Greetings,

I realise I have been out of touch in recent times, but am please to see the community of gentlemen is still going strong. I intend to be at the 40th meal next year.

Re support for college I would be happy to support Bob's suggestion of a club contribution to the upkeep of the chapel. I had thought of making contributions directly to college myself anyway, and am pleased having recieved the vice chancellors recent request for funds that, rather belatedly, the College have thought it a sensible idea to ask all alumni for financial support. I get enough mailshots from other places I have attended and don't care a hoot about and this is probably the first time, I think, Lampeter has sent me any sort of request in the last 20 years.

If members sent their contributions to college via the Club it would help enhance the standing of the club.

Indirectly by supporting the bricks and mortar of the place it would support the student body since on my various visits over the years I have noticed the place crumbling about the student's ears (the sports hall changing rooms, for example, are not dis-similar to a cattle shed by modern standards) which to to undermine the image and sense one has of the place.

Although professionally I am as PC as the next person I continue to believe that the club should continue to be a Gentlemen only club.

Once female members of the club are admitted the whole dynamic will change and at meals a whole new set of agenda's will come to the fore and not to the benefit to the traditions of the club. To use an analogy from college days, drinking games worked far better with male only participants since they would stick by the rules - regardless of how silly they were and take the whole matter quite seriously whereas female partipants would laugh, have fun, and generally burst the bubble of pomposity and rigour being imposed. Is not the entire enjoyment of the 16 club coming from it being a glourous game, a silliness and a fancy, creating its own myth that if we looked at too hard might not amount to much. Also thinking sociologically or is it anthropologically societies have always thrown up ways of providing rites of passage for men and women from youth into adulthood - a means of marking transition but also instilling wisdom, experience and tradition from the elders and prehaps the club serves that function too (and this is done at least in a quite civilsed way). In this context it is perfectly reasonable, I believe, to recognise and celebrate gender differences. So as you can see I am against admitting women into the club. Of course the fear might be that the tradition and outlook being preserved are outdated. But that is not to say that one cannot support equality of opportunity etc, but at the same time recognise the physical fact of differences of men and women in a positive way.

This contribution seems to being getting a bit intellectual.. I'd better stop..

Gaudeamus

Steve Branagan