ST. HILDA'S HALL, OXFORD.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR. "J Sie,—The time has come to consider the claims of women from the Overseas Dominions to share in the life and work of the Universities at home. Cecil Rhodes threw open the door to men, and now that Oxford has taken the lead in abolishing sex disabilities it is time that the women of the Dominions should share in the advantages enjoyed by the Rhodes scholars. The visit of Her Majesty the Queen, and her acceptance of the honorary degree of D.C.L., has set the seal upon the position which is now taken by women at Oxford. It has been well said that this was a landmark in the history of British education. At this juncture St. Hilda's Hall—the only one of the Oxford women's colleges which is proposing to increase its accommoda- tion in the immediate future—has appealed to the Overseas Dominions for help in extending its buildings, and has offered to reserve a certain number of rooms for women from the Dominions, if enough help- can be given to it to make this possible. Such a step is significant; it is hardly necessary to point out the vast possibilities of friendship between the Dominions and the Mother Country which it opens out. The Hall is just arranging to purchase an excellent site and build- ing almost adjoining its present grounds. A little alteration would make it possible to offer accommodation to about one hundred women students, and it is the earnest wish or the Council that women from each of the Dominions should always be amongst the number, but the money has still to be raised. What is needed n9w is far-seeing generosity—first to provide accommodation and then to found a system of scholarships on the lines of the Rhodes scholarships for men. The lack of accommodation at Oxford makes it difficult to provide for any great influx of numbers at present; and the difficulty of gaining admission to the colleges makes it the more necessary that the demand from women in the Dominions should not be over- looked. We most earnestly appeal to all who value a good understanding between the nations of the Empire to support St. Hilda's Hall in the great work which it has taken up, and to see that a worthy provision is made for women from all parts of the Empire to come to its oldest University.—We
MILDRED BUXTON, MARGARET AMPTHILL,
On behalf of the Appeal Committee.
Previous page
