459 words
╳ ╳ ╳
Old universities reek with tradition, while new universities tend to fall back on their modernness. For universities in the Oxbridge mould, fidelity to tradition and ancient custom extends to the titles of office-holders. Within the contemporary university instances of quaintly old-fashioned position titles persist to this day. Many universities for instance still retain the offices of bursar, proctor and rector:
Bursars𝔄 collect tuition fees from university (and sometimes school) students. Probably the most famous bursar in Britain was John Maynard Keynes at Kings College, Cambridge
Proctorsđť”… are administrators with a role in student disciplinary matters within a university, although in North America the term has the more specific meaning of invigilator (exam supervisor). In some institutions the proctor also acts as a kind of student ombudsman
Rectorsâ„ are one of the most senior officials in a university, a “figurehead“ title still in use in some (especially Scottish) universities. Prominent entertainers, performers and ”media personalities” often land this gig (“rector” is also an ecclesiastical office).
Another odd-sounding archaic term still in use in the modern university is yeoman bedell. Historically, the yeoman bedell (or “Dog bedell”), sometimes in unison with a more senior office, the esquires bedell, acts as ceremonial officer leading graduation processions. Cambridge University describes the yeoman and esquires bedells as “the emissaries and guardians of ceremonial”...performers of “modest errands”. In some tertiary institutions and countries the bedell carries the silver university mace, though it may be a role performed by the university marshal.
The yeoman bedell can be called upon to undertake various other functions around the university campus...the quartet of yeoman bedells at Sydney University undertake some general dogsbody duties such as chauffeuring the university execs, but their main job outside grad time is maintaining the proper order and functioning of the central Quadrangle.
 |
| The Quad: Yeoman Bedell turf |
Yeoman bedell’s digs to think tank
Baxter’s Lodge, the stand-alone sandstone cottage on the Broadway entrance to Sydney University, is often mistaken for a gatehouse. Google identifies the building as a student dormitory...wrong again! Designed by the university’s first professor of architecture Leslie Wilkinson in an antique sandstone Gothic Revival style, it was built in 1939-1940 possibly using the stone from the recently dismantled Messenger’s Lodge nearby. The name Baxter’s Lodge comes from the cottage’s first resident, USyd’s yeomen bedell, George Baxter. Baxter’s successors continued to occupy the lodge after his retirement in 1956. Since 1986 Baxter’s Lodge has housed a succession of university administrative and academic pursuits. Currently it is the office of a university institute with a 1984ish-sounding title, the National Centre for Cultural Competence [‘Baxter’s Lodge: an incomplete history’, Marlow Hunt, Honi Soit, 30-Nov-2021, www.honisoit.com].
 |
| Baxter’s Lodge |
▂▃▄▅▆▇▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▇▆▅▄▃▂
𝔄 from bursa, Latin for “purse”
đť”… from procurator, Latin, a Roman administrator of a province or manager of an estate
â„ from rector, Latin for “ruler”
