A Short History of Newnham College, CambridgeGardner, Alice
History
A Short History of Newnham College, Cambridge
Gardner, Alice
Newnham College
True, Newnham never wished to discourage either students
of discursive mind and original ideas and plans, or those who--through
defective early education or delicate health--shrunk from a tripos
course. In fact, some students whose presence and work in the College
have proved eminently beneficial to themselves and to Newnham, have
preferred to take a mixed course of study. For the rank and file, it
is now supposed that the numerous triposes afford sufficient choice.
If, at the end of her second year, a student is judged to be unable to
proceed further on tripos lines, she is expected to go down, unless her
studies are judged to be sufficiently serious and profitable for giving
special leave to continue them. The equivalent of a pass degree is, as
already stated, and as set forth in No. 9 of the Graces, only awarded
to a student who has narrowly escaped failure. It may also be noticed
that a failure, for a woman, leaves no chance of a second trial.
The Graces gave a real and substantial benefit to women students
and--indirectly--to those who had been, informally, through a tripos
course at Newnham. These latter did not obtain University recognition
of any sort, but their names and tripos places were recorded in the
Girton and Newnham Calendars, and this served as evidence of their
standing to the educational world. When Trinity College, Dublin, for a
few years (as will be hereafter related) granted an _ad eundem_ B.A.
or M.A. to Oxford and Cambridge women who had taken final honours
examinations, those who had done so previous to the Graces (as will be
hereafter noticed)[7] were admitted with the others. For some reason,
those who many years later drew up the Representation of the People Act
of 1918 felt obliged to draw the line more strictly and to limit the
vote to those women who had obtained the equivalent of a degree since
1881.
[Footnote 7: See page 110 seq.]
There were no heart-burnings caused by the comparatively narrow
range of the privileges given by the Graces, partly because it was
always felt that more would come quietly as time and occasion should
dictate. The resident staff, as such, obtained no recognition. No
woman could sit on a board of studies, nor lecture formally in an
academic building. Privately, the opinion of Newnham lecturers was
sometimes asked on a question as to curricula, and women of distinction
occasionally lectured and sometimes drew large audiences, while--in
course of time--some undergraduates were advised by their tutors to seek
admission to the lectures of a Newnham specialist. For some years there
was no ground for formal extensions of privilege. And it was believed,
and was to be proved again afterwards, that in the situation in which
Newnham found itself, it was unwise to demand privileges that were not
almost certain to be granted.
[Illustration: MISS ANNE J. CLOUGH.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account