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Nearly eighteen months after the first Selden College update arrived in my inbox, laying out the founding principles of the college, and its goal in education, I decided to accept an offer of a place to study at Selden, becoming part of its inaugural class. Eighteen months ago, Selden was an idea, represented by a single webpage, with no facilities, no faculty, and no students. The question therefore arises: what does Selden have going for it that I decided to accept the offer a startup university in Oxford made to me, rejecting an offer from Oxford’s slightly more famous university?
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Many Christians today can see that there is a problem with Higher Education in the UK. There is a sense of unease at the rebellion of many students as the newly legal adults lean into drinking and partying. There is a dissatisfaction with the way in which subjects are taught, with an emphasis placed on subjectivity and a disregard for truth and beauty. But to be able to see the problem is not enough, and solves none of the issues. I found myself approaching the end of my formal education with nowhere to study, at least nowhere I thought would be worth the thousands of pounds I would be spending. There was a void, where there ought to have been a classical Christian university, in the UK. I didn’t want to attend a university that wasn’t Christian, that didn’t desire God’s glory, that didn’t believe in objective truth and beauty, because I was convinced it would be three years of fighting against a current, rather than flourishing in learning and virtue. Maybe, I thought, I’ll just have to skip a couple of years and try to scrounge some money so I can go study in America. Let’s hope I don’t get married and live there permanently, because it’ll probably mean I never get to see my family again.
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Enter Selden College. A college in this land, whose tagline is ‘Christian Higher Education to the Glory of God’. A college that prizes the pursuit of virtue alongside academic excellence. That believes in objective truth, goodness, and beauty. It was the answer to a prayer I hadn’t even had the faith to pray for, because I was so jaded with the educational scene in this land which has been barren for far too long. Selden College has a mission and vision for its students. It wants students who worship God, who grow in virtue, and who advance in learning. Long term, its mission is to equip generations of faithful Christian men and women to serve God faithfully in every aspect of their lives (be that family, work, church, or state). In order to accomplish that, it will incorporate daily worship into college life. It will have a rigorous and challenging curriculum, designed to give students the tools they need to become leaders, to be thoughtful and articulate. It’s not like an experiment either. This is how education was done for centuries. This is how it has been resurrected in places like New Saint Andrews College in America. It is indeed tried and tested over many generations.
Sometimes however, the information on a website can be a little too good to be true, like when you get an email from some rich widow who has decided that you are the one to whom she wants to bequeath her late husband’s fortune, if you’ll just send over your bank details, please. I attended the Selden College summer school in July 2024 with an open mind. It was going to have to be good to live up to the expectations set by the information I had available. Not only was it good, it was phenomenal. Each day began with morning worship, which set the tone for the day; glorious and joyful, the words of the Psalm we said each day still come to mind when I think of that week. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1). After that, Psalm singing led by the energetic Dr Erb, and a lecture on the vision and purpose of the College by Dr Edwards. After that, the prospective students had seminar sessions, in topics as wide ranging as John Owen (which included a guide to reading 17th century handwriting), the early church fathers, Old Testament law (and how it played out in British history), and Hebraic poetry (which has changed the way in which I read the Psalms). It was academically rich, provoking me to pick up and read other books, to research other avenues of interest. It made me want more; more worship, more psalm singing, more fellowship, more teaching.
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It would be impossible to speak of the summer school, without mentioning the real flavour, which came through most clearly in what Selden College is fast becoming known for. That is, Christian hospitality and rejoicing. We shared a total of six meals over the summer school and all those occasions were joyful feasts. Similarly, after I sat the entrance exam in December, I and the other applicants were invited to dinner with the founders of Selden College. I can’t imagine attending any other university and being welcomed into the homes of its professors. I can’t imagine getting to know my professors personally at any other university, and being able to learn from them as they demonstrate how the Christian life ought to be lived. I can’t imagine attending any other university, knowing that my professors care for my spiritual well-being. The reason I can’t imagine it, is because it is unheard of. It doesn’t happen.
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This is why I have chosen Selden College, and why it has garnered so much attention. In a sea of higher education options, it is unique in the rigour of its academics, its mentorship and care for its students, and the joyfulness of its Christian fellowship. Being a faithful Christian is simultaneously the most important, and also the hardest thing any of us will ever have to do. If they can better equip me for that (and I truly believe they can), if they can train me to be able to face whatever comes my way, whatever God calls me to in life, it will be worth it. If I can be just, skilful, and magnanimous in my personal life, with my family, in my work, in the Church, as an English girl living in the twenty-first century, it will be worth it. Come join me. Come and be a pioneer in the first ever class of this bold venture to rebuild what had been forgotten and lost in the ruins of Western civilisation. Who can tell how God will use it?

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