35. Admission of Women to Degrees in the University of Trinity College, Dublin.

Resolution passed by the Senate, June 9th, 1903 :

"That it is desirable that Degrees in the University of Trinity College, Dublin, shall be opened to Women, and that His Majesty's Government be requested to obtain a King's Letter empowering the University to grant Degrees to Women on such terms and conditions as may seem to the Board and Council, within their respective provinces, on full consideration, to be most expedient."

ROYAL LETTERS PATENT received January 16th, 1904 :

EDWARD THE SEVENTH, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting.

Whereas, We are informed by the Provost and Senior Fellows of Our College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin that the Senate of the University of Dublin have by a large majority prayed that the Degrees of the said University may be conferred upon Women, subject to the regulations and restrictions which the Provost and Senior Fellows of the College and the Senate of the University may hereafter agree to impose.

And whereas, when the Statutes were framed, there being no desire on the part of women to proceed to such Degrees, the wording of the Statutes did not explicitly include or exclude them.

And whereas, nevertheless, the Provost and Senior Fellows of the said College are advised that there are doubts whether the Charter and Statutes of the College can be so interpreted as to permit the conferring of Degrees on women, the words "Studiosi” and "Studentes" having hitherto and by long practice been interpreted to mean men only and not women.

And whereas they are, nevertheless, desirous to give effect to the resolution of the Senate, and to admit women to Degrees under the regulations and restrictions aforementioned.

Know ye, therefore, that We of Our special grace, certain and mere motion, with and by the advice and consent of Our Right Trusty and Right Well-beloved Cousin and Councillor William Humble, Earl of Dudley, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Lieutenant General and General Governor of that part of Our said United Kingdom called Ireland, do by these Presents authorize and empower the said Provost and Senior Fellows and their successors in office and the said Senate of the

University of Dublin and the Caput of the said Senate, and all the members thereof and all other persons or bodies whose concurrence is necessary for the granting of Degrees, to interpret the Statutes of the said College in such a manner that women may obtain Degrees in the said University, all previous laws, ordinances, and interpretations notwithstanding.

And We do hereby for Us, Our heirs and successors grant and declare that these Our Letters Patent, or the enrolment or exemplification thereof, shall be in all things good, firm, valid, and effectual in law, according to the true intent and meaning of the same, and shall be constructed in all Our Courts in the most favourable and beneficial sense and for the advantage of the said College, anything to the contrary notwithstanding.

Provided always that these Our Letters Present be enrolled in the Record and Writ Office of our High Court of Justice in Ireland, Chancery Division, within the space of six calendar months next ensuing the date of these presents.

In witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent.

Witness William Humble, Earl of Dudley, Our Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, at Dublin, the eighth day of December in the third year of Our reign.

Resolutions adopted by the Board on March 21, 1903, and modified on May 5, 1906:

1. Women shall be admissible to all Lectures, Examinations, and Degrees in Arts, and in the Medical School.

2. All prizes in Arts and the Medical School, except Fellowship and Scholarship, shall be open to women.

3. Non-foundation Scholarships shall be instituted for women, and obtained on conditions similar to those formerly holding good for such Scholarships.

4. The fees for women, both in Arts and in the Medical School, shall be the same as those for men.

5. For Medical Lectures, the Professors of the Medical School shall make such arrangements, subject to the approval of the Board, as they may think best for the instruction of women, either separately or in conjunction with men.

6. Women shall practise Dissections separately from men.

Resolution adopted by the Board and Council on May 29 and June 1, 1907 ;

"That Women shall be admissible to Lectures, Examinations, and Degrees in Law."

On June 11, 1904, the Senate passed a grace for giving Degrees to those women who have attained a certain (prescribed) status in the University of Oxford or Cambridge.

The Board adopted on June 4,1904, the following Resolutions regarding Women-Students:

A. PERMANENT ARRANGEMENTS.

Women-Students or Graduates of other Universities in which women are given full academic status, are entitled to every privilege granted to men of the same standing.

B.-TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS.

Students whose qualifications were obtained before the recent King's letter received June 16, 1904 (and who up to that date had not the right of commencing their Course in Trinity College), should be allowed further privileges, to be granted only for exercises performed not later than the close of the academic year 1903-1904 in their respective Universities. Any Student who, up to Michaelmas Term, 1907, desires to claim the privileges under this heading, must satisfy the Board that there has been no unreasonable delay on her part.

The further privileges are as follows:

:

§ 1. Those who have obtained a First Class among the Senior Candidates at the Trinity College Examinations for Wor omen will be granted the Final Freshman Examination, and their standing will date from the commencement of the Junior Sophister year, thus exempting them from the Entrance Fee and three half-yearly payments.

§ 2. Those who have obtained a Second Class among the Senior Candidates will be granted one Junior Freshman Examination, and their standing will date from before the October Examination of the Junior Freshman year, thus exempting them from the Entrance Fee and one half-yearly payment.

