmas term 1972, with a few already transferring in 1971, making Van Mildert the first Durham college to go mixed.