Oxford University intends to make an 800-year-old Latin ceremony gender-neutral for the sake of students who claim to be “non-binary.”
The proposed changes, which will be voted on by the university’s governing body, Congregation, on April 29th, would eliminate all gendered language from Latin texts used in graduation ceremonies. Terms such as magistri (masters) and doctores (doctors), grammatically masculine, are to be replaced with clunky alternatives like vos, simply meaning “you”—even though the masculine plural has always been used for mixed groups of men and women.
Even the Latin word for “who” is to be rewritten to avoid any suggestion of grammatical gender.
The Telegraph reports that the changes will likely be implemented in all ceremonies from October onwards. They will also affect other formal occasions, such as the admission of a new Vice-Chancellor, where references in English to “his” or “her” tenure will be replaced with the clumsy and ambiguous “their.”
Oxford insists the overhaul is “necessary so that the Latin used can refer to those who identify as non-binary as well as those who identify as male and female.” It also claims it is merely aligning itself with UK legal requirements for higher education.
Dr Jonathan Katz, Oxford’s Public Orator and a Latin specialist, signed off on the grammar of the proposed script but notably distanced himself from its ideological basis. He said:
One of my colleagues wrote to me this morning to ask whether this was an early April Fool. It isn’t—just keeping up with modern trends. My only role has been to check that the Latin grammar is correct, which I believe it is so far.
It’s true that in standard Latin the masculine plural is used to cover a mixed-gender group, but it was felt that the masculine appearance of many words was still unhelpfully dominant. Ideologically I remain neutral in this, but it was an interesting linguistic exercise that the lead Dean of Degrees and I were requested to go through.
However, critics say the university, once revered for its intellectual rigour and scholarly tradition, is now pandering to a fringe minority. According to national statistics, just 0.2 per cent of UK university students identify as “other gender”—a mere 14 individuals out of Oxford’s 7,000 annual admissions, if the same proportion holds.
David Soskin, a former Downing Street adviser, called it “curious” that alumni had not been consulted. “They probably know how donors would react,” he said.
Others are more blunt. Historian Dominic Selwood slammed the revised language as “devoid of any elegance, atmosphere, beauty or tradition,” pointing out that what Oxford stands to lose far outweighs any potential gain. “At least the ceremony will be shorter and everyone can get to the pub earlier,” he added.
Oxford’s rush to change a centuries-old ceremony in the name of inclusion raises serious questions. If even Latin—the foundational language of Western academia—is now considered too “exclusive” to be uttered in its original form, what other traditions are next on the chopping block?
