Kate Kennedy Fellowship announced

In the early hours of this (Tuesday) morning, the Kate Kennedy Fellowship was officially created. This new society is set to replace the exclusive Kate Kennedy Club (KK) and will […]

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In the early hours of this (Tuesday) morning, the Kate Kennedy Fellowship was officially created. This new society is set to replace the exclusive Kate Kennedy Club (KK) and will be open to all students at St Andrews, regardless of their sex. For a play-by-play account of last night’s events and for live updates from today, click here.

Two ‘rebel’ members of the Club, Pat Mathewson and Sunny Moodie, put forward a motion on Monday evening to admit female members to the KK. Mathewson and Moodie were immediately chucked out –  the only way a KK boy can give up his membership is by proposing this motion. This has enabled them, along with their previously-obtained backing from the Students’ Association and the University, to found a new organisation: the Kate Kennedy Fellowship. At 9am this morning, the old KK Club put out a statement that made it clear that what had happened was a fait accompli and that they hoped “that the University will not attempt to prevent us from putting on [the] special events that the townsfolk and students have enjoyed for over eighty-five years.”

 

 

The newly formed KK Fellowship will officially take on the founding principles of the old KK – to maintain the traditions of the University and town of St Andrews, uphold the relations between the two, and raise money for local charities. In the University’s eyes, they are now the sole guardians of the Kate Kennedy traditions. The activities now under their jurisdiction include the Opening Ball, May Ball (Mathewson is this year’s ball convenor), and the Kate Kennedy Procession.

Mathewson and Moodie’s proposal to open the club to women (and their subsequent expulsion) triggered an automatic emergency meeting of the KK (which was still in session at 3am). In this meeting, the two spoke passionately in favour of the club reforming itself (see the Bubble TV coverage above).

The Kate Kennedy Club was founded in 1926 as an exclusively male club whose primary goal was to revive the Kate Kennedy Procession, a tradition that had begun in the early 15th century as a manifestation of a pagan practice, only to be banished in 1881.  Over the years, with the socio-political developments of the 20th and 21st centuries, the KK has come under increasing scrutiny for its refusal to admit women.

In February 2009, St Andrews Principal, Prof. Louise Richardson, began her tenure and within a month had withdrawn the KK’s official University recognition. She stated at the time that, “The official endorsement of any club or society which excludes people because of their gender or race would be completely at odds with the values of this University.” Consequently, the KK Club lost financial support from the University for their annual Procession along with the use of any University facilities. Since then, the club has garnered much negative attention for being one of the most prominent gender-exclusive clubs in the country (even old Alex Salmond has had words).

At the time, Principal Richardson spoke of her hopes for the future. “I look forward to the day when membership of the Kate Kennedy Club is open to every student of St Andrews, at which point the University will be delighted to treat the Kate Kennedy Club in the same way as all other clubs and societies.”

It seems that day has come. In a press release sent out by the Director of Student Representation, Sam Fowles states that membership of the KK Fellowship is automatically extended to all students at St Andrews, regardless of their sex. All students at the University will be members of the new KK Fellowship, unless they opt out.

Over the next few weeks, a group of ‘Fellows’ will be selected to form the active body of the KK Fellowship, in charge of running and organising its activities. The current heads of the KK Fellowship, Mathewson and Moodie, have said they will step down to make way for a new, elected president of the Fellowship. The KK Fellowship has offered a grace period during which old KK Club members are offered fellowships.

More information about the Fellowship to be announced this Monday at 7pm in Lower College Hall. To see the full statement released by the KK Club, click here

When asked to comment on this latest blow to the Kate Kennedy Club, Stand columnist Jamie Ross said, “I’d like to comment, but I’m afraid they know enough people to have me killed without a trace.”

 

Some might say that the dissolution of a traditional charity-based club founded on ancient values marks the end of an era. Others believe that it is about time the misogynistic backward-thinking group entered the 21st Century. What do you think? 

Photos © www.katekennedyclub.org.uk; Henrik Hanneman

Video © Bubble TV