St Benet’s will actually admit women now

After a vote next Thursday St Benet’s will pass a motion to admit women.

It is the last college to do so since Oxford started admitting women in 1879. Women will now be admitted to St Benet’s as of October 2016.

St Benet’s Hall is Oxford’s own mini-monastery, as it were. Founded in 1897, it was a college created specifically for monks to study for their degrees.

This recent change is a victory for Werner Jeanrond, master of the college, who has been pushing for the change since his appointment three years ago.

Speaking to Reuters, he said: “There’s absolutely no reason why we should have a male only education. I don’t think it’s a good thing for universities.”

He says the reason it took so long was because separate accommodation had to be built. Canon Law does not permit women to live in the same building as monks, and this was why St Benet’s traditionally only admitted men.

According to Jeanrond, the only resistance was from “a very tiny minority of students and alumni who felt nothing should ever change.”

There is a general consensus that this motion is a big step for the institution. OUSU VP, Anna Bradshaw, told Reuters: “This represents one of the final formal barriers to women becoming equal at Oxford University.”

Dominic Abbott, a first year at St Benet’s, told The Tab: “I think it is a great move, and an obvious one.

“It may also have a positive effect on the students in Benet’s, as well as the grades of the students. That seems to happen when all-male schools change, so I see no reason that would not continue at a university level.”

Despite the female majority in all other higher education institutes, Oxford still has a male majority in undergrads, postgrads, and teaching staff.

The change at Benet’s comes after Louise Richardson’s appointment as Oxford’s first female vice chancellor last week. She follows on from the 271 male holders of the position before her since 1214.

Richardson’s position and this recent motion at St Benet’s are big steps towards equal representation of women in Oxford.