Last all-female college to admit men
Oxford's last all-female college has started on the path to opening its doors to male undergraduates and fellows after a vote by its student body showed 55% of the college's junior members were in favour of allowing men to study there, and 77% in favour of having male fellows, the major issue being obtaining funding for women-only lectureships. St Hilda's students are commonly (and somewhat affectionately) referred to as Hildabeasts, though the College gained its initial reputation from its stern Victorian beginnings. It remains Oxford's last female-only College, founded in 1893 by Dorothea Beale, the Victorian advocate of women's education, has enjoyed a unique status in the University since 1992, when Somerville College began to admit men. In comparison, Oriel College, the last male-only college, opened its doors to women in 1984.
However, the College's principal, Lady Judith English, said that the vote would not mean the College immediately changed its admissions status. "The outcome is important but will not in itself determine the future of the college. Only the members of the governing body who are the trustees of the college can vote to change the statutes to admit men, and no date has been set for such a vote." In 2003, when the governing body last voted on the issue, the motion failed.
Famous alumnae of the College include the broadcaster Zeinab Badawi who worked alongside Jon Snow on Channel 4 News for nearly a decade, the poet Wendy Cope, the scientist Susan Greenfield, and former Conversative MP Gillian , Shephard. In Oxford's student newspaper, Zeinab Badawi commented, "In the end I suspect St Hilda's will have to bow down to the inevitable and I think all in all that it is the right decision. Society is after all mixed and university life should reflect that." However, she praised the College's past, and how it had held on to its unique status, calling it "a unique bastion of feminism".
