Matriculation Madness

Yesterday, I became a fully matriculated member of the University of Oxford!

...which means that I got to wear my Harry Potter robe along with everyone else in this place of wizardry. Enough said.

St. John's Rhodies in Harry Potter garb

Really, matriculation is one of Oxford's oldest traditions. Matriculation used to be held before the academic year started, before students settled into the life and the classes and learning of Oxford, and essentially took place because each of Oxford's independent composite colleges had to go through the motion of formally presenting their new students to the University. Oxford has 38 different colleges at the moment, each of them individual and separate from each other, but still existing under the umbrella infrastructure of the University. Think of it like the different houses in Hogwarts. There have been varying numbers of colleges at Oxford throughout its history, but the basic principle of admission and teaching has remained the same: each college, with its distinct traditions and academic reputation, admits its own students, which then claim membership within the broader University for their time at Oxford.

First time in full sub fusc!

From what I understand, prior to matriculation all admitted students used to sit for a set of entrance examinations, which were the same across the board regardless of those students' colleges. (Sort of like the University's "quality control" to ensure that all the colleges were keeping their admission standards uniformly high.) After passing these examinations -- thank goodness we don't need to take them today! -- students from each college would be presented to the Vice Chancellor of the University at matriculation, a ceremony which marked those students' formal acceptance into Oxford-at-large and their entitlement to all benefits and privilege therein. So, today, no entrance examinations to cope with, but all the new students at Oxford, both graduate and postgraduate, dress up in sub fusc attire and proceed through the Sheldonian Theatre to participate in the same sort of matriculation ceremony as students in the old days did. The Sheldonian is one of Oxford's main ceremonial and performative sites, and I'll be graduating there someday down the road. It's also in the heart of the oldest, most evocative part of Oxford, so that I could feel the weight of so many centuries of tradition settling onto my shoulders.

Milling about Canterbury Quad, St. John's

We lined up in our college first to take roll, then proceeded out of the back gate of the St. John's gardens to the Sheldonian, where we waited around with hundreds, if not thousands, of other Oxford students in sub fusc attire, before being admitted inside. (Sub fusc, since I don't think I've mentioned it before, consists of a black skirt or trousers worn with a collared white shirt and silly black neck ribbon for women; for men it's a black suit and bow tie over a white shirt. All worn under the traditional black academic gown. We carried mortarboards, too, but were only allowed to put them on after we'd matriculated, aka after we were fully fledged Oxford students!) The matriculation ceremonies were staggered throughout the day to give all students from every college a turn, so needless to say there were waves of students wearing sub fusc wandering around Oxford throughout the day! We became quite a tourist attraction... I mean, if you're a tourist visiting Hogwarts, wouldn't you want to snap pictures of all of us too?

Vice Chancellor and other Oxford academics behind the Sheldonian

Black-and-white Oxford penguins

The ceremony itself was short; we all filed into the Sheldonian and sat around in our uniformly classy outfits, then the Vice Chancellor and a few other University officials came through the doors in their academic dress, said a few Latin words to conduct the performative act, made a few remarks about our time at Oxford and what it means, and off we went. Afterwards, I joined a few other Rhodies from St. John's for a traditional English brunch at a local cafe, went back to college for the official freshers' matriculation photo in the quad, then changed back into my trademark jeans for the rest of the day. Matriculation is often followed by alcohol-filled revelries, but I had shopping and reading and laundry to do! (I did, however, go out for drinks and a housewarming party later, even if I avoided the "Sexy Sub Fusc" bop that happened somewhere in Oxford last night.) Now, to some reading for my first full day as a "real" Oxford student!

Mortarboards on, fully matriculated members of the University by virtue of some venerable Latin phrases!