‘6. That no female student shall be admitted to any part of any of the examinations of the University who is not recommended for admission by the authorities of the College, or other institution, under whose regulations she has resided.
‘7. That after each examination a class-list of the female students who have satisfied the examiners shall be published by the examiners at the same time with the class-list of members of the University, the standard for each class, and the method of arrangement in each class being the same in the two class lists.
‘8. That in each class of female students in which the names are arranged in order of merit, the place which each of such students would have occupied in the corresponding class of members of the University shall be indicated.
‘9. That the examiners for the Tripos shall be at liberty to state, if the case be so, that a female student who has failed to satisfy them, has in their opinion reached a standard equivalent to that required from members of the University for the ordinary B.A. degree.
‘10. That to each female student who has satisfied the examiners in a Tripos Examination, a certificate shall be given by the University stating the conditions under which she was admitted to the examinations of the University, the examinations in which she has satisfied the examiners, and the class and place in the class to which she has attained in each of such examinations.’
This was followed in 1882 by permission to pass the examinations for degrees in Music.
The Colleges and their students thus received formal acknowledgment from the University, and the status then conferred remains unchanged to this day. Two attempts have since been made to induce the University to carry its concessions to their logical issue, and confer degrees on women. That of 1887 came to an untimely end, as it was not even considered by a syndicate; the events of 1897 belong to recent history, and are too fresh to allow a proper estimate of their significance. The facts are these. In 1896 four memorials were presented to the Council, asking for the nomination of a syndicate ‘to consider on what conditions and with what restrictions, if any, women should be admitted to degrees in the University.’ The syndicate was appointed, and reported in favour of conferring ‘the title of the degree of Bachelor of Arts’ by diploma upon women, ‘who, in accordance with the now existing ordinances, shall hereafter satisfy the examiners in a final Tripos Examination, and shall have kept by residence nine terms at least; provided that the title so conferred shall not involve membership of the University.’ This seemed a very moderate proposal, since it only involved a formal acknowledgment of privileges already conferred, but somehow the University took fright. Perhaps it now for the first time realised what had already been done, and determined to allow no more concessions; perhaps an element of jealousy was beginning to play a part among the younger members who had appeared in the same class lists as the women, and not always in the highest places; certain it is that while the best weight and learning in Cambridge were in favour of the proposals, numbers were ranged on the other side; and the voting resulted in a majority of more than a thousand against the proposal. In estimating this result it is well to remember that the women’s colleges had met with far more rapid success than even their founders had anticipated. They had produced a Senior Wrangler and a Senior Classic, and a formidable list of first classes in these and other Triposes. It was no longer possible to put aside their achievements with the old contemptuous formula, ‘very good considering.’ The movement had succeeded beyond all hope or fear, and while its true friends remained staunch, many of the indifferent now ranged themselves among the open enemies. Events had moved too fast for the rearguard of public opinion to keep up with them. At any rate the refusal was decisive, and matters settled down once more to the status quo of 1881.
Anomalous as is their position, the students of Girton and Newnham have many and great advantages. For a comparatively low fee they receive all the advantages of a University education; they enjoy the manifold privileges that belong to residence in Cambridge, they may attend nearly all professorial and very many college lectures, their own colleges also provide excellent lecturing and coaching; and they may enter for any of the Tripos Examinations, and for those that lead to the degrees of Doc. and Bac. Mus. They have the advantage of life in beautiful buildings, with plentiful opportunities for recreation, exercise, and social intercourse, while the very fact of belonging to Girton or Newnham confers a certain prestige which is an advantage professionally and socially. However much we may desire the degree, and regret its indefinite postponement, it may yet safely be said that nowhere else can women obtain such advantages as at Cambridge. No anxiety need be felt about the future of the colleges. The success of their students, the influence their ‘graduates’ have had on the teaching profession, and the good work done by them in other fields, have amply justified the new departure. If success has come too quickly, public opinion may lag behind a few years longer. Meantime the work goes on.
At this period of their history it is no longer necessary to describe the colleges. Everybody who knows Cambridge is familiar with them. Both have increased greatly since their first beginnings. Girton has added fresh wings and a tower; changed its entrance and built a library which is full to overflowing. The trees have grown up around it and offer pleasant shade to summer tea-parties and afternoon loungers, the ‘woodland walk’ that encircles the grounds is gay at almost all seasons with pretty blossoms and flowering shrubs. Newnham has enlarged its first (Old) hall and built two new ones, called by names that will ever be held in honour, Clough and Sidgwick Halls. One library has been outgrown, and another—a generous gift—has been lately added; a road has been diverted allowing an addition to the grounds, and a fresh approach made under a tower gateway with beautiful iron gates presented by old students in memory of their first Principal. Girton has once more outgrown its accommodation, and is appealing for building funds. The colleges are growing both outwardly and in their aims. Not the least hopeful feature is the number of ‘graduate’ students who continue their studies in Cambridge or at one of the foreign universities, or devote to research or social problems that leisure and freedom from responsibility which women possess in a greater share than men. The founders have been abundantly justified in their resolve to establish no mere training-school for governesses, but to offer a wide and liberal education to all.
There are some differences in the arrangements of the two colleges. At Girton each student has two rooms, at Newnham one. The Girton fees are £105 per annum including coaching and examinations; at Newnham they are £75, but these items are not in all cases included. Girton supplies cabs for students who attend lectures in Cambridge; Newnham, being in the town, is within a walk. Both require every one who has not taken an equivalent, e.g. the higher certificate of the Joint Board, to pass an entrance examination. Both colleges award scholarships, though scarcely sufficient to meet the many demands from girls whose parents cannot afford the payment of full fees. Miss Welsh, one of the early Hitchin students, is now mistress of Girton; Newnham has a Vice-principal for each of the halls, and a Principal over the whole. In this post Mrs. H. Sidgwick succeeded Miss Clough, when the true foundress of Newnham died in 1892.