Goodricke College, York

Goodricke College, York

Goodricke College is one of the colleges of the University of York. It was the fifth college to be built and was named after the astronomer John Goodricke. The College was opened in 1968 by Michael Swann and the event is commemorated by a plaque on the outside of the Old Dining Hall - now part of James College. Goodricke has approximately 1500 undergraduate members, of which some 500 live in college accommodation, and about 140 postgraduate members, of which most live in college accommodation.

Goodricke: 1968 - 2009

The Blocks

While Goodricke College was located on Heslington West, it had four accommodation blocks: A, B, C and D. Blocks A and B were standard university accommodation, built to the CLASP system invented by Andrew Derbyshire, and situated near the main college Nucleus. C-block and D-block were whitewashed brick buildings, considered to provide a lower quality of accommodation to A- and B-blocks. C-block was located next to the college Nucleus, while D-block was situated on the other side of the university lake from the main college buildings. The reason for the detached nature of D-block is that it was once part of Wentworth College. The internal walls of Blocks C and D were noted for their lack of plaster. Campus legend has it that this lack of plaster is due to fire regulations requiring a minimum width in corridors.

During the 2002 York University Students' Union (YUSU) 'Collegeopoly' campaign about accommodation rent Goodricke College C Block was deemed to be the worst accommodation at York University, inspiring the unflattering nickname Cell Block C. The Campaigns Officers created a mockup of a Monopoly board with different accommodation blocks taking the places of the traditional streets. Goodricke C-block took the place of Old Kent Road.

In 2002-2003, the Goodricke Student Junior Common Room Committee, ran a campaign to Grade C list C- and D-blocks to raise awareness amongst students and administration regarding the university's lack of maintenance of the accommodation. Over 10 years after the previous makeover, the blocks were finally given new carpetting, kitchen units, furniture and internet access. However, the rooms were upgraded to 'Standard' instead of 'Economy' by administration, thus forcing the inhabitants to pay the same amount as for more spacious accommodation. C- and D-blocks, meant to be demolished for a number of years, have exceeded their stated lifetime, but due to shortages in accommodation campus-wide, they have had to serve longer.

In 2003 the college saw the closure of its old dining facilities and the opening of The Roger Kirk Centre, now part of James College. The centre is a new purpose built amenities building and consists of a large dining room, and smaller coffee and snack bar. It is named after Roger Kirk, a former member of the University Court.

Goodricke: 2009 onwards

40th anniversary

2009 Marks the 40th anniversary of Goodricke College, with celebrations throughout the academic year to mark the occasion.

Move to Heslington East

In a special "College Life" supplement accompanying the September 2007 issue of the York Alumni magazine "Grapevine" it was announced that Goodricke College would be relocating to the Heslington East development so that the new area of campus would begin with an established college at its heart. The old Goodricke buildings are being divided between James College and Vanbrugh College. The move took place in September 2009; the new buildings feature a mixture of standard and en-suite accommodation and a large, central, 'nucleus' with large JCR, SCR and offices for staff. This approximately doubles the capacity of the college to over 600 students, including 100 postgraduate students. The new campus is now connected to the Heslington West campus by the York Pullman "Unibus". Travel is free between the two campuses on this service.

Junior Common Room

The Junior Common Room is the undergraduate membership of the college which are governed by the Junior Common Room Committee (JCRC). This committee is responsible for all the college activities such as college sport (Goodricke College is the current holder of the Inter-College Sports Trophy), Christmas and Summer Balls, bar quizzes and college events. After the move to Heslington East, the Goodricke JCRC has made a concerted effort to create a new class of events with the lack of a bar in the new college. These events have enjoyed considerable support and contain the likes of "Graffiti Bar Crawls", "Goodricke Invasion" and also "Goodfest", a free 12 hour outside festival within Goodricke itself. This was a hugely popular event when first organised in 2010 by Tim Ellis and the 2010 JCRC committee and looks to become an annual occurance.

Chairs of the Junior Common Room Committee

Name	Year as JCR Chair
Nacho Hernando	2011
Tim Ellis	2010
Dan Walker	2009
Joe Clarke	2008
Ben Wardle	2007
Matt Burton	2006
Colin Hindson	2005
Raz Ahasan	2004
Tom Jones	2003
Jake Brazier	2002
Tom Connor	2001
Mark Lucas	1990
Andy Gilmore	1989
Martin Bell	1988

Facilities

Goodricke Nucleus is the name of the main administrative and facility building in Goodricke College and is located on the Heslington East campus. It also houses the Junior Common Room and the General Common Room. As of 2011, portering services are provided from the Ron Cooke Hub.

The new College accommodation is divided into Courts, each named after a member of the University who has made a significant contribution to its life: Oliver Sheldon, Janet Baker and Kenneth Dixon. Each of the Courts has a resident member of college staff. The College Dean lives in Janet Baker Court while at least one College Tutor lives in each of the other Courts.

External links

• Goodricke College website
• Goodricke College JCRC