Students at Van Mildert frequently cite a specific instance, usually in retrospect, as the one that resolved the issue of whether they had made the proper decision. It’s not on the first day of classes or during the official introduction. It usually occurs in October, when the leaves around the lake in the middle of the college grounds are changing, and the late afternoon light on the water does something that a prospectus shot can roughly but not quite portray.
The roads that run alongside the lake, the common areas that overlook it, and the overall impression that the entire campus was planned with some knowledge that where you live influences how you feel about being there are all examples of how the college is structured around that lake in a way that molds daily life there.
In honor of William Van Mildert, the final Prince-Bishop of Durham and one of the university’s founders in 1832, Van Mildert was established in 1965. One of Durham’s mid-century colleges, it was founded amid the postwar growth of British higher education, when universities were being required to accommodate more students and were constructing additional colleges to do so.
In terms of architecture, that generation of college buildings doesn’t necessarily hold up over time. In contrast to some of the more urban colleges in Durham’s center, Van Mildert has freedom to breathe thanks to its expansive, verdant grounds on Millhill Lane. While it lacks some of the older colleges’ cloistered medieval setting, it does have a physical scale that doesn’t feel claustrophobic.
With 400 first-year rooms, the institution has a bigger residential footprint than other of Durham’s smaller universities, housing about 542 students. It is catered, which means that instead of letting students handle self-catering, the college supplies meals through its dining hall.
Like at Stephenson College, the lack of gowned formal dinners is a deliberate choice concerning the type of college culture the institution wishes to foster. One of the Durham customs that some students come expressly for is the formal hall with academic attire, while others find it completely superfluous. Evidently, Van Mildert has determined that this is not the message it wishes to convey about itself.
The college’s motto, Sic vos non vobis, which means “not for yourselves” and is credited to Virgil, is the kind of Latin expression that can remain untouched on letterhead for decades. At Van Mildert, it is portrayed as really orienting, a description of what the community is meant to mean in practice: investment in shared life, service to others, and the unique responsibility that comes with being a member of a place where 1,550 people are working together to make it work.
It’s seldom clear if a college truly upholds its declared ideals. The framing, however, is noteworthy since it requires students to consider what they owe the community rather than what the community owes them.
Reading testimonies from Van Mildert grads gives one the impression that the lake and grounds have an impact on the community’s collective memory that is out of proportion to their usefulness.
People recall the water. They recall the walkway surrounding it, the mornings following torrential downpours, and the distinctive appearance of the autumnal light. It is the most resilient thing a college can have because it is difficult to intentionally create that kind of sensory relationship to a location.
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