§ 3. The other Senior Candidates, and the Junior Candidates placed in the First and Second Class, will be granted the Entrance Examination, but without exemption from Fees, except that the Fee already paid for the Women's Examination will be credited in reduction of the College Entrance Fee. This will apply also to those Candidates who have passed the Entrance Examination under the regulations in force since 1901.

§ 4. Those who, in the academic year 1903-1904, were attending in Arts only, in any Chartered University (other than Oxford or Cambridge), will if, they have passed the First Arts Examination of their University, have the privileges stated in § 2; and will, if they have passed the Second Arts Examination, have the privileges stated in § 1.

§ 5. In the case of those who were, in the academic year 1903-1904, Students in Medicine as well as in Arts in any University referred to in § 4, the precedents already established by the Board in regard to Students of the Royal University

shall obtain.

§ 6. Those who have graduated in the years 1894–1904, inclusive, in any University referred to in § 4, will have the privileges stated in § 1.

§ 7. Those educated in Oxford or Cambridge will be treated (up to Michaelmas Term, 1907) as if they had been admitted to the academic status in these Universities corresponding to their educational exercises.

Resolution of the Board on July 2, 1904 :

Each of the following is regarded as qualifying Female Students in Oxford for Degrees in Dublin University:

1. The Diploma awarded by the Association for promoting the Education of Women in Oxford to Students who have resided for twelve Terms as Students of the Association, and passed a specified Course of Examinations, taking Honors in part of the Course. These Students must have entered their names on the Register of Students qualifying for it, have kept their residence after the date of entry, and passed the Examinations of the B.A. Course, in the order and under the conditions as to standing prescribed for members of the University.

2. The Certificate awarded to those Students who have resided for twelve Terms, at Oxford and passed all the Examinations for the Pass Degree Course, in the order and under the conditions as to standing prescribed for members of the University.

Fees for those who have taken the Degree Course at Oxford and Cambridge: B.A., £10 3s.; M.A., £9 16s. 6d.; to be sent to the Junior Bursar, Trinity College, with evidence of qualification and certificates of residence (twelve Terms at Oxford or nine Terms at Cambridge) and of present character, at least one week before the date of the Commencements which the candidate proposes to attend.

REGULATIONS WHICH WOMEN STUDENTS OF TRINITY COLLEGE

ARE EXPECTED TO OBSERVE.

(Formulated in Hilary Term, 1905.)

As Women Students are now equally admissible with Men Students to Lectures and Examinations, and to the privilege of reading in the Library, they are equally subject to the College Discipline and Statutes; and in particular, they are expected to observe the following regulations:

1. Except when entering or leaving College, they shall wear their College Caps and Gowns in the College Squares and Parks, unless accompanied by a chaperon. They will not be expected

to remove their Caps in saluting the Provost and Fellows, nor required to do so during Lectures.

2. Ladies (undergraduates and others) shall not visit at private rooms in College unless accompanied by a chaperon, except with the Provost's sanction in exceptional circumstances.

3. Those desiring private tuition in College will notify the Lady Registrar, who will arrange for it in rooms to be sanctioned by the Provost.

4. Ladies' Rooms have been set apart in No. 5, Trinity College, for the use of Women Students in connexion with Lectures and Examinations. Their Examination Marks will be posted up in these rooms, which will be closed at 6 o'clock, P.M.

5. Women Students shall not attend Lectures, unless resident either with their family in town, or in a Hall or lodgings approved by the College authorities. They should communicate with the Lady Registrar at least one week before the commencement of Lectures.

6. All general information as to Lectures, Examinations, and the Special Regulations for Women Students may be obtained from the Lady Registrar as well as from the Tutors.

7. The Lady Registrar will be responsible to the College for the due carrying out of the Regulations, and she will act generally as adviser to the Women Students.

Miss Lucy Gwynn was appointed Lady Registrar on Feb. 4, 1905.

A number of Studentships, Scholarships, Exhibitions, Prizes, Honors, and Sizarships, are awarded each year to deserving Students, both in the Arts Course and in the Professional Schools. A summary of these is given further on; see under " Summary." It is a condition precedent to the award of every Prize that sufficient merit must be shown.

Some of the Honors and Prizes specially connected with the regular Undergraduate Course are enumerated below. For further particulars concerning these and the other Prizes, see underHonor Courses,' 'Scholarships,' 'Moderatorships,' and 'Special Prizes.'

For Prizes obtainable in connexion with Entrance, see § 4.

Prizes obtainable at Lectures.

Premiums, of the value of £1 10s. in books are awarded each Term for proficiency in Classical Composition, on the recommendation of the Lecturer, to Freshman Students attending Honor Lectures in Classics, and keeping the Term.

The Professors of English Literature, of the Romance Languages, and of German, are each authorized to recommend for a Prize of the value of £2 in books, in Composition, the best Candidate among the Students attending his Class during the Term.