Another year comes to an end, and it’s safe to say 2017 has been a fantastic year for Loughborough! The same goes for our social media, so here’s our best bits.

January

The year started with some royally exciting news as an amazing 22 Loughborough alumni and honorary graduates were named in the Queen’s New Year Honours. January also provided the spectacle of a frozen fountain on the Rigg-Rut lawn!

https://twitter.com/lborouniversity/status/817017931569725440

https://twitter.com/lborouniversity/status/824904529573408768

February

The month began with sporting success as seven Loughborough players were selected for the Women’s Six Nations. And love was in the air as nearly 100 alumni shared their stories of Love at Loughborough.

An incredible 7 Loughborough players star in @Womens6Nations incl current student @amycokayne https://t.co/PLdzZnDWc9 #WomensSixNations pic.twitter.com/qxbDVYyOyz

— Loughborough University (@lborouniversity) February 3, 2017

https://twitter.com/lborouniversity/status/832552679062794240

March

March brought the incredible news that we’d been named the WORLD’S BEST SPORTING UNIVERSITY! (We’re still a bit excited about that one, sorry) We also bagged the best student experience over the last decade, and our students proved to be lifesavers as we smashed the national record for stem cell donor sign ups in one day.

https://twitter.com/lborouniversity/status/839370246402240513

Loughborough has offered the best student experience in the UK over the last decade https://t.co/NCOh0UotXE #StudentExp17 pic.twitter.com/fxRRvV9kEH

— Loughborough University (@lborouniversity) March 23, 2017

https://twitter.com/lborouniversity/status/842376725396873217

April

Another month of awards, this time seven from Whatuni! We also shared an insight into the life of Olympic gold medalist Adam Peaty, and alumnus Ben Ryan received the amazing honour of being featured on Fijian currency.

https://twitter.com/lborouniversity/status/850269540969611264

 

May

A busy month for us as we hand-wrote over 5000 good luck cards to prospective Loughborough students, achieved 6th in the Guardian University Guide and broke 6000 BUCS points for the first time ever. The fourth was also with us, with some strange sightings from a galaxy far far away in Burleigh Woods.

There's some strange noises coming from Burleigh Woods today… #StarWarsDay #MayThe4thBeWithYou pic.twitter.com/iv92t4bcHm

— Loughborough University (@lborouniversity) May 4, 2017

https://twitter.com/lborouniversity/status/864386949439782912

June

A golden month for Loughborough as we received our TEF ranking and shared a sneak peak at our brand new STEMLab. But most importantly, a group of ducklings stopped traffic to cross the road, and it was adorable.

Very proud to share that we've been rated Gold in #TEF alongside five other elite universities! https://t.co/x9QId1szvl pic.twitter.com/vKNcSj8fGJ

— Loughborough University (@lborouniversity) June 22, 2017

July

July is one of our favourite months on campus, as we celebrate the hard work of our students at our summer graduation ceremonies. #LboroGrad2017 brought some incredible gardening and Strictly winner Ore Oduba to campus. Oh, and we won BUCS… again.

August

We answered the age old question “how is Usain Bolt that fast?!”, topped the rankings for student satisfaction and welcomed our newest members of the #LboroFamily.

Loughborough ranked top university in England for student satisfaction in the 2017 National Student Survey https://t.co/MSD7bKutua #NSS2017 pic.twitter.com/MOD0fgi7ND

— Loughborough University (@lborouniversity) August 9, 2017

September

September is always a busy month on campus and this year was no exception! We received our highest ever place in the Times Good University Guide, revealed a revamped Cognitos, hosted the School Games and welcomed our Freshers… phew. Our Gymnastics team also shared some incredible photos with us.

It was a pleasure to host this year's @_SchoolGames Finals on campus. What an amazing weekend of young sport! #2017SG pic.twitter.com/F0uDnYL66V

— Loughborough University (@lborouniversity) September 4, 2017

https://twitter.com/lborouniversity/status/911183314589028353

https://twitter.com/lborouniversity/status/907650013731356678

October

Another top 10 ranking for the University, the end of the world loomed (but turned out to be Saharan dust), and things got a bit spooky on the Rigg-Rut lawn.

https://twitter.com/lborouniversity/status/918091323533660160

Saharan dust & tropical air from #Ophelia has brought the #redsun to Loughborough! Captured with our iconic weathervane on campus earlier. pic.twitter.com/ovtkB7EjQA

— Loughborough University (@lborouniversity) October 16, 2017

https://twitter.com/lborouniversity/status/925079742096736260

November

The Geography department caused major wanderlust envy with #LboroOnTour, poppies adorned the fountain once more, International Day smashed it and we enjoyed some festive shenanigans as John Lewis released this year’s Christmas advert.

Visit the @LoughboroughSU International Day today? We have photos on Facebook: https://t.co/fI5ZPuMWjG pic.twitter.com/qXB1exT2xL

— Loughborough University (@lborouniversity) November 15, 2017

If Loughborough had designed #MozTheMonster @LboroSport #stash #LboroFamily pic.twitter.com/kEnziFi73M

— Loughborough University (@lborouniversity) November 10, 2017

December

And finally, the most wonderful time of the year arrived, and campus literally turned into a scene from a Christmas card – what’s more festive than that?!

Campus really does look gorgeous in the #snow.

Thanks to Tim.Minshull on IG for this photo. pic.twitter.com/kQDbAZzzoZ

— Loughborough University (@lborouniversity) December 10, 2017

It's a beautiful frozen morning on campus. Be careful as you go, as minor roads and walkways could be slippery. pic.twitter.com/pXIhGCrkKZ

— Loughborough University (@lborouniversity) December 12, 2017