Rekindling friendships at the Dinner Debate – and an invitation to Founder’s Day 2017

At our recent Dinner Debate, guest speaker and old boy Kane Evans rightly reminded us of the importance of friendship – and especially of friendships forged at this School.

With some 180 attending, including Kane (OE 2003–2010) and many other OEs from across the generations, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening at which several old friendships were rekindled – a formal occasion, yes, but one on which we don’t take ourselves too seriously. There were many laughs and the debate was certainly lively: at one point, the chairman became so excited that he dropped his gavel!


An invitation

""Founder’s Day presents an even bigger opportunity than the Dinner Debate to catch up with old friends in a relaxed atmosphere. I see the Founder’s Day Fête as a chance to bring the whole QE community together to celebrate and support the School – and Old Elizabethans are a key part of that.

The afternoon begins with a buffet lunch open to all Old Elizabethans at approximately 1pm, immediately after the reading of the Chronicle. Since its re-launch a few years ago, our Founder’s Day Past XI v Present XI match (the Stanley Busby Memorial Cricket Match) on the Third Field has proved quite a draw for the many cricket fans among our alumni. And there are countless other attractions at the Fete on Stapylton Field. It will be possible to seat a small number of Old Elizabethans at the Founder’s Day service, which begins in St John the Baptist Church at 11am.

""If there are any old boys who would like to make contact with particular members of staff, both current and former, at Founder’s Day, do please email my office and we will do our best to make it happen. In fact, it would be helpful to us in planning our welcome if any former pupils who expect to be at Founder’s Day could let me know by email in advance, especially if you would like to attend the service or lunch.


Dinner Debate report

""This year’s event was the 52nd Elizabethan Union Annual Dinner Debate, which is attended by all Year 12 boys. Kane was the special guest, who proposed the toast to the Queen, to our Founder and to the Elizabethan Union, the School’s debating society.

Year 12 pupils Rahul Kanwar and Ravi Karia proposed the motion: ‘This house believes that experts are overrated’. Two OEs, Adam Hilsenrath and Alex Chinweze (both 2008–15), opposed the motion.

""In his after-dinner address (which was not part of the debate), Kane, who now works as a Senior Commercial Analyst at Manchester United FC, acknowledged the importance of expertise: some boys present were likely to become genuine experts in their field, whether as doctors, lawyers or engineers, for example. But he spoke of its limitations, too, and highlighted the important role that friendship has to play in life: “Being an expert doesn’t make you a good friend, it doesn’t make you a loving boyfriend, husband, father. As I looked around the table at an OE’s stag-do I was on last weekend, it dawned on me that many of these friendships were now over 14 years old, forged in this very room, on Stapylton Field or the back of Mr Enright’s Geography class.

“These relationships give me as much personal fulfilment and pride as any professional or academic achievement, and are as important to me as any future objective or aspiration.”

""Appropriately enough, Kane was joined on the evening by his friend and QE contemporary, Nik Ward (OE 2003–2010).

Kane urged a certain humility on the boys: “Don’t neglect or underestimate your craft and the choices that lie before you – but don’t congratulate yourself too much either if the end result is bigger and better than your neighbour’s: remember that it was only partly your doing.”

They should study what they want and not follow anyone else’s preconceived ideas, he said, adding in conclusion: “Don’t be afraid to take the road less travelled, and when you do, don’t forget to take your friends with you on the journey.”

""Kane’s professional role involves looking at where Manchester United’s next deals should be. He expressed his enjoyment at working for the globally recognised club and brand – despite secretly being a Chelsea fan!

Nik will soon qualify as an architect. He is coming into the School in the summer to help with Enrichment Week.

The many other OEs in attendance included Ross Lima (1995–2002), who has worked hard over the years to provide opportunities for current pupils. Ross, who works for Shell, encouraged the School to enter a Shell competition, in which the boys were regional winners, and he also provides a Sixth Form work placement annually – several boys have drawn on their experience in shadowing him in the company’s legal department in their law applications to Oxbridge.

""According to the final tally of votes, the OE team, Adam and Alex (a former School Captain and Senior Vice-Captain respectively), won the debate convincingly. They turned a slender majority against the motion in the indicative vote at the outset into an overwhelming one.

The pair were ably supported by numerous contributions from boys and guest in the floor debate, including one from my predecessor as Headmaster, Dr John Marincowitz, who reminded all of his oratorical powers with a typically wise and convincing contribution. The event was also attended by Eamonn Harris (former Headmaster) and Eric Houston (former Second Master), as well as present staff and governors.

""Aspects touched upon during the debate included:

  • The definition of experts and the distinction with advisers;
  • Whether experts have merely been misused, including in essentially emotional arguments, such as over Brexit;
  • The failures of those with past experience and success to predict future performance.

Perhaps most contentious of all was the question of whether Michael Owen should be considered an expert pundit and, if so, whether this helped the proposition or the opposition case!

I was pleased to see how readily and intelligently the current Year 12s engaged with the debate – although whether the enormous slice of chocolate cake they had for dessert or the supply of wine had anything to do with that, I could not possibly comment. The School Shop’s bottom-line certainly saw a boost – with half of Year 12 having beat a path to shop’s door on the preceding Friday afternoon to buy their bow ties.

After such a memorable evening, I look forward to meeting more OEs at other such occasions in the future. In the meantime, I welcome contact from all Old Elizabethans via my LinkedIn profile.

Neil Enright