Campus Notebook: November 29, 2013

VIP ON CAMPUS

Manchester and Nottingham were buzzing this week when the ultimate BNOC paid a visit — Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. First-year student at Manchester Uni James Graham was particularly impressed. “I thought the Chief Rabbi seemed very aware of the problems facing British Jewry. It was reassuring having him ask the students, the Jewish community of tomorrow, for our suggestions on how to combat these problems”.

CHANU-CARPENTERS

Nottingham students timbered up last Wednesday to enjoy a “make-your-own-menorah” class held by the campus chaplaincy. The students designed and decorated their own wooden menorahs, using a range of bases, candle-holders and dyes to create something they could treasure for years to come. Student Chloe Goldrich said the session had been a “great break from essay-writing, and got us all very excited for Chanucah”.

FRONT ROW

Hope Allsuch is a woman on a mission. The Nottingham student is training hard, with her sights set on rowing for Team GB at the 2017 Maccabiah Games. “Losing isn’t an option, especially as no girls have rowed for the UK in 20 years”, she said. And if ever Hope’s determination wavers in the face of all those early starts and freezing conditions on the river, she draws inspiration from an unlikely source — rousing speeches from Al Pacino movies. Whoo-ah, indeed.