Oxford's Christ Church College celebrating diversity with portraits

Dr Mariama Semega-Janneh is an endocrinologist based in Washington, DC

An Oxford University college is exhibiting new portraits of women who have attended or worked there to better represent its community.

Christ Church College, Oxford, welcomed its first women undergraduates in 1980-81 and commissioned Women of the House: Portraits of Christ Church to celebrate the recent anniversary.

Students, staff and alumni nominated hundreds of women with a connection to the college to feature in portraits to demonstrate women's contributions to the college and the wider world over the last four decades.

The exhibition is free to visit, Monday to Saturday between 10:00 and 16:00 BST and between 14:00 and 16:00 on Sundays, until 30 October.

All of the portraits were taken by the award-winning photographer John Davis.

Dr Mariama Semega-Janneh, who is originally from The Gambia, arrived at the college as a Commonwealth Scholar in 1992.

She spent five years at the college studying medicine and said: "Throughout that time, there were not many people in Oxford who looked like me. I was definitely in a very small minority but I always felt extremely comfortable - it just felt like home."

Libby Burgess was the first woman elected to an organ scholarship at the college in 2002

Libby Burgess is a pianist, song specialist and vocal coach and has played at major halls, festivals across Britain and on BBC Radio 3.

"We must nurture the idea that music makes life - and the world - better. People have never had more music more readily available to them than today, yet educationally people now have far less access to music than in past generations, unless they come from a certain set of privileged backgrounds. It has to be for everyone," she said.

Marina Hyde (left) studied English at the college from 1993, while Katya Melluish studied modern history from 1994

Marina Hyde, a columnist for The Guardian since 2000, said: "The ability to read critically and understand all sorts of texts is something I particularly value [from studying English at the college].

"Don't worry if you've got no clue what you want to do. There were some people who just decide that they wanted to work in a bank or as an actor and knew exactly what they wanted to do. But I just wasn't one of those people - and I've really enjoyed my life," she added.

Katya Melluish is the ombudsman for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, based in Rome.

A barrister, she previously worked as a prosecutor for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

"I gained a respect for well-reasoned arguments and an understanding of how the culture of an institution can foster good values [from studying at Christ Church]. In my working life I have tried to replicate this," she said.

Sophie Power is an international 24-hour ultrarunner despite having no background in sport before she arrived at the college in 2000

Sophie Power, now an international 24-hour ultrarunner, played no sport before arriving at the college to study PPE in 2000 and started running ultramarathons during her career in finance and as an entrepreneur.

"At school I was second-to-last in the mile. Christ Church was where I was introduced to sport. I joined a rowing crew, I got roped into the rugby and football teams - it's where I found a love of sport," she said.

Dame Emma Walmsley studied classics and modern languages from 1987 and was made an honorary student of the college in 2021

Dame Emma Walmsley has been the CEO of GSK since 2017 and is a board director of Microsoft.

She said of her time at the college: "The experience here opened my mind to the possibilities of the world and taught me to be in a minority, but not defined by it.

"Most of all, the most valuable thing that Christ Church gave me has definitely been human connections, friends.

"The older I get, whether in or out of work, the more I believe that everything is always about the people. These are friends I've kept for life, who keep you grounded and spur you on for the bigger challenges. It's something I'll always be grateful for," she said.

Charmaine Suresh Damley-Jones was the first woman to be elected President of Christ Church's Junior Common Room

Charmaine Suresh Damley-Jones was the first woman to be elected President of Christ Church's Junior Common Room (JCR) in 1984. She had arrived in Oxford in 1983 to study engineering science.

She has since enjoyed a successful international marketing career, family life and is now a sixth-form mentor and maths tutor.

"To students I would say: 'You got into Christ Church because you were good enough, so believe in yourself, ask questions, express your opinion, and respect others'."

Bridget Guiste (left) started working for the college in 2012 and Ann Barrett joined in 1999

Bridget Guiste has worked in the college's steward's office since 2012 and is responsible for all HR and training-related activities in it.

"I was quite pleased to learn that the position was available at Christ Church because I was looking for an established employer and you can't get any more established than Christ Church.

"There are certainly a few more women in senior positions than there were previously. There's more of a sense of equality," she said.

Ann Barrett joined the college as assistant butler in 1999. She was promoted to deputy butler and then manager of the Senior Common Room (SCR), the first woman to hold the position.

"When I arrived, it was a male-dominated Common Room, both staff and members. That's the most obvious change, the women coming through.

"The dynamics of the Common Room didn't change much when I started, but now there's a variety of age and gender. It's also nice to see people coming through from many different backgrounds."

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