UNIVERSITY DEGREES FOR WOMEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8584, 4 June 1891, Page 3

UNIVERSITY DEGREES FOR WOMEN.

UlllT l i I.VKJ4. X. X. *"• TO THE EDITOR. V V Sir,—When tho Senate of the University of New Zealand declared themselves unable to grant Miss Browning's request, it was suggested that a more direct way to the desired end - would , he found in an appeal to the University of Cambridge to open the B.A. degree of that University to properly-quahfaed women. The British nation has undoubtedly a right to a voice in the management of the

{ national Universities, •the ? right 'has > not jjA--h # been forfeited by members of that nation . who have made the voyage to New. Zealand. Like most institutions of long standing, the University of Cambridge is conservative and hard to move, no that the two great steps ' taken during the , last twenty years towards .; '; ; making it truly national were taken only in ] 1 obedience to a very ; decided - expression ©1 Mif!® - public opinion. After the question .had been v«v£«-'* taken up by the constituencies/ and petitions * had been poured • into the House of Com- ' mona, religious testa were abolished in 1871. >; In 1881, response to -a? memorial with P 8500 ; signatures, women were * granted •• the risrht to admission to the • honour examinations for degrees, j but not, bo it observed, f \ to the mere pass. As-yourl-readers' are ■, aware, _ Miss ledger, M. A., of Ponsonby, is promoting a memorial (a copy of which is given, below) |Jbuit the more successful the work, the : heavier ;it > becomes for one person - z'■ alone, and my object in writing is: to beg all " ' '-* who are interested not to: wait to be asked for their signatures, but to follow Lady Onslow's example, and give them at the first M ./V opportunity.either. at your office, or at one " i of the bookseller's shops where the' memo-'. < rial lies,v It would also be a great and much-,ft / $ . .appreciated help if sympathisers both ia» town and country, would send to Miss Edjer i for sheets to collect the signatures of such of their friends as agree with the object of tho * ■ memorial.— am, &c., ■ ; . . . L » Mary Steadmak A1D13.. June 2nd, 1891. " To the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.—The memorial -of the undersigned persons resident in New Zealand, and } interested in education,' showeth: That the >; i refusal .of -tho University of Cambridge td • l|fljg grant degrees to women who have fulfilled alt ?, the; conditions on which such degrees : are given to men, is an injustice, the evil' effects of which ; are felt not only in England; but - r %. perhaps even more seriously in the most dis- IfStgl - tant parts of the world. - That there is now i '■ ; resident -in New Zealand a lady, engaged in -. ', • , - teaching, who holds a certificate from the Vice-Chancellor ,of the University of Cam- ■ bridge of .haying passed the Moral Scienceaf <- • t Tripos. That, failing the possession of ah aetilal degree, this lady is disqualified for the . ' highest ' classification, of the New, Zealand tV. Educational j Department, and is thereby placed at ! great disadvantage as a teacher. ' That the Senate of the University of New Zealand profess themselves legally unable to' grant a degree in this or any similar case, on the ground that the title of Bachelor of Arte , Q has not been conferred by your Univei-sity*.' Ififp Your, memorialists therefore pray that,the, -ml Senate of the University of Cambridge, will remedy this grievance, by providing for the :V~ admission of properly, qualified women to the l degrees of that University.'' I ' *, ' . „