Girton College, Cambridge

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Full name

Girton College

Motto

-
"Better is wisdom than weapons of war" (Alumni)

Named after

Girton Village

Previous names

The College for Women (1869),
Girton College (1872)

Established

1869

Sister College(s)

Somerville College

Mistress

Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern

Location

Huntingdon Road

Undergraduates

503

Postgraduates

201

Homepage

Boatclub

Girton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The College was established on October 16, 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon, as the first residential college for women in England.

It was called the College for Women, and was located at Benslow House, Hitchin, a town in Hertfordshire, England. The first group of students were known as The Pioneers. In 1872 the present site, located about two and a half miles northwest of the centre of Cambridge, next to the village of Girton was purchased; the College was then renamed Girton College, and opened at the new location in October of 1873.

Over the years, many additions have considerably expanded the size of the college, most recently the award-winning library extension. Numerically and geographically, Girton is now one of the largest Colleges in Cambridge. However, the geographical separation means that the majority of people socialise within the College to a greater extent than at most other Colleges, which is said to create a distinctive, even cosy, atmosphere that is well renowned throughout the University. Girton also proudly houses an Egyptian mummy named "Hermione", and is the only Cambridge college to have its own indoor heated swimming pool.

On April 27, 1948, women were admitted to full membership of the University of Cambridge, and Girton College received the status of a College of the University. However, to remember the time when women were not allowed to obtain degrees of the University of Cambridge, no gowns are worn during the college feast, when students in their final year are celebrated.

Girton College lies on the extremity of Cambridge

The college became mixed in 1977 with the arrival of the first male Fellows; male undergraduates have been admitted since 1979.

Although the main site for Girton is about 2.5 miles northwest of the city centre, there is an accommodation annexe, Wolfson Court, situated next to the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, in the western suburbs, but within easy walking distance of the University Library and downtown. Although the rooms in Wolfson are relatively small, they are far more comfortable than those in drafty Girton.

Girtonians are known for their chant of "We are Girton - super Girton! No one likes us, but we don't care!", in imitation of Millwall F.C. fans' famous song. The reference to "no one likes us" is regarded to be due to the relative distance of Girton in comparison to many of the other colleges. Anecdotes about the distance of Girton from other Cambridge colleges are plentiful, for example that, by popular legend, more Cambridge students have visited Delhi than Girton college.

In the Gilbert and Sullivan opera Utopia, Limited, a principal character, Princess Zara, is returning from her studies at Girton, and her entrance is heralded by a song called "Oh, maiden rich in Girton lore." In an earlier G&S opera, Princess Ida, the princess founds a women's university, and the subject of women's education in the Victorian era is broadly explored and travestied.

In 2004, The Sun newspaper suggested that Girton College was 'now trendy'^{[citation needed]}.