Brunel University Isambard Student Newspaper: A Comprehensive Overview

Brunel University London, named after the celebrated Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, has a rich history and a vibrant student life reflected in its various publications, including the student newspaper. This article delves into the history, content, and significance of the Brunel University student newspaper, formerly known as Le Nurb and Route 66, while also exploring other facets of student life at Brunel.

Brunel University London: An Introduction

Located in Uxbridge, Brunel University London is a public research university that was founded in 1966. Since becoming a university in 1966, Brunel's mission has been to combine academic rigour with the practical, entrepreneurial and imaginative approach pioneered by its namesake, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It's proving successful. As of 2024, Brunel became the University of London's 17th member, formally adopting the trading name Brunel University of London in 2014. Brunel has over 16,000 students and 2,200 staff. The university won the Queen's Anniversary Prize in 2011. Brunel University of London is one of several British universities that were founded in the 1960s in response to the Robbins Report on expanding higher education. It is sometimes described as a "plate glass university". The university's origins lie in Acton Technical College (now part of West London College), established in 1928, which split off its advanced teaching in 1956. In 1962 Brunel College of Technology was awarded the status of College of Advanced Technology, and it was decided that a new campus should be built for the college. The university continued to use both campuses until 1971, when it left the Acton site. In 1995, the university expanded again, integrating the West London Institute of Higher Education, and adding campuses in Osterley and Twickenham, and increasing the number of courses that the university was able to offer.

A Look at Le Nurb

Le Nurb, Brunel spelled backwards, served as the official student newspaper of Brunel University before 2019. Frequently candid and uncensored in scope and tone, Le Nurb provided a platform for students to openly express their points of view on student life and the world at large. Each issue in the collection offers the curious reader glimpses of the student experience of the time, as well as a unique insight into the developing history of Brunel through the years. The material held in Special Collections here includes his work on Old English poetry, notably on the epic Beowulf in which the hero slays two monsters and a dragon. The work also covers the etymology of the name “dragon”, and the relationships between dragons and other mythical beasts such as griffins and wyverns.

Key Moments and Content Covered by Le Nurb

Some key moments for Brunel covered in later issues of Le Nurb include the one day strike that occurred on 15th January 1986, protesting the Government’s cuts in funding for Higher Education, the theft of £25,000 from the Midland Bank on campus that occurred in March 1986, and a 1988 visit by Labour’s then Education spokesperson Jack Straw, and the opening of the Athletics Centre in 2005. Other content in the magazines includes photo montages of students celebrating nights out at the Academy, lists of degree results for graduating students, reviews of concerts that occurred at Brunel, and letters from students debating topics such as politics, Student Union policies and tuition fees.

Route 66: A Rebranding

Le Nurb was rebranded as Route 66 magazine between 1997 and 2005, and these issues are also in the collection. The name Route 66 stemmed from the different campus locations: Runneymede, Osterley, Uxbridge and Twickenham.

Read also: Affordable Brunel Student Housing

The Brunel Times: The Current Student Newspaper

Before 2019, it was called Le Nurb,[61] which has Brunel spelt backwards. Before that, it was a magazine called Route 66, named after the different campus locations Runneymede, Osterley, Uxbridge and Twickenham, not after a bus route which supposedly ran through Brunel's campus along Cleveland Road. The newspaper editorial team is made up of volunteer students and is funded by the Union of Brunel Students. The Brunel Times is Brunel University's official student newspaper.

Student Life and Activities at Brunel

Beyond the student newspaper, Brunel University offers a wide array of activities and opportunities for its students.

Brunel University's Campus

All of its 14,000 students are now on a single campus at Uxbridge, west London, which has enjoyed £250m of investment in recent years. Brunel enjoys the rare distinction of being a campus university in London, with all the bars, cafes and facilities you'd expect.

Union of Brunel Students

The Union of Brunel Students is at the heart of student life, with the Hamilton Centre begin right on Uxbridge campus. The Union provides a range of services from students support to social activities and societies.

Accommodation

Students who have applied for accommodation before the deadline, and met the conditions of their offer to study at Brunel University will be guaranteed accommodation on campus. The on-campus accommodation has a variety of packages, from en-suite to standard rooms with double or single bed options. Prices range from £133.63 to £235.93 per week depending on the accommodation package that students opt for. Many second and third years live in private accommodation and use accommodation for students to help them find the best properties.

Read also: Transportation to Brunel

Sports and Recreation

Term 1 has been a ducking good time with Brunel Archers waddling their way through 2 competitions so far, coming 7th (senior) and 3rd (novice) on the leaderboards. Brunel has a gym, spa, and running track with professional training and medical facilities. Historically Brunel Student Hall and The Sports Barn were key venues for band tours in the 1970-90s with some of the biggest names in rock music including, Fairport Convention, Fleetwood Mac, The Who, Deep Purple, Genesis, ELO, The Kinks, Thin Lizzy, Joy Division, The Pretenders, The Specials, The Stone Roses.

Brunel Racing

The Brunel Racing team is composed of undergraduate and postgraduate students, each being allocated an area of the car to develop. Students on MEng Mechanical Engineering courses act as team leaders and manage BEng students throughout the year to ensure a successful completion of a new car each year. Brunel Racing were UK Class 1 Formula Student Champions in 2002, and were the leading UK team at Formula ATA 2005, the Italian Formula Student event.

