Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL) is a constituent college of the University of London. As of May 2006, the college had 7,700 enrolled students from 120 countries.
The college's campus is located at Egham, Surrey, just outside the boundary of Greater London. This was originally the campus of Royal Holloway College, an establishment founded by Victorian entrepreneur Thomas Holloway as a women-only college in 1879. Royal Holloway College became part of the University of London in 1900, and men were first admitted in 1945 (postgraduates) and 1965 (undergraduates). In 1985, Royal Holloway College merged with Bedford College (another formerly all-women's college in London which was founded in 1849 and, just like Royal Holloway College, joined the University of London in 1900 and became fully co-educational in 1965). The merged college was named Royal Holloway and Bedford New College (RHBNC). This remains the official registered name of the college, though the name was changed for day-to-day use to "Royal Holloway, University of London" by the College Council in 1992.

Campus
Royal Holloway is recognised as one of the UK's leading teaching and research institutions, ranking among the top 10 elite research-led UK universities (in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise). All the Royal Holloway academic departments earned the top three ratings for research, with scores of 4, 5 and 5* in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise.
The Top Universities 2007 Guide published by The Times newspaper (5 June 2006) ranked Royal Holloway 12th in a table of 109 institutions surveyed around the UK. The table places Royal Holloway 4th in the University of London, after Imperial College London, LSE and University College London, accelerating it above King's College London this year.
The School of Management has all three of its MBA programmes accredited by AMBA. The departments of History, Geography, Psychology, Music, Drama, and Media Arts also have strong reputations, as do several of the European Language departments. In 1998 the college was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize in recognition of the work of the Information Security Group. The College moved into a new area in August 2004, with the foundation of the Department of Politics and International Relations.
Royal Holloway also came 5th in a league table of UK universities in the 2005 'National Survey of Student Satisfaction' (BBC survey).

Study Abroad programme
The Royal Holloway Students' Union (SURHUL) provides entertainment and pastoral services for the student body. This includes providing the on-campus entertainment and social venues through to organising and sponsoring the sport clubs and special-interest societies, and providing advice and counselling to students.
Like most students' unions in the United Kingdom, SURHUL is run entirely by the student body itself, headed by a team of elected student officers, including four paid sabbatical officers. In keeping with democratic practice, the elected officers' executive power is held in check by the legislative power of General Meetings. General Meetings take place every month during term time, however following a motion passed in March 2007, the political structure of the students' union will change to a council-run system with only one General Meeting per year. This is in response to low turn-outs at General Meetings.
With little nearby off-campus activity, there is a great emphasis placed on providing entertainment for the students. As such on-campus entertainment and social life revolves around three student-run campus bars (Medicine, The Stumble Inn and Tommy's), with a fourth (Crosslands) run by the College. The main SURHUL building has a large function hall which hosts a wide variety of entertainment events three to four nights a week (plus functions on the other nights in Tommy's and Medicine) during term time. Every three weeks the Union publishes its Communicate Card which outlines the forthcoming social events. At least one event runs each night, from a fancy dress night in the main hall, through to the weekly pub quiz in the Stumble Inn. The Union operates a strict security system and also provides a bus service which, for a small fee, ferries students back to off-campus accommodation in an effort to ensure student safety.
Towards the end of the academic year the Union organises the Summer Ball, the annual highlight of the social calendar. In recent years the RHUL Summer Ball has booked many high-profile talents, including well-known rock, pop and DJ acts such as Lemar, Jamiroquai, Brandon Block, Lisa Maffia, Rolf Harris, Steps, Republica, Wheatus and Atomic Kitten, and comedians such as Ali G. 2006 saw Rachel Stevens and the Bodyrockers headlining. The ball takes place at the end of the examination period, and is held in the quads of the Founder's Building. The ball includes fairground attractions and themed bars.
There are numerous societies run through the Union, spanning culture, religion and differing academic and artistic pursuits. Through the World Cinema Society, free screenings of movies from around the world in many different languages are available on campus during term time. Societies include the James Bond Appreciation Society, the Comedy society (which hosts stand up evenings throughout term time), the Institute for Impure Science (IFIS) the Science Fiction and Fantasy society, the longest running society, and Anime & Manga, which won society of the year for 2004/05. The Union also maintains a number of successful sports club, catering to sports as diverse as rowing and ultimate. The 2006/07 "Sports Club of the Year" award went to the Ski & Snowboard team, although many of the sports teams enjoyed a high level of success in the 2006/07 season.

