The Construction of Primary Data in Cultural Anthropology

ERL: I don't find it so strange. there can be guile in these matters. Here in King's I am certainly seen as very conservative. It has already been forgotten that women became members of the College for the first time (after 525 years) while I was Provost. It is an interesting story. To make the proposal plausible, we had to have allies. There was much backstage negotiation with our neighbours, Clare and Churchill. Both these colleges eventually first admitted women at the same time as King's. But they had problems. In Clare the Master was enthusiastic; at Churchill the Master was opposed. The Clare story was that the Old Guard dug up a retired fellow who had not been seen for 20 years. He turned up in a Bath chair and cast his vote against the admission of women. So they were back at square one. We took things slowly and talked it out for a couple of years or perhaps more. The opposition were clearly in a minority, but we had to win by a two-thirds majority of the whole Governing Body (that is, all the Fellows, about 100 individuals). At the last minute, when I thought all was lost, the leader of the opposition got up and made a highly emotional speech to the effect hat this was the most important vote that the College had faced during the last 500 years. He could see that his supporters were in a minority, so he asked them to change sides and let this historic decision go through on a unanimous vote. One splendid old boy refused to take that one and said he must abstain. So King's voted for the admission of women nem. con.! That could only have happened in King's. But there was some anthropology in it, too. If I had not already begun to acquire the reputation of being much more conservative than my erratic predecessor, I doubt if we would have made it at all. I am no fisherman, but it was all rather like landing a salmon. References Cited