Women were not allowed inside Teviot until way more recently than you’d think

Our very own Teviot Row House is coming up to nearly 130 years since it opened, which was a momentous occasion for students to have a place to interact socially, however this was not the case for female students at the uni until – wait for it – 1971!

Women were first admitted and matriculated into Edinburgh University in 1869, against great opposition from fellow male students, lecturers and members of the public. The "Edinburgh Seven" as they were called, studied Medicine, but had to pay higher fees, and fund their own tuition for four years, until the University's discrimination meant they were rejected in their fourth year of study and not allowed to graduate. Women were finally allowed to graduate from Edinburgh in 1894.

Despite this acceptance of female graduates before the turn of the century, women were still barred from our beloved Teviot until 1971 when the Students' Union voted to allow women with at least a 75 per cent majority vote. This came a year after the union was finally permitted to sell spirits. Perhaps these male students favoured their right to have a good piss up over the rights of women to be allowed to enter the union building.

Teviot was originally designed to be like a Gentleman's club

Although the University and Students' Association are much better at supporting the women at the university these days, with the anti-sexual harassment campaign of last year, the existence of the Feminist society, and LGBTQ+ societies, it is still a disappointing statistic to see that Women were not permitted until so recently.