Other Student Initiatives

Hillingdon Herald is a monthly newspaper, written and produced by students from Brunel University of London, with a focus on the London Borough of Hillingdon and wider London. Rana Nauman Ishfaq, your Welfare and Inclusion President, has launched his first monthly blog to share the work he’s been doing to improve student life at Brunel.

Brunel's Campus Transformation and Facilities

Brunel's £250 million campus redevelopment programme, completed in 2008, refurbished existing halls and the built the new Isambard Complex. There are 34 self-catering halls of residence on-campus, with a total of 4,549 rooms, including studio flats for co-habiting couples. Rooms are available for undergraduates, postgraduates, students with disabilities and co habiting couples. Many of the halls of residence around the Uxbridge campus are named after bridges that Isambard Kingdom Brunel either built or helped to design; other halls are named after him or other notable engineers or scientists. On campus there is also a pharmacy, a shop, one bar called Locos, a nightclub called Venue, and a café named "1966" after the year of the university's founding.

Brunel University: A Historical Perspective

Brunel has been the subject of controversy as its approach to higher education has been both market-driven and politically conservative. The decision to award an honorary degree to Margaret Thatcher in 1996, following the University of Oxford's refusal to do so, provoked an outcry by staff and students and, as a result, the ceremony had to be held in the House of Lords instead of on campus. In the late 1990s, the departments of physics, chemistry and materials engineering were all closed and in 2004 the then vice-chancellor, Steven Schwartz, initiated the reorganisation of the university's faculties and departments into schools, and closed the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences. In 2014, the university underwent an internal reorganisation and its name was changed to Brunel University London (BUL) by a supplemental charter dated 16 July 2014. In April 2021, it was announced that Julia Buckingham would be stepping down as vice-chancellor and president after nearly 10 years in the role. In the late 1990s Brunel devised a 10-year, £250 million masterplan for the campus. This involved selling off campus sites at Runnymede, Osterley and Twickenham and using the proceeds of the sales to renovate and update the buildings and facilities on the Uxbridge campus.

Governance and Finances

The governing body of BUL is the council, which comprises university staff and students and independent members. The Council appoints the Vice-Chancellor and other senior officers. The current Chancellor of the university is Sir Richard Sykes, a biochemist and former Rector of Imperial College London. Brunel's academic governing body is the Senate, which is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor. Total income for 2019-20 was £237.1 million, £7.3 million (3.2%) higher than in 2018-19. Tuition fees overall increased by £10.1 million, reflecting the increase in the number of students enrolled, while funding body grants were flat at £30.6 million. Research grant income for 2019/ 20 was £3.1 million higher than in 2018-19 on a recognised income basis. Research income reflects the timing of work undertaken on research grants, as income is recognised in the financial statements over a period typically averaging three years. Other income reduced by £6.0 million, or 12.4%. This consists of student residences income, conference, hotel, retail and also income from summer school activity for foreign language students on the campus. Excluding the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension revaluation, expenditure was £9.8 million (4.3%) higher than in 2018-19. Excluding pension adjustments, staff costs of £135.0 million were £15.5 million (13.0%) higher than in 2018-19. The university invested resources in its academic provision as its tuition fee income and student numbers have increased and has also targeted staff cost investment in its information technology provision and other support services.

Brunel's Symbolism

The masonry arch symbolises Isambard Kingdom Brunel, after whom the university is named; the compass and cogwheel symbolise technology, on which the university initially focused, and the institution's former status as a College of Advanced Technology; the ermine lozenge is an allusion to the arms of Lord Halsbury, the first Chancellor of the university. In 2024, with Brunel joining the federation of the University of London, it adopted a new logo, which included redrawn artwork of the coat of arms with slightly reconfigured elements.

Brunel University Library: A Glimpse Through Time

We’ve had a rummage through our Brunel Library archive and found some intriguing photos of the Library through the decades. We decided to recreate the images in the present day for a side by side comparison, and in doing so, realised how the unique brutalist architecture of the building (a form popular between the 1950s and mid 1970s) has characterised and identified the library through its forty two years of operation. Of course, however, the interior of the library has continuously evolved over the four decades, as is evident in the images. The entrance to the Library is no longer on the first floor, and following suit, the Help Desk has also relocated to the ground floor.

Notable Alumni

Asoke K. Majid Al Suwaidi (BA in Geology in 2001), UAE Ambassador to Spain, Andorra, and Vatican City. Tony Adams (Sports Science), footballer, former Arsenal and England captain and Portsmouth F.C.

Brunel's Connection to Isambard Kingdom Brunel

SS Great Britain, launched in 1843, was Brunel’s second ship, innovative in a number of ways. She served as a passenger ship to Australia and later as a freight vessel; her working life ended in 1933, and in 1970 she was salvaged and brought home from the Falkland Islands to Bristol, where she had been built. SS Great Eastern, begun in 1854 as a passenger liner, was the biggest ship there had ever been, and her building and launch presented a number of engineering problems for Brunel and his colleagues to solve. A previous attempt had been made to join England and North America by cable, but the cable had failed after connection. Great Eastern, the only vessel available that had the capacity to carry the whole of the transatlantic cable, laid the successful cable in 1866.

tags: #Brunel #University #Isambard #Student #Newspaper