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The Goldsmiths girls who want to jam with the W.I.
Jonathan Prynn13.03.09
One prides itself on the freedom to experiment, thinking differently and individuality. The other represents a slice of the solid values of middle England - a slice of jam sponge, that is.
Now the two institutions will form the unlikeliest combination next week when edgy Goldsmiths College will be the venue for the first campus-based branch of the Women's Institute in Britain.
About 40 undergraduates at the college - whose alumni include Vivienne Westwood, Julian Clary, Damon Albarn and Radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank- will meet on Monday to be formally accepted into an organisation best known for middle-aged women making jam and belting out Jerusalem.
The branch is the idea of 18-year-old English literature student India Volker, who decided that none of the existing college societies was right for her. She told the Evening Standard: "I wanted to form a group at college where people could get together and do creative things. I tried the Feminist Society but they were very politically based. I don't have a problem with women being able to knit and make dresses - I place a lot of value on traditional skills - but the Feminist Society did not want to embrace it. There are a lot of girls here who want to hang out with other girls but don't want to be so angry about it."
At the college in New Cross, Ms Volker invited students to a preliminary meeting to set up the W.I. It promised "knitting, art, music, sushi, (fan)zines, arts & crafts ... and a lovely group of people to do it with". The meeting was a success so Ms Volker contacted the national W.I. to ask for formal recognition.
She said: "We have got Mary Clarke from the West Kent Federation coming to our next meeting because we can't be formed as an official W.I. until it has approval. All the rules are frustrating, I feel like I'm going to be anointed in jam or something, but she's going to give a talk and slide show and then we all have to pay the £29 membership fees."
A spokeswoman for the national federation of W.I.s said: "This is the first institute in a university and that is very exciting. I hope it will inspire other universities to follow."
Princess Beatrice, who studies history and history of ideas at Goldsmiths, has not joined the student W.I Facebook group, but one of her friends has promised to attend Monday's meeting. Ms Volker, who went to the private Oxford High School, is founding president of the W.I. and her friend Kate Hutchins, 20, is vice president. Tutors at the college are aghast at the development. One said: "This can't be true. It is achingly fashionable here. There is almost no one here with a normal haircut, even the blokes. I can't imagine anyone being into jam making except in the most ironic way."
Ms Volker wants to bring an element of attitude but not fundamentally change W.I. values. "We are going to make jam and bake stuff but we are going to use the money we raise to fund things like trips to the Edinburgh fringe festival. We will have speakers in but instead of topics like 'What to do with cabbage' it will be 'Know how to make sushi.'"
Ms Volker, the daughter of a graphic designer father and a catalogue art designer mother, says she leads a normal student life. "I have a job at Urban Outfitters, I front a hardcore band called The Athens Polytechnic, I go to clubs, hang out on Brick Lane and do all the things that students do - and run a W.I."
There is still one hurdle. The Goldsmiths charter says all college societies have to be open to men and women but the W.I. has never let men join during its 94-year history.
Reader views (3)
So excited about Monday's meeting. Finally a union that isn't about solely concerned with men hating or pub golf!
- Ava Szajna-Hopgood, London, England
Nice to see the return of the velveteen hotpant. Just hope its not adopted wholesale by the WI as I doubt my mum could carry it off, bless her.
- Squiz, islington
Ah, the joys of studenthood, just wait until you have to get a proper job.
- Henry Rollins, Los Angeles
