campus – The Orbital

Back Gate To Close Overnight, Following Resident Complaints

16Jul

By Jamie WoodsNo Comments

News

Back Gate To Close Overnight, Following Resident Complaints

In what has been described as a "difficult" decision, Royal Holloway College have today announced they are going to resume closing the back gate overnight. From the start of term in September, the gate will be closed at 12:30AM each night, and re-opened at 5AM. The back gate originally closed at 12:45 on Friday and Saturday and 11:15 throughout the remainder of the week. The back entrance to campus is located on Spring Rise by the Senate House Library depository. It had been opened overnight in January 2018 following lengthy campaigns run by students and the Students' Union, starting with a petition in 2015. Access had been provided through the use of swipe cards outside of regular hours. The announcement follows lobbying from local residents, who told the college that students ar...

Evacuation Confusion Reveals RHUL Emergency Unpreparedness

19Mar

By Jack ChellmanNo Comments

News

Evacuation Confusion Reveals RHUL Emergency Unpreparedness

On Wednesday afternoon, a suspicious package at the George Eliot mailroom prompted Surrey Police and College Security to evacuate nearby buildings on campus. Given the spate of bomb scares across the UK this month, one would hope for a well-coordinated response to a similar threat at Royal Holloway. Unfortunately, the university’s evacuation fell far short of “well-coordinated” and contradicted a spokesperson’s suggestion that “the College spends considerable time and resources on emergency planning.” Interviews with community members and an analysis of evacuation messaging reveal the university’s inability to quickly and clearly articulate emergency protocol. To adequately protect its community members, Royal Holloway must address its emergency unpreparedness and communicate more effectiv...

Through The Lens of a Camera: Comedy Virgins

30Nov

By Lina PavlovaNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Through The Lens of a Camera: Comedy Virgins

On Thursday November 15, Royal Holloway’s very own Comedy Society had their first show of the year, and what a blast it was! Going to a comedy show is always exciting, and a great night full of fun and laughter is almost always guaranteed. But what happens when you’re not just there as an audience member? I attended as a videographer to film the event, and while you might assume the excitement would be pretty much non-existent due to the mere fact that I was there to do my job and be ‘professional’, this was not the case! Just seeing the enthusiastic faces of the people performing on the stage, even if only from behind my camera, was enough to make me happy for days and days to follow. From the name of the performance itself - ‘The Comedy Virgin Show’ - which immediately stirs up cur...

Interview: Callum Pardoe takes the Reigns of Holloway Players

9Oct

By Olivia DuckworthNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Interview: Callum Pardoe takes the Reigns of Holloway Players

Today we sit down with Callum Pardoe, who this year has taken on the role as the Holloway Players Representative with Drama Society. We spoke to Callum, who is going into his second year at Royal Holloway, about all things Improv and what to him makes The Holloway Players the crazy, talented group of performers they are. What persuaded you to join the Holloway Players last year? I'd always wanted to get into improv and after seeing the Players perform at the Drama Society Taster sessions I was dead set on working with them. I thought to myself 'these are the most hilarious people I've ever seen in life! I have to get to know them!' What are your highlights from last year? Last year had its fair share of highlights for me but if I had to pick one it would have to be performing i...

22Mar

By Louise JonesNo Comments

Features

Interview with Nishall Garala

Deputy Editor Louise Jones caught up with Nishall Garala Religious Affairs Officer for Royal Holloway’s Hindu Society to talk about all things Holi Festival, relationships with other interfaith societies on campus, and the importance of interfaith relationships right now. Nishall first and foremost well done to you and Hindu society for delivering such successful Holi festival celebrations for another year. Are you surprised how many student on campus enjoy and take part in what has become a campus favourite regardless of their own different faiths? Thank you, Holi is one of Hindu Society’s biggest events on campus, and it gets bigger and better every year. Hindu Society is such an inclusive society, it doesn’t matter what faith you believe in; we accept everyone for who they are. Ho...

