{"id":69,"date":"2017-10-12T15:22:31","date_gmt":"2017-10-12T15:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/?p=69"},"modified":"2017-11-22T11:44:53","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T11:44:53","slug":"john-hadfield-a-personal-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2017\/10\/12\/john-hadfield-a-personal-reflection\/","title":{"rendered":"JOHN HADFIELD – A PERSONAL REFLECTION"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Ronnie Rowlands.<\/span><\/p>\n

The news of the death of John Hadfield on September 1st came as a great shock. John had been a regular fixture of the university\u2019s decision-making bodies for a number of years, culminating in his service as Deputy Pro-Chancellor of the University.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was never an especially public figure within the university, but anybody who has held a senior post or served on our highest decision-making bodies will remember John as a gravelly, no-nonsense northerner, whose occasional involvement in unpopular institutional decisions was offset by a common touch that radiated personal conviction in what he was doing.<\/span><\/p>\n

John was particularly popular among Students\u2019 Union officers. His oft stated philosophy was that, at the heart of everything, ‘it\u2019s about the students. Always \u2018as been, always will be.’ It was only ill health that led to his resignation from LUSU\u2019s trustee board, his final post within the university. From 2014 to 2015, I served as a full-time officer of the Students\u2019 Union, \u00a0and will always remember when John openly sided with the students when the University Council voted to increase rents and postgraduate tuition fees.<\/span><\/p>\n

At one meeting, I directed an uninterrupted ten minute tirade over the matter at the then University Secretary Fiona Aiken. At the end of it, she turned to John and said, ‘I\u2019m sure, John, that as a representative of Council you\u2019ll be happy to explain their rationale in taking this decision?’ Arms folded, and barely concealing his complete support for the student body\u2019s dissent, he shook his head; ‘Nope. I won\u2019t.’ The University Secretary was taken aback. It was a rare instance of disunity among the top table, and an action by which I shall always favourably judge John Hadfield.<\/span><\/p>\n

This continued to the 2015 meeting of the University Court, chaired by John, which famously marked a rare instance of a Students\u2019 Union motion being carried by the meeting. The room moved in our favour after a rambling, inarticulate and ill-advised interjection against the motion by a lay member of the Court. After the meeting, while the Vice-Chancellor and others seethed, John joined me and my colleagues for a cigarette. ‘Wharra\u2019n absolute plonker – \u2018e won you the debate the second \u2018e opened his gob. Nice one!’<\/span><\/p>\n

—<\/span><\/p>\n

The subtext collective welcomes letters from anybody wishing to share their memories of John Hadfield.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Ronnie Rowlands. The news of the death of John Hadfield on September 1st came as a great shock. John had been a regular fixture of the university\u2019s decision-making bodies for a number of years, culminating in his service … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":568,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[121,19,20],"class_list":["post-69","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-obituary","tag-issue-166","tag-john-hadfield","tag-lusu"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p99sHo-17","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":104,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2017\/10\/12\/subtext-166-editorial\/","url_meta":{"origin":69,"position":0},"title":"subtext 166 – ‘building a subtext that works \u00a0or everyon ‘","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"October 12 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Fortnightly during term time. Letters, contributions, & comments: subtext-editors@lancaster.ac.uk In this issue: editorial, technology, special report: gary neville, iLancaster, centralisation, buildings 1, court in a trap, court again, the times, nazis, buses, printers, swoosh, inkytext, inkytext 2, buildings 2, buildings 3, John Hadfield, shart attack, theatre review, letters. ***************************************************** EDITORIAL\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "editorial"","block_context":{"text":"editorial","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/editorial\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":115,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2017\/10\/26\/letters-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":69,"position":1},"title":"LETTERS","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"October 26 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear subtext, Perhaps subtext can afford to be generous in its lineages, and permit of two Inkytext successors? 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This would mean the station going online-only from the end of August 2019, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "contributed article"","block_context":{"text":"contributed article","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/contributed-article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2017\/10\/12\/to-court-your-favour\/","url_meta":{"origin":69,"position":5},"title":"TO COURT YOUR FAVOUR","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"October 12 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though the University Court is the single largest meeting of the University, readers may still be confused as to why subtext would make such a big deal over the closure of what is often seen as just a ceremonial gathering. 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