women at fitz A garden party in 1979
In March 1977 the decision was made to repeal Statute I.2 Even he was to be somewhat reconciled to the inevitable: ‘I was able to convince him of the error of his ways when a few years later I admitted his grand-daughter. He was delighted.’ Two years passed, with just one unproductive Special College Meeting. College statistics showed that there were fewer Firsts than the University average, and the proportion of graduate students was below average. The College was stagnating in a changing world. In May 1976, financial implications were considered, together with a new topic: landladies would be reluctant to take women, as they would cause trouble in their kitchens. It was minuted that ‘the hope was expressed that a gradual movement over what would probably be the best part of ten years might lessen the impact’ of co-residence – a recipe for the most pain and the least gain!
A further meeting rejected a proposal for an enabling statute. However, the topic was opening up, and in January 1977 the fundamentals were addressed: Fitzwilliam was very short of first-choice applicants (even shorter of high-quality ones) and was using the intercollegiate Pool for about a quarter of its admissions, about five times the University average. Mixed colleges were receiving more applications per place than single-sex colleges, and Fitzwilliam was amongst the worst of the single-sex colleges. The academic arguments were overwhelming, and in March 1977 the decision was made to repeal Statute I.2. The revised Statutes were approved by Her Majesty in Council, on 7 February 1978. In spring 1979, the first women Fellows were elected: Dr Elisabeth Marseglia (PostDoctoral Research Associate in Physics) and Dr Sathiamalar Thirunavukkarasu (University Lecturer in Pathology).
In October 1979, 39 women students (two of whom were graduates) were admitted. Liz Makin (Economics 1979) recalled: ‘the majority were very strong willed and able to stand up for themselves, so I think that must have been one of the main selection criteria. This was a good thing as we received lots of attention from the men, whether this was being watched, being heckled or being chatted up. We were never short of party invites, or men to fix our punctures either! Students now probably think it must have been very strange being part of the first year of women at Fitzwilliam, but we didn’t know any different. I had a brilliant three years, and being part of the first intake of women just made it more special.’ This text is an extract from the book Fitzwilliam: The 150 Years of a Cambridge College by Dr John Cleaver (ed.) available to purchase from the Development Office (development@fitz.cam. ac.uk or ++44 (0)1223 332015) £40 plus p&p
Share your stories Help us mark this special anniversary by sharing your fondest memories of co-education at Fitzwilliam, to be published on the College website in 2019. Send us your stories and/or photos via our online form (www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/memories) or by post (Communications Office, Fitzwilliam College, Storey’s Way, Cambridge CB3 0DG). We look forward to hearing from you! P16 FITZWILLIAM COLLEGE NEWSLETTER