SU President Rich Croker
As I approach the end of my year as President a lot of people have asked me what my plans are for my future. The truth is, I don’t know; after 11 years of being determined to do Law I’ve now decided it isn’t for me; the chances are I’ll be here again next year for an Masters course. Some will say “move on, you’ve got to leave some time”… “you can’t be the eternal student”… and more often than not – “why don’t you go somewhere else?”. The very reason why I would rather be here than somewhere else can be summed up entirely by the Roses Weekend…
The truth is York is a wonderful place to be. No matter how much we dislike the University at times, or get annoyed at something that is happening - to quote my predecessor Micky Armstrong; “compared to Lancaster we will always be better – we are the University of York”.
That people put themselves and their bodies on the line by training every hour available and forgetting revision, all in the name of the ‘White Rose’, is something quite phenomenal and perhaps not something you see at all other universities.
It would be easy to mention the winning Roses’ teams but in truth the Men’s Rugby 1st XV exemplified this determination and commitment to the very core. They gave everything they had on Sunday. There was something eerie about the applause that rang out around the pitch side on 22 acres at the end; a silent respect and sympathy for a team who had given everything; for who being able to hold their heads up high just wasn’t good enough; they wanted to win, they wanted to beat Lancaster.
Unlike a lot of universities, I truly believe that York makes people feel like they belong in a kind of community, and if any proof is needed to indicate this, you only need to see the number of ‘old’ boys and girls who return here. Sadly, for most of them their time here goes too quickly, loving as they would to live forever in the York concrete jungle and step on goose crap just one last time.
All that’s left for me now is to congratulate Tom Moore and all the others who were involved in the 2007 Roses weekend. Whether it was through the blood, sweat and tears on the pitch, or the painstaking preparations that everyone put in, you all did York proud.
