Sister Acts
Roehampton has always championed women, and its women have championed change. We celebrate five brilliant women who helped create the campus we have today.
Roehampton’s history is built on a foundation of women; women who are passionate about being women and women who love knowledge and teaching. What opened as four individual female teaching colleges have blossomed into a coeducational university that has ranked as the best modern university in London for three years in a row.
Keeping the faith
The sister colleges each had their own faiths established. Whitelands was Church of England, Southlands was Methodist, Digby Stewart Catholic and the youngest of the four, Frobel was secular. The community within the colleges was strong amongst the pupils and staff — bound by sport, education, war and femininity. Tensions did exist, especially between Frobel and Digby; from 1946, Digby and Frobel students lived next to one another but were separated by a great wall, ‘love thy neighbour’ was turned onto its head. “The nuns of Digby told their girls that the pupils on Frobel were heathens because they weren’t religious is any shape or form,” said Gilly King, History and Heritage advisor at Roehampton. “Sometimes I have old students back here, from the 1950s and 1960s and they’re shocked that they can walk between the two campuses. They always giggle,” said Gilly.
See also: Roehampton women graduates earn £2,6k more than men
From Roehampton’s beginning, women were change-makers — they led and shaped change in policy, in education and in politics. We celebrate 5 women who created change and show how our students are still making change happen today.
The first woman educator
Whitelands college opened its doors to Elizabeth Ransom in 1842 — the first woman offered the luxury to study further education in the U.K. Elizabeth was from a wealthy family and it’s rumoured that she became the principal of the Tender National Society School in Kent. Eleven women joined Whitelands alongside Elizabeth, an enormous victory for female equality 77 years before women were finally granted the vote. They joined in the hopes of gaining degrees, teaching jobs, as well as with excitement of developing new friendships and being prepped for marriage. Mrs Harris, Lady Superintendent wished to make the women of Whiltelands “patterns of female excellence”, with their powder blue dresses, proper etiquette and overtly feminine classes.
The social reformer and suffragette
The Edwardian era saw a wave of the New Woman movement, which was rooted in culture, particularly literature, and introduced the colleges to its first liberal women. The girls adored tutors who got involved with the suffragette movement and championed social reform. Sarah Walker was a key figure during the New Women years for Southlands. She, introduced courses, questioned ideologies and was the first female figure to have complete authority over Southlands college. In 1913, over 100 ex-students petitioned for Miss Walker to be appointed as the new Principal. Her liberal and revolutionary behaviour had a clear influence on the younger generation. Change was afoot but freedom still had parameters. The students day to day lives were closely regulated; they had to be in their rooms by 10pm and their whereabouts was clarified through sign-in books.
The nun who made the case for contraception
President of Digby Stewart, Sr. Dorothy Bell is 92 years of age. She is still an activist today.
The fact that Roehampton offers condoms in its colleges is down to her. Sr. Bell spoke out about the importance of contraception in the first days of aids. She created posters that displayed helpline numbers and website addresses which offered explicit information on how to use condoms. These were sent to parish churches to highlight the dangers of unprotected sex and in the end, the Archbishop of Southwark — the Most Rev Michael Baren asked for them to be taken down. In 2009 Sr. Dorothy featured on a BBC Radio 4 talk show named ‘Losing the Habit’. She, along with other nuns spoke about how they adapted their beliefs to the modern world, encouraging freedom and individuality. Sr. Dorothy said: “I’ve felt like a chameleon for the past forty years.” Today, Digby Stewart annually awards a ‘Sr. Dorothy Bell Prize’ to a student who successfully communicates what they intend to do with their degree to contribute to a better future. Clearly, Sr. Dorothy has had an evergreen effect on Roehampton.
The chaplain who prompted multi-faith understanding
Roehampton continues to push the boundaries of societal issues with forward thinking women in education. Assistant Chaplain, Ella Sibley has worn a hijab on World Hijab Day for the past three years on and off campus to highlight the importance of multi-faith universities and to stand in solidarity with Muslims living in London and particularly Muslims at Roehampton. Ella talks about how the first time she wore a hijab her bag was searched at the V&A: “I’ve never had my bag searched on the way in. I’ve probably been to the V&A between 20 and 30 times in the 3 years I’ve lived in London so I go quite regularly,” World Hijab Day was set up in 2013 by Nazma Khan. It aims to encourage non-Muslim women to wear a hijab on February 1st to promote solidarity and religious acceptance. Ella continued to say: “I think that World Hijab Day is a powerful tool for promoting understanding of what it’s like to walk in somebody else’s shoes.”
The feminist who said ‘this is pants’
Principal of Roehampton’s Feminist Society Zoe Cartlidge orchestrated a protest on campus where students displayed underwear across university grounds with quotes by sexual assault victims written on them. The aim was to encourage the University of Roehampton to employ a clearly identified member of staff that will tackle rape and harassment on campus. The feminist society is a strong and thriving community at Roehampton that welcomes everyone to join and discuss gender issues and ideas. Zoe said: “I think it is crucial for students of all genders to discuss gender equality on campus because of the kind of environment a campus creates. We are our own little world within a world, and the more open and accepting we can make our own campus, the better prepared we are to try and invoke positive change wherever we end up next.”
See also: Shoes speak louder than words
You can be the change too — check out UR Fem Soc during your freshers week and explore what they have to offer on their website: http://urfem5.wixsite.com/urfemsoc
