The following Frequently-Asked Questions are provided to support students who are preparing essays for the George Bridgetower Essay Competition.
Please see the main page (linked above) for specifics about formatting, word count and submission.
Q. Is it worth submitting an essay for this Prize?
The prize money is £1000 for the most successful essay submission. It can also be great to include this prize in your curriculum vitae, as well as using this competition as a platform to reflect and share your perspectives about your educational experiences at Cambridge.
Q. Why have we set up an essay competition?
Essays are highly valued at Cambridge as many students are expected to write essays for formative feedback. This essay competition is set up as an opportunity for students to experiment with developing an essay that shares their personal experiences or opinions while also showcasing their essay writing skills. The prize money is a way of rewarding the extra curricula work involved, on top of the intellectual kudos accrued in winning the competition.
Q. Who can enter the competition?
You must be a current or recently graduated student from Cambridge University to be eligible to submit an essay for this competition. This year, as the competition is supported by the Black Advisory Hub, you will also need to be a self-identifying Black student.
Q. Are there any restrictions?
We welcome essays on your own personal experiences, and we don't want to restrict any angle you might choose to write about (particularly in light of this essay question!). However, we ask entrants to avoid the use of names, specific places, and incidents in order to avoid bringing unwanted harm onto anyone. It is okay to cite already written pieces about incidents and to reflect on them from a personal perspective.
Q. What is the editing process?
If your essay wins the competition, we will work with you to ensure it is publishable. No changes will be made without the author's approval.
Q. Who are the judges?
The judging panel is made up of members of the Black Advisory Hub Steering Group as well as students, including winners of the previous essay prizes.
Q. Who will read the winning essay?
We hope to publish the essay on the Black Advisory Hub's website, as it will be of great interest to other people across the collegiate University. But the publication and dissemination will only happen with full consent of the author, and access will be restricted behind a password protected firewall using CSRIDs.
Q. Will there be a prize-giving ceremony?
Yes! We plan to hold a prize-giving ceremony in October 2025, chaired by student members of the Black Advisory Hub and launched by Sonita Alleyn, Master of Jesus, and Professor Bhaskar Vira, Pro Vice Chancellor of Education. It will be held in person at Trinity Hall College, Cambridge.
Q. Who were George Bridgetower and Alexander Crummell?
Recent research concludes that Alexander Crummell was the first Black individual to fully matriculate, study with residence and graduate from Cambridge.
‘From 1849 to 1853, the abolitionist and pan-Africanist Alexander Crummell studied at Queens’ College, Cambridge. His graduation ceremony was an historic occasion for Cambridge, as Crummell is the first recorded Black graduate of the University*. At the ceremony, an individual from the gallery reportedly called out, “Three groans for the Queens’ n*****” … A pale slim undergraduate … shouted in a voice which re-echoed through the building, “Shame, shame! Three groans for you, Sir!” and immediately afterwards, “Three cheers for Crummell!” This was taken up in all directions … and the original offender had to stoop down to hide himself from the storm of groans and hisses that broke out all around him.’
(Source: C. Benson, 1891, Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge, The Life of Edward White Benson, vol. 1 , p. 109.)
However, the records do show that George Bridgetower (or sometimes Bridgtower) received a BMus in 1811 and can indeed be considered a graduate by the definitions of the time. The requirements for a Bachelor of Music were quite unlike those for other Bachelor’s degrees, as follows:
He must enter his name in some College. His exercise is a solemn piece of Music of his own composing (to be examined by the Professor before the performance) to be performed at the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor before the University. It is usually performed at St Mary's Church on the Commencement Sunday.
The Trinity Hall alumnus has a room in the College named after George Bridgetower, where we held the Prizegiving Ceremony in October 2024.