Information about Halifax College

Halifax College is the largest and newest college of the University of York. It was founded in 2002 and is named after Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, the 1st Earl of Halifax.

The College is situated to the south of the main campus, next to the picturesque village of Heslington and the University sports fields.

Halifax College has been described as the Brighton of York, being 'worth the trek for a damn good shindig' by student newspaper Nouse (M10, 23/05/06).

In 2006/7, Halifax College won the University's College Sport Championship for the first time.

Courts

Unlike the other Colleges, Halifax does not consist of a main building divided into blocks and corridors. Instead, students live in houses which are grouped together to form courts.

There are nine Courts in Halifax:

• St Lawrence Court
• Ingram Court
• Irwin Court
• Lindley Court
• Wood Court
• Younger Court
• Ainsty Court
• Hickleton Court
• McHugh Court

Ainsty and Hickleton Courts are managed by UPP Projects Ltd as part of the University Partnership Programme. They were built and originally maintained by Jarvis Plc.

College members with families also live in Garrowby Way, an area of housing which is part of Halifax College. It is owned and maintained by the York Housing Association. McHugh Court was its first new-build accommodation.

The other Courts are managed by the College and the University's Accommodation Office.

Departments

Halifax is the only College which is not the home of any academic departments of the University. This is probably due to the location of the College in relation to the main campus, being around ten minutes walk from Central Hall.

History

The first blocks of Halifax College which formed Ingram, Irwin, Younger, Lindley and Wood Courts were built in the summer of 1996. Named 'Halifax Court' each house was assigned to a college at the University. The lack of any tie between the campus colleges and the houses in Halifax Court quickly led to demands from students that Halifax Court be given full college status.

The location of the buildings - at the back of the existing (1970s built) St Lawrence Court (used at the time almost exclusively for post-graduate and foreign students) - meant that even the student union paid little attention to the students, despite them forming the largest group at the university.

Halifax Court residents were the first to pay differential rents on their accommodation and lets were a mandatory 38 weeks. All others students, whether in the newer James College blocks or the very dated Derwent blocks paid the same rate. Despite this, accommodation in Halifax in 1997 was only £38 a week - £6 more than the rest of campus but still one of the lowest rents in the country.

The campaign for full status was delayed primarily because of the insistence of the Dean of Halifax Court, Mark Evans and the JCRC that Halifax Court should have all the facilities of a campus college. At that time, the Halifax Court Centre Building (now JJ's) consisted of a central common room (unlicensed though clearly built with the concept of housing a bar), the only part-time portering service (Geoff the porter) at the university (every other college had 24hr portering at that time), an adjacent laundry room accessed from the outside (now the lounge area of JJ's), and a small convenience store accessed from the outside (now the pizzeria). The building of today is almost unrecognisable from that of this time.

The lack of desire for a common room (it was very rarely used) and the need for a bar led to the construction of a new building housing the portering service and the shop and the complete refurbishment of the Halifax Court Centre Building into JJ's. The area now occupied by the newer Ainsty and Hickleton Courts (next to the car park) was a large 'village green' for the Halifax Court/College residents. During the summer term this was frequently full of students playing frisbee, having barbecues (strongly against the wishes of the university administration!) and studying together.

The building of Halifax Court gave a huge boost to the local economy in Heslington Village as students walked through the village, used the shops and used the pubs.

The lane running directly from Halifax Court past St Lawrence Court, across Heslington Lane, past the Vice-Chancellor's house and eventually to the library has been used by students for many years as it reduces the walk to the main campus by a considerable margin. Despite being muddy, pitch black in the dark and a route that the university advises female students not to use, the lane has been the subject of years of campaigning for lighting and paving.

For many years Halifax Court suffered anti-social behaviour problems from gangs of local youths and new age travellers, camped out at the back of the buildings next to the village sports pavilion. This came to a head in the summer of 2000 when the laundry room and common room became 'out of bounds' for many students, many cars were damaged and some students were physically and verbally threatened - in one case with dangerous joyriding around the pavilion.

The last two years have seen many changes to the college- seen in the departure of Professor Mark Evans (Provost since the college's foundation) and Carl Thompson (Now Provost of Wentworth College). Mark Evans has no doubt left a long standing legacy in the college- from its shield to its buildings.

Mascot

Since 1996 to at least 2003 a relatively large strawberry blonde cat, assumed to be female, would tour the student houses, particularly around Lindley Court, to eat and sleep. Despite frequent warnings from the Halifax Court/College administration that the cat was flea-ridden, students continued to treat the cat as the Halifax mascot. The cat was presumably owned by a local resident but would spend almost the entire day with the students. The cat had many names but the name that spread across Halifax and stuck over the years was 'Fat Bastard' as it always seemed to want to eat. Its favourite food was said to be Dairylea Triangles. The cat got such legendary status that many alumni specifically venture out to Halifax when they return to the university to see 'Fat Bastard'.

Catering

JJ's is the Halifax College bar and pizzeria. It is believed to be have been named after two former College Sports Officers, named John and John, who won a competition to name the new bar. JJ's plays host to Xtra, the Halifax College event and has a capacity of 200.

There is also a small Costcutter supermarket, which is franchise held by the University.

Social events

The Halifax College club night is Xtra, which began in February 2005. During 2005 and 2006, Xtra was extremely popular and considered to be one of York's main College events, along with Club D and Planet V.

It is complemented by Xtra Live - the best attended College live music night York, the weekly bar quiz, held every Sunday and one-off events held most Mondays and Thursdays.

These events are provided by the Students' Association.

Student representation

Halifax College students are represented by the Halifax College Students' Association, which represents all students of the College. Halifax is the only College at York to have combined graduate and undergraduate representation.

The Students' Association provides Halifaxers with a variety of services, including Xtra events, student welfare, volunteering, charity work, recycling, College merchandise, College sports and representation to the College and University. It also organises the College Freshers' Week.

Halifax was the second college at York to offer Fairtrade College merchandise, after James College

Halifax Alumni

As Halifax is the youngest College of the University, few of its alumni have yet had time to make their name in politics, the arts and entertainment.

The College and HCSA are currently setting up an alumni organisation, which will bring together current and former members of Halifax College.

Academic staff

The Provost, is Karen Fritz, who works for the Department of Health Sciences. The Provost is in charge of the College.

The Deputy-Provost is Sue Johnston, who is head of Campus Services at the Directorate of Facilities Management.

The Dean is Sally Brabyn, who is also the College Administrator. As Dean she is in charge of the College's welfare provision and as College Administrator she is responsible for the day to day management of the College, usually being the first point of contact for students.

External links

• Halifax College Students' Association
• Halifax College - University pages
• JJ's bar and pizzeria
• Halifax Costcutter
• York Housing Association
• UPP Projects Ltd
• A student experience of Halifax College, circa 2002

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Alcuin • Derwent • Goodricke • Halifax • James • Langwith • Vanbrugh • Wentworth