St Hilda’s vote to delay admitting men
St Hilda’s voted to accept men to the college in Trinity last year
St Hilda’s JCR have voted to postpone the admission of male students for four years. The motion, proposed by thirdyear PPEist Liz Chicken and passed on Monday of 3rd week, made it JCR policy to begin negotiations with the Governing Body arguing for a four-year waiting period before the college goes co-ed, with the possibility of compromising at three years.
Lady English, Principal of St Hilda’s, told The Oxford Student, “The decision about the date of admitting male students has not yet been made. We are in a period of consultation and discussion about the matter. Hilda’s Fellows voted in Trinity 2006 to accept men for the first time in the College’s 113-year history. Principal Lady English told the Oxford Student then that she envisaged a delay of two years until going co-ed.
The motion noted that, because the UCAS choices of the current first years had been made before the Governing Body had voted, the college “should honour the terms made in the prospectus to Freshers” and that “just because the above-mentioned Freshers are of a small number we should not ignore their wishes, and nor should College.” JCR President Olivia Bailey denied that it was an attempt to stall the admission of male students.
“The reasons for this decision are varied and range from purely logistical - we don’t want to have to rush the changes - to positions of principle - students who applied to a single sex institution should have a single sex institution for the rest of their degrees. “Students have all now moved forward from the debates last term and are keen to unite behind the college as it forges a new identity for itself.
It is not a question of forgetting about past opinions on the issue, but of treating the transition process as something very exciting in which students can have a real say into how the college develops.” The Governing body is due to vote on the timescale in 5th week. One student, Moushira El-Sahn, said that relations with the SCR had been good. “I set up the Facebook group ‘Going Mixed But Going When’ for students to contribute their views, and Lady English asked for feedback from that.
We discussed what the college should look like, and she attended the JCR meeting at which the resolution was passed. “She’s been very much willing to take our views on board. I suspect because she has now achieved her main objective of a mixed college.” Lady English had already promised to consult with students over the change. She said in Trinity, “If students wanted to become mixed sooner, it could happen next year.
El-Sahn suggested that attitudes in Hilda’s had softened towards co-educational status. “I was very pro-single sex, but we’re all accepting that change is going to happen. There’s no point being bitter about it. But most importantly Hilda’s needs to continue promoting women in academia, and I don’t think other colleges which have gone coed have achieved that.
St Hilda’s has the lowest proportion of first-preference applicants in Oxford, with just 25% of students selecting the college as their first choice. Equal opportunities legislation made the college ineligible for University funding for fellowships. An unmixed SCR would cost an estimated extra £400,000 a year by 2016.
2nd Nov 2006