Provost’s Circle reception 2011

The Provost’s Circle is a collective of individuals who have each pledged a gift of £1,000 or more to UCL in the last twelve months, and together want to help to shape the university’s future.

UCL President and Provost, Professor Malcolm Grant hosted this year’s reception at the end of January, and throughout the evening was able to personally thank everyone in attendance.

The annual Provost’s Circle reception is an opportunity to bring together UCL’s most generous supporters to showcase the impact that their contribution has on the university’s students and staff.

Recent UCL Laws graduate Hauwa Shehu also talked about her UCL experience and gave guests an insight into how their generosity transforms the student experience in a very tangible way.

Provost’s Circle member Bertrand Lipworth (Economics, 1982) said: “Listening to Hauwa’s experiences and how she rose above the difficulties she faced, brought home how much more challenging university life is for today’s students.

“Studying at UCL in the early 1980s was, certainly financially, a much more care-free existence than it is today.  Cost-wise, the education was gratis and all students received a maintenance grant.  The financial value of my time at UCL, re-priced to today’s valuation, can be easily quantified at several tens of thousands of pounds.

“Hauwa’s speech made me realise to a deeper extent the debt of gratitude I and my generation of students owe. Joining the Provost’s Circle was therefore the way to start to repay this debt, by increasing the level of my ongoing support for UCL and indeed encouraging other alumni to do so too.”