Graduate College is the only college in Lancaster University to take postgraduate students rather than undergraduates. Until its creation in 1992 each of the other eight colleges also took postgraduates. The university had a lot of success in postgraduate work, and it was felt postgraduates should have their own college for social, administrative and accommodation purposes. All incoming postgraduate students are members of the college, even including those Lancaster graduates who were members of other colleges when undergraduates.
Instead of having a JCR, there is a PGSA (Post Graduate Students' Association). Unlike the University of York, where the GSA is separate from the main students union, the PGSA is a sub-committee of the Lancaster University Student's Union, of which all postgraduates are full members. The PGSA instead operates more as a residents association, focusing mainly on social events and residential welfare issues; it relies heavily on its parent organisation for most services.
The college bar, The Herdwick, is known for its large beer festivals, its constant supply of real ale and a variety of whiskies. It is listed in the Good Beer Guide, one of three student bars in the country to be included. It is also known for its weekly live music nights, usually every Thursday when a mix of student and non-student bands play in the bar.
Read more about Graduate College: Governance, College Officers, Past GSA Presidents, Past GSA Vice Presidents, Past Principals
Famous quotes containing the words graduate and/or college:
“1946: I go to graduate school at Tulane in order to get distance from a “possessive” mother. I see a lot of a red-haired girl named Maude-Ellen. My mother asks one day: “Does Maude-Ellen have warts? Every girl I’ve known named Maude-Ellen has had warts.” Right: Maude-Ellen had warts.”
—Bill Bouke (20th century)
“It is true enough, Cambridge college is really beginning to wake up and redeem its character and overtake the age.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)