Interview with Amani Fancy; Professional Pair’s Figure Skater and ROHO Student

21Mar

By Louise JonesNo Comments

Features

Interview with Amani Fancy; Professional Pair’s Figure Skater and ROHO Student

Deputy Editor Louise Jones talks to Amani Fancy, professional pair’s figure skater, and how she balances being a professional athlete with being a student here at Royal Holloway University of London. Firstly, thank you so much for talking to us. I have watched some of your videos of you ice skating and some of the routines you perform look utterly terrifying but absolutely amazing! How do you have so much trust in your skating partner and what is the most terrifying move you have had to perform? To be a pair skater, you have to be a little bit crazy to be quite honest. I personally love the adrenaline of being thrown in the air and lifted all the time (I know, weird), but as you pointed out, there has to be an extremely high level of trust between both partners. To achieve this, it is ...

#WeAreInternational Campaign Across Campus

15Mar

By No Comments

News

#WeAreInternational Campaign Across Campus

On Tuesday 28 February and Wednesday 1 March, Royal Holloway was celebrating the international diversity of the university, encouraging students on campus to share their favourite worldwide locations. Almost 100 students and staff across Royal Holloway shared their favourite locations on a map located in the Boiler house. Amongst the favourites were Martinique, Pakistan, Amsterdam, Arizona, Ukraine, Malawi, Australia and New Zealand. People put a sticky note on the map stating why their chosen location was their favourite, with reasons ranging from the good food in Hong Kong, the undiscovered nature of Vietnam, and the proximity to family in Barbados. The campaign spread across social media with the hashtag #weareinternational and you can still get involved sharing your images ...

25Jan

By No Comments

News

Name for New Library Centre Announced

On the 11 January 2017, the name for the new library centre was finally announced. After months of deliberation Professor Paul Layzell, Principal, and SU President Natasha Barrett announced, via a live stream on the student intranet, that the centre will be called the ‘Emily Wilding Davison Building’. With the founding institutions of both Royal Holloway and Bedford College being the two of the first in the UK to grant women access to higher education, the university wanted to landmark the new library and student service centre, to celebrate one of the renowned alumna. Emily Davison, who began her studies in 1893 at Royal Holloway, is said to ‘encapsulate Royal Holloway’s ethos of empowering individuals to drive social and cultural change’, and as the Principal, Paul Layzell, commented ...

What We Know; Arson attempt in Founder’s Building

1Dec

By Yasmeen FrassoNo Comments

News

What We Know; Arson attempt in Founder’s Building

UPDATE 15:11 PM 2nd December - Royal Holloway's student intranet has posted an official statement stating that the college are currently working with Surrey Police and the Surrey Fire Investigation Service to investigate last nights fire. They thanked the Security team, Surreys Fire and Rescue Services and Surrey Police and students and staff for co-operating. They state one bedroom, as well as toilets and bathrooms have been damaged, but that there is no damage to Founder's Building itself. The statement went on to speak about access to services within Founders; "Our Support & Advisory Services team, including the Disability & Dyslexia team, Counselling team, Chaplaincy and other services, are providing services from the Windsor Building. Founder's Post Room is current...

Shakespeare Society Presents ‘Much Ado About Nothing’

24Nov

By Georgia BeithNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Shakespeare Society Presents ‘Much Ado About Nothing’

For their first term production, Royal Holloway’s Shakespeare Society are tackling one of Shakespeare’s best loved comedies: Much Ado About Nothing. It’s no small feat taking on such a well known play, but it’s a challenge they rise to wonderfully. It’s the age old tale of a love/hate relationship as we watch Beatrice (Olivia Dutson) and Benedick (Dan Scott) bicker their way through the marriage of Claudio (Will Maidment) and Hero (Samantha Van Den Esschert) and the troublesome scheming of Don John (Tom Knight), the bastard half brother of the honourable Don Pedro (Momin Ahmad). No production of Much Ado would be complete without the iconic overhearing scenes, which are staged hilariously, and this time there’s even the appearance of a small dance number – because, why not? The s...