OUSL was invited to join the Gala Autumn Wings Ball on 25 October at the Novotel Kirchberg, 18.30.
The charity event supported local and RAF causes and gathers UK veterans, expatriates, diplomats, and service personnel from across Europe. The event also coincided with a Remembrance Service on the Saturday morning at the WW2 graves in Hollerich of RAF and RCAF airman who died defending Luxembourg.The tables at the Gala Dinner & Ball place 10 persons, however individuals attending will be welcome.
Yet another good event was had as Cambridge had secured a Dinner-talk with Dr. Kenneth Lasoen, a Cantabrigian and expert on security and intelligence. Professor Lasoen took us through the history of intelligence – from Antiquity to the present day. His talk, interspersing the courses, was followed by a lively Q&A.
The Oxford alumni had a jewel of a dinner-talk with the Rt Hon Dominic Grieve at Cercle Münster. Grieve spoke on “The Role of the Attorney General and the Fate of the Rules-Based International Order.” He didn’t just limit the talk to his time in the role from 2010-2014, but took us through the history of the office from its Norman origins to the present day. Flanked by Their Excellencies Joanne Olivier, British Ambassador, and Jean McDonald, Irish Ambassador, Dominic Grieve spoke with rare integrity and held us spellbound throughout. The talk was followed by a Q&A session around our long table, creating a rare and enriching conversation. We are deeply grateful to Dominic Grieve for his time and insights.
Dear Oxonians, hand on the heart – were you aware that as an alumni you are most welcome to join the annual alumni weekend in Oxford called Meeting Minds??? If not, read on!
This year, Jan Könighaus and Mette Ahlefeldt-Laurvig went along and it was a FABULOUS weekend. As always, there were back-to-back lectures, concerts and tours — from Poisons in Literature, Creative Writing Course, and Spanish for Beginners, to the latest on Malaria Vaccines and guided tours to the Ashmolean and Rhodes House.
The weekend opened at the Weston Library with the by Oxford University Chancellor, The Rt Hon William Hague, who gave us a highly entertaining talk followed by a lively panel discussion and Q&A from the audience. The event was followed by drinks and nibbles for all attendees.
Only your Chair and Vice Chair represented OUSL, but with nearly 100 registered members, we could be many, many more. So do mark your diaries for 18–20 September 2026 — the next Meeting Minds in Oxford!
Your OUSL Chair and Vice Chair enjoying a moment with our OUS Paris counterparts: Howard Norman (Chair) and Lena Schreiner (Secretary) following the Chancellor’s excellent talk.
We had a great Freshers Dinner at Chiche! This year we only had three freshers, but we were lucky that two of them could come, one who will read a Masters in Law and another who will read a Dphil in Mathematics (Merton). We also had the pleasure of including several members who kindly help each year carrying out mock interviews as well as members of the committee.
This was a packed Oxbridge weekend! Yesterday OUSL organised the hike in Müllerthal and today Camsoc spearheaded the annual game of croquet in Parc Pescatore followed by pizza.
We had a great turnout from both societies with participants of all ages and a good number of students joining in. We were extremely lucky as the park was bathed in sunshine for most of the afternoon. With glasses of crémant and nibbles in hand, we did our best to follow Fanny and Andrew’s expert instructions in the fine art of croqueting. Two matches were played – three teams in the first match, and two in the second. The ingenious format left plenty of time to chat and have a laugh between turns, and the day wrapped up with a pizza at Bacchus for around fifteen of the group, mostly students. Once again, a thoroughly nice day in a thoroughly nice weekend.
What a lovely day this was! Our former Chair, Andrew Hallam, led us through a path in the beautiful Müllerthal. On our way we passed the waterfall and walked through the narrow path of Eulenberg towards the top with its stunning view. Our group was certainly not alone on the tracks which we shared with a lot of enthusiastic runners competing in various races, so it was a busy but fun hike. Afterwards we enjoyed a good lunch at Heringer Millen and by the time we left, the sun had come out, making it a perfect day out. Thanks again to Andrew for being our expert trail finder and to David for initiating this event, despite being unable to join us.