Students' Union
Royal Holloway also has its own RAG (Raise And Give), a fundraising society. RAG Week raises thousands of pounds each year and usually consists of a themed night in the Union where the rugby men strip on stage while being led by the dance society, a RAG pantomime, nights in the bars and various stunts around campus. In the past, Founders building has been put up for sale, RAG Rabbit has run amok and the infamous RAG MAG and RAG Calendar are popular on campus.

RAG

Media
Within the local area around Egham, SURHUL is known for its award-winning student radio station, Insanity. Established in 1997, Insanity broadcasts all-year round, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is available locally over 1287 AM and worldwide over the internet at www.insanityradio.com. Insanity was named the UK's second-best student radio station in the Student Radio Association's Student Radio Awards in 2004 and 2005.

Insanity radio
Published by the Students' Union, up to 14 times per academic year under the new format, The Orbital is the official student publication of Royal Holloway, University of London. It contains a wide range of subjects covering culture, current affairs, entertainment, student life and general interests.
The Orbital was awarded Best Student Magazine at the National Press Association/NUS National Student Journalism Awards 2006. Judges from the media industry commented on the magazine's standards, describing it as "gritty, witty, relevant and coherent, packaged with good design and strong front covers." The magazine was also nominated in two other categories: Best Student Critic (Laura Beattie) and Best Student Photographer (Patrick Camara Ropeta).

The Orbital magazine
The Founder is the College's independent student newspaper. Founded in 2006, 4,000 copies are printed and distributed to students for free on a weekly basis. Advertising revenue acquired by the students on the editorial board pays for the printing costs of the paper meaning that editorial and financial responsibility is entirely that of students. The newspaper's website can be found at www.thefounder.co.uk.

The Founder newspaper
The Founder's Building has been the centre of some media attention. The 2006 movie Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction was partly filmed in the Founder's Building during the summer of 2005. The character Sophie Neveu in the best-selling book The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown studied cryptography in the (real) Information Security Group at Royal Holloway. This book has now been made into a film starring Tom Hanks. The Oscar winning movie Howards End had some scenes shot inside one of the courtyards with the statue of Queen Victoria visible. [2] Founder's was also used as a university during the filming of MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis starring Richard Dean Anderson and Brian Blessed back in the summer of 1993. The Antiques Roadshow for the BBC has also filmed inside the Quads of the Founder's Building. In 2002 an episode of Midsomer Murders, (Season 5 Episode 4 'Murder on St. Malley's Day'), was partly shot inside the Quads of the founders building.

In popular culture
The Royal Holloway shield was created following the merger of Bedford and Royal Holloway Colleges in 1985. The chequer design was taken from the Bedford College coat of arms, whilst the ermine spots (feather-like symbols representing ermine tails) are from Royal Holloway. The lozenge shape in the chequered pattern is a traditional heraldic symbol for women. The three crescents are taken from Thomas Holloway's own coat of arms, as can be seen on the statue in the South quad of the college.

Coat of arms

Tahmima Anam
Dean Ayass
Norman Baker
Gregory Barker
David Bellamy
Susan Bullock
Ivy Compton-Burnett
Richmal Crompton
Emily Davison
Leilani Dowding
Edith Durham
George Eliot
Janet Fookes
Emma Freud
Conor Hanratty
Kathleen Lonsdale
Dame Felicity Lott CBE
Roxanne McKee
Jojo Moyes
Dame Rosemary Murray
Jeremy Northam
Simon Nye
Andrew Poppy
Frances Stevenson
Mark Strong
Joby Talbot
KT Tunstall
André Walker
Francis Wheen
Roger Wright (BBC controller) Fictional alumna

Bedford College
Elizabeth Jesser Reid – founder of Bedford College
Thomas Holloway – founder of Royal Holloway College
William Henry Crossland – architect of the Founder's Building