Notices

Calendar

20 March, Friday. Full Term ends.

25 March, Wednesday. Lent Term ends. Last ordinary issue of the Reporter in Lent Term.

28 March, Saturday. Congregation of the Regent House at 10 a.m.

5 April, Sunday. Easter Day. Scarlet Day.

11 April, Saturday. Congregation of the Regent House at 10 a.m.

17 April, Friday. Easter Term begins.

22 April, Wednesday. First ordinary issue of the Reporter in Easter Term.

Election of student members of the Council and of the General Board

The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that, in the elections held from Monday, 23 February to Thursday, 26 February 2026, the following persons were elected as the student members of the Council and the General Board in class (d):

Council

Category (i) – President (Undergraduate) of the University of Cambridge Students’ Union:

Benedict, Melanie, M

Category (ii) – President (Postgraduate) of the University of Cambridge Students’ Union:

Rohilla, Jeeves, LC

Category (iii) – one student elected by and from among the students in the University:

Watson, Bethany, LC

General Board

At least one and no more than two of the sabbatical officers of the University of Cambridge Students’ Union who have been elected to hold the portfolio or portfolios for matters concerning undergraduate and postgraduate education ex officio.

Misraoui, Sarah, PET, elected Vice-President (Education and Widening Participation) of the University of Cambridge Students’ Union

Rohilla, Jeeves, LC, elected President (Postgraduate) of the University of Cambridge Students’ Union

Alteration and refurbishment of the Stirling Building on the Sidgwick site

12 March 2026

A first-stage Report seeking approval in principle for the alteration and refurbishment of the Stirling Building was published in 2024, and the recommendations of that Report were approved by Grace 2 of 31 July 2024.1

The strategic case for the project is unaltered from the previous Report; the building, which is Grade II* listed, is likely to become unsafe for occupation within the next few years, has a poor environmental performance and is problematic from the point of view of accessibility and basic efficiency. The refurbished building will provide excellent space for its current users (the Faculty of History and the Seeley Library, which hosts library collections for History, Land Economy, Latin American Studies, Politics and International Studies, and Sociology) and for a much wider community of students and staff from the Schools of Arts and Humanities and the Humanities and Social Sciences.

The Full Business Case for the project was approved by the Planning and Resources Committee at its meeting on 18 March 2026. The budget for the project is £78.9m, an increase of £0.5m (less than 1 per cent) compared with the Outline Business Case and the first-stage Report, driven principally by additional costs associated with the financial failure of a key subcontractor. The costs of decanting the Faculty of History and the Seeley Library for the duration of the building works are unaltered at £5.3m.

The Council is satisfied that there are no material changes to the project since the first-stage Report was approved. In accordance with the revised process for seeking Regent House approval for building projects,2 it is therefore publishing this second-stage Notice and submitting a Grace (Grace 1, p. 392) for the approval of the works.

Grace for submission to the Regent House under Special Ordinance A (ii) 5 (divestment from arms industry)

16 March 2026

The Council has received the following Grace, which has been initiated under Special Ordinance A (ii) 5 by 155 members of the Regent House. A list of the signatories is set out in Annex 1.

The Council will consider the Grace at the earliest opportunity.

Formal text of the Grace

That:

(1)  Regulation 5 of the Ordinance for the Cambridge University Endowment Trustee Body (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 124) be amended as follows:

•Replace (c) with: ‘to ensure the Cambridge University Endowment Fund is an environmentally, ethically, and socially responsible investment scheme and oversee its approach to responsible investment;’

•Below (c) insert:

‘(d) to ensure, as part of its approach to responsible investment, a progressive decline in direct and indirect exposure to fossil fuel companies and arms companies, as defined by Ordinance, towards no exposure; and

(e) to report annually to the Regent House and the Council on its activities, including on progress against (c) and (d) above.’

•Consequentially, remove ‘and’ from the end of (b).

