Colleges of Durham University Colleges of Durham University The Colleges of Durham University are residential colleges which are the primary source of accommodation and support services for undergraduates and postgraduates at Durham University, as well as providing bursaries and scholarships to students. They also provide funding and/or accommodation for some of the research posts in the University. All students at the University are required to be members of one of the colleges. Durham University has 16 colleges, of which University College is the oldest, founded in 1832. The newest college is Josephine Butler, founded in 2006. The last single sex college, St Mary's, became
Ustinov College, Durham Since 1965, membership had increased to over 1500 and in 2003, the society was turned into a college and named in honour of the Chancellor of the University (1992–2004), Sir Peter Ustinov. The college's offices were moved from Old Elvet to the Howlands Farm site in September 2005. The college motto ("Diversitate Valemus") was coined later that year by Zu'bi Al-Zu'bi, President of the GCR. The Parson's Field site at the end of Old Elvet, which had been the heart of the community during its years as the Graduate Society, was handed over to St Cuthbert's Society in 2005 and