Hawks' Club

The Hawks' Club is a members-only social club for sportsmen at the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1872, the club represents the best sportsmen in the University of Cambridge. Membership is by election only, and the usual criterion is that the candidate should have his Blue – ie have taken part in the match or race against the University of Oxford in his particular sport. Many famous sporting names have been, or are, members – Rob Andrew, Mike Atherton, Chris Brasher, Ted Dexter, Gavin Hastings, Tony Lewis, and George Nash to name just a few.

Application for membership is open to any man who is either a member of any college at the University of Cambridge or who has been admitted ad eundem to the University. He must have spent at least one term in residence, and must have earned a Full Blue, Half Blue or Second Team Colours (in a full blue sport) by representing the University against Oxford in a Varsity match.

Prospective members are elected in the style of a traditional English gentlemen's club. A prospective applicant must be proposed, seconded and have six further members sign their application form. The proposer is normally the team captain for the relevant sport and the seconder must be a member of the Hawks' Committee. The application is then reviewed by the committee: two "no" votes will reject an applicant, and he may not be proposed again at a later date. Certainly in recent years this has been extremely rare: as long as a prospective applicant has the relevant sporting credentials he is almost always admitted.

Members are admitted for life. The number of Hawks-in-residence at the University is limited to 230, not including MAs; there are several thousand members worldwide.

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