Editing Churchill College, Cambridge (section)

== History ==
In 1955, on holiday in [[Sicily]] soon after his resignation as prime minister, [[Winston Churchill]] discussed with [[Jock Colville|Sir John Colville]] and [[Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell|Lord Cherwell]] the possibility of founding a new institution. Churchill had been impressed by the [[United States]]' [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] and wanted a British version, but the plans evolved into the more modest proposal of creating a science and technology-based college within the [[University of Cambridge]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Walsh, James Jackson|title=Postgraduate Technological Education in Britain: Events Leading to the Establishment of Churchill College, Cambridge, 1950-1958|doi=10.1023/A:1004396018945|year=1998|journal=Minerva|volume=36|issue=2|pages=147–177|s2cid=141439399 }}</ref> Churchill wanted a mix of non-scientists to ensure a well-rounded education and environment for scholars and fellows. The college therefore admits students to read all subjects except [[land economy]] and theology & religious studies (though it is possible to switch to these subjects later).

The first postgraduate students arrived in October 1960, and the first undergraduates a year later. Full college status was received in 1966. 

Following the Labour government's [[Representation of the People Act 1969]], which reduced the [[voting age]] to 18 years,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Loughran |first1=Thomas |last2=Mycock |first2=Andrew |last3=Tonge |first3=Jonathan |date=2021-04-03 |title=A coming of age: how and why the UK became the first democracy to allow votes for 18-year-olds |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13619462.2021.1890589 |journal=Contemporary British History |language=en |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=284–313 |doi=10.1080/13619462.2021.1890589 |s2cid=233956982 |issn=1361-9462}}</ref> under the guidance of professor [[Richard Henry Tizard|Dick Tizard]], in 1970 Churchill's student union, the [[Junior Common Room]] (JCR), inspired by the [[Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)|worldwide student democracy movement]], led the [[National Union of Students (United Kingdom)|National Union of Students]] (NUS) in taking the Cambridge Town Clerk to the [[High Court of Justice|High Court]] to overturn a 19th-century precedent that won students the right to vote in their university towns.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stephen D. Fisher & Nick Hillman |title=Do students swing elections? Registration, turnout and voting behaviour among full-time students |url=https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Do-students-swing-elections.pdf |publisher=HEPI |page=4}}</ref>

Initially all students were male. Women were accepted as undergraduates in 1972, one of the first three previously all-male colleges to do so.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-08-31 |title=Five decades after Cambridge colleges went co-ed, too little has changed |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/db52b02b-088f-4bfc-8e66-ce7dda0267fc |access-date=2023-04-25}}</ref>

The bias towards science and engineering remains as policy to the current day, with the statutes requiring approximately 70% science and technology students amongst its student intake each year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/about/official/statutes_and_ordinances/statutes.pdf|title=Churchill College Statutes (PDF)|date=1 January 2010|access-date=25 June 2012}}</ref> The college statutes also stipulate that one third of the students of the college should be studying for postgraduate qualification.

[[Cambridge University Radio]] (later [[Cam FM]]) broadcast from Churchill College from 1979 until 2011.

On 27 October 2020, the college launched ''Churchill, Empire and Race'', intended as a year-long programme looking critically at its founder.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210212131200/https://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/about/churchill-empire-and-race/cer-opening-conversation/ Churchill, Empire and Race: Opening the Conversation] Churchill College</ref> However in June 2021, the programme was abruptly terminated following a dispute with the college’s leadership.<ref>{{cite news|last=Adams|first=Richard|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/17/cambridge-college-ends-critical-examination-of-founder-winston-churchill|title=Cambridge college ends critical examination of founder Winston Churchill|work=The Guardian|date=17 June 2021|access-date=19 June 2021}}</ref>