Each year the Society offers practice interviews to young people from schools in Luxembourg who are applying to Oxford. This year, interviews were conducted together with members of the Cambridge Society. 24 young people who were applying to Oxford or Cambridge were given practice interviews. This year, Oxford offered at least five places to candidates from the Grand-Duchy. The feedback from all candidates was very positive.
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As in past years, The Society organized the Oxford University stand at the annual Luxembourg Student Fair, on 10th and 11th November. This year we had a double stand and Cat Murdoch of the University Admissions Office gave talks to students and teachers visiting the Fair. Members’ help is invaluable, and those who took part found the experience very rewarding. More than 100 young
people expressed interest in studying at Oxford.
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Sir Brian, who was formerly Chairman of the European Investment Bank and has a breadth of active interests that would do credit to a Renaissance prince, generously agreed to lecture to our association on ‘Napoleon on St Helena’ a subject on which he has recently published a widely admired book, Terrible Exile: The Last Days of Napoleon on St Helena. The book is based on original sources and local research. In May 2011 Sir Brian brilliantly addressed the European Oxford Alumni in Paris on this subject. The lecture took place at the Cercle Munster in the Grund, starting at 6.30 pm and was followed by dinner at 8.15.
Read a report of the lecture.
Photo
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The society received an invitation for its members to attend a lecture given on 10th November 2011 at the premises of the European Investment Bank by Professor Jacqueline McGlade, Director of the European Environment Agency. The lecture, timed to fit Ms McGlade’s hectic official schedule, was delivered a few hours after she had given oral evidence to the European Parliament in Brussels. Her lecture was an antidote to despair, a call to collective action and a plea for awareness of shared responsibility towards our children for the world we bequeath them.
Read a report of the lecture.
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The AGM was well attended and the dinner guests, present in a record number, heard M. Yves Mersch, Governor of the Central Bank of Luxembourg, make a masterful speech throwing light on the European financial crisis.
Read a report on Yves Mersch's speech.
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The visit, arranged by OUSL committee Member Jan Koenighaus, was a great success. Seventeen of us were led by an excellent guide, Herr Baumeister. We saw remarkable sites, some of limited access, received a wry account of Trier’s early history as the sole Roman city of Germany and learnt how pagan and early Christian practices mingled. We were amused by tales of rivalry between the episcopal prince-electors and the civic leaders and learnt much curious detail on the topography of the city. At our last location, the thermae, our guide pictured well the life at a Roman bath, not only of the bathers but also of the slaves tending to the needs of the establishment.
See some photos of the trip.
Read a report on the visit
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The motion for debate was:
“This meeting believes that economic growth does not endanger the climate for mankind”
The debate was attended by many guests, especially from the European Investment Bank. By courtesy of the Bank, the meeting was held in the Bank’s boardroom. The rules for debate were inspired by those of the Oxford Union, with two speakers for the motion, Peter Carter and Eric Perée, and two against, Stephen McCarthy and Jane Feehan, followed by a number of short speeches from the floor; these showed the diversity of viewpoint and the high level of general concern among those attending.
The very lively debate concluded with the motion being defeated by 37 votes to 23. The Society offered champagne to the participants, after which many of them enjoyed an excellent dinner at the Cafe Flo.
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