‘College in a cottage’
The beginnings of Lucy Cavendish College In 1966 Lucy Cavendish College moved from the cramped offices at Silver Street into two refurbished eighteenth century cottages. These were in Northampton Street and the premises housed offices and three residential rooms.
On 24th October The Times acknowledged the wider context of this ‘college in a cottage’ and suggested: ‘Virginia Woolf would have smiled a sardonic smile over the premises of Cambridge’s first graduate college for women’. The rooms were tiny and it was also established on ‘the shoestring basis Virginia Woolf saw to be a characteristic of academic foundations for women’.
By 1970 Lucy Cavendish had ten graduate students in its permanent residence in Lady Margaret Road. By October 1972 the college had welcomed its first twenty undergraduates. These varied in age from 25 to 36 years, and included secretaries, housewives, teachers, and an actress. This diversity of backgrounds among the ‘Lucy’ student body continues today: being at ‘Lucy’ is now synonymous with seizing academic opportunities and at a time that women choose for themselves.
From humble beginnings, Lucy Cavendish College has developed into a fully self-governing College within the University. It has its own unique identity, is noted for its innovative approach and its continued commitment to widening women’s participation in higher education.
The beginnings of Lucy Cavendish College In 1966 Lucy Cavendish College moved from the cramped offices at Silver Street into two refurbished eighteenth century cottages. These were in Northampton Street and the premises housed offices and three residential rooms.
On 24th October The Times acknowledged the wider context of this ‘college in a cottage’ and suggested: ‘Virginia Woolf would have smiled a sardonic smile over the premises of Cambridge’s first graduate college for women’. The rooms were tiny and it was also established on ‘the shoestring basis Virginia Woolf saw to be a characteristic of academic foundations for women’.
By 1970 Lucy Cavendish had ten graduate students in its permanent residence in Lady Margaret Road. By October 1972 the college had welcomed its first twenty undergraduates. These varied in age from 25 to 36 years, and included secretaries, housewives, teachers, and an actress. This diversity of backgrounds among the ‘Lucy’ student body continues today: being at ‘Lucy’ is now synonymous with seizing academic opportunities and at a time that women choose for themselves.
From humble beginnings, Lucy Cavendish College has developed into a fully self-governing College within the University. It has its own unique identity, is noted for its innovative approach and its continued commitment to widening women’s participation in higher education.
