Van Mildert Professor of Divinity Van Mildert Professor of Divinity The Van Mildert Professor of Divinity is one of the oldest chairs at Durham University. The chair is named in honour of Bishop William Van Mildert, one of the founders of the university. The holder of the Van Mildert chair, which is jointly funded by the university and Durham Cathedral, is also a residentiary canon at the cathedral and member of its Chapter, thus one of the requirements of post holder is to be an Anglican priest or a minister in another church in communion with Church of England. The current Van Mildert Professor of
St Cuthbert's Society, Durham Formal. Although the Bailey colleges are generally considered to be more traditional, St Cuthbert's Society generally employs a more informal approach; for example, unlike the other Bailey colleges its students no longer wear gowns except for congregation. The original seventh-century pectoral cross of St. Cuthbert was discovered when his grave was opened in 1827, and is now preserved in the cathedral treasury. The motto, "gratia gratiam parit", appears in the Adagia of Erasmus, a collection of Greek and Latin adages, and can be loosely translated as ‘friendship begets friendship’ or ‘kindness begets kindness’. The full coat of arms includes an