(2) The Council, in consultation with the Cambridge University Endowment Trustee Body, is ordered to provide a definition of fossil fuels companies and arms companies (which must encompass both conventional and controversial arms manufacturing companies). Such a definition shall be provided by way of a Report to the Regent House, not later than 31 July 2026, proposing a new Ordinance for this definition.

(3)  Fossil fuels and arms companies shall be defined by the following new Ordinance, with effect from 1 January 2027, unless otherwise agreed in accordance with part (2) of this Grace above:

‘Definition of Fossil Fuels and Arms Companies

For the purposes of these Ordinances, fossil fuels and arms companies shall be defined as those companies or investments that are or would be excluded from the FTSE TPI Climate Transition Custom Developed ex Weapons ex Fossil Fuels Reserves (>50%) ex Tobacco index.’

(4)  If any part of this Grace is found to be non-binding on any party, all other parts of this Grace shall stand as separately binding.

Background

•The University Council has so far refused to make a public decision on whether or not the University will continue to invest in arms companies, as required by a Grace1 of the Regent House.

•In a Notice2 providing its response to the Grace, the Council claimed that it was not binding on the Council, as it has ultimate decision-making authority on the question of the University’s investments.

Governance of the Endowment Fund

•The University’s endowment fund (the CUEF) is managed by a wholly-owned subsidiary company of the University (UCIM).3 UCIM is overseen by a trustee body (CUETB) who have the final say on which investments are acceptable.

•The Council would ordinarily have authority to manage investments under Statute F I 1(a).4 However, this responsibility may be committed to another University body (in this case to the CUETB) under Statute F II 2.

•In accordance with the Statute, this commitment may only occur by an Ordinance enacted by the Regent House. Regent House approval is therefore implicitly required as a sensible check and balance on the ability for unelected bodies to manage the University’s resources.

•Fundamentally, the CUETB exists solely because of an Ordinance enacted by the Regent House, and its remit is defined by the Regent House in this Ordinance. As a result, its remit can be changed by the Regent House by amending the Ordinance.

Effect of the Grace

•This Grace, if approved, is binding on the CUETB, reminding them that the CUEF is an ethical collective investment scheme, and requiring them to oversee the progressive divestment from both conventional and controversial arms companies. It also gives the CUETB and Council the opportunity to define arms companies to ensure the sustainability of the current investment model.

•Should the CUETB ignore this Grace as the Council has done previously, its membership could be changed or even dissolved entirely in a separate Grace if the Regent House wanted to take action.

•Part (1) creates a duty for the CUETB to oversee divestment from fossil fuel and arms companies, and to report on this annually to the Council and Regent House (see Annex A).

•Part (2) allows the Council to propose suitable definitions of these companies such that divestment is workable within the current investment model. An initial definition must be proposed to the Regent House by 31 July 2026, and approved by the Regent House.

•Part (3) provides a ‘backstop’ definition of these companies, in the case where the Regent House and the Council fail to agree on a definition by 1 January 2027.

•Part (4) ensures that all parts of this Grace are considered separately binding.

Annex A: Current and Proposed Ordinance for the CUETB

Current Regulation 5

5. The duties of the Cambridge University Endowment Trustee Body shall be:

(a)to represent the University in its role as sole trustee of the Cambridge University Endowment Fund representing the interests of unitholders as a whole;

(b)to represent the University in its role as sole member of University of Cambridge Investment Management Limited; and

(c)to report annually to the Regent House on its activities.

Proposed Regulation 5

5. The duties of the Cambridge University Endowment Trustee Body shall be:

(a)to represent the University in its role as sole trustee of the Cambridge University Endowment Fund representing the interests of unitholders as a whole;

(b)to represent the University in its role as sole member of University of Cambridge Investment Management Limited;

(c)to ensure the Cambridge University Endowment Fund is an environmentally, ethically, and socially responsible investment scheme and oversee its approach to responsible investment;

(d)to ensure, as part of its approach to responsible investment, a progressive decline in direct and indirect exposure to fossil fuel companies and arms companies, as defined by Ordinance, towards no exposure; and

(e)to report annually to the Regent House and the Council on its activities, including on progress against (c) and (d) above.

Annex 1