Somerville College, Oxford

Somerville College
Somerville College
Oxford
	Somerville College Hall
	Arms: Argent, three mullets in chevron reversed gules, between six crosses crosslet fitched sable
Location	Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6HD
Coordinates	51°45′33″N 1°15′45″W / 51.75917°N 1.26250°W
Full name	Somerville College in the University of Oxford
Latin name	Collegium de Somerville
Motto	Donec rursus impleat orbem; (translated: Until it should fill the world again)
Established	1879
Named for	Mary Somerville
Previous names	Somerville Hall (1879–1894)
Colours
Sister college	Girton College, Cambridge
Principal	Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
Undergraduates	437 (2020–21)
Postgraduates	235
Endowment	£95 million (2021)
Website	www.some.ox.ac.uk
Boat club	Somerville College Boat Club
Map
	Location in Oxford city centre

Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford^[3] in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Iris Murdoch, Vera Brittain and Dorothy L. Sayers. It began admitting men in 1994.^[4] Its library is one of Oxford's largest college libraries. The college's liberal tone^[5] derives from its founding by social liberals, as Oxford's first non-denominational college for women, unlike the Anglican Lady Margaret Hall, the other to open that year.^[6] In 1964, it was among the first to cease locking up at night to stop students staying out late.^[7]^[8] No gowns are worn at formal halls.

In 2021 it was recognised as a sanctuary campus by City of Sanctuary UK.^[9] It is one of three colleges to offer undergraduates on-site lodging throughout their course.^[10] It stands near the Science Area, University Parks, Oxford University Press, Jericho, and Green Templeton, St Anne's, Keble and St Benet's. Over a third of its 650 students are not from the UK.^[11] Over half the UK admissions are from state schools – close to the university average.^[12] Its total net assets in 2021 were £238 million,^[2] the seventh highest of an Oxford undergraduate college. Its sister college at Cambridge is Girton.

^ "Student statistics". University of Oxford. 2020. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Somerville College: Annual Report and Financial Statements: Year ended 31 July 2021" (PDF). ox.ac.uk. p. 21. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
^ "Somerville College | University of Oxford". ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
^ "History". Somerville College Oxford. 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
^ Manuel 2013, p. 26.
^ "True to its Principals". Somerville College. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
^ "Somerville College - Oxford University Alternative Prospectus". apply.oxfordsu.org. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
^ Brockliss 2016, p. 669.
^ "Somerville has been recognised as one of the UK's first University Colleges of Sanctuary". Somerville College, Oxford. 27 February 2021. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
^ "Why choose Somerville". Somerville College Oxford. 23 May 2023. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
^ "Student Statistics - nationality". University of Oxford. 2017. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
^ "4 School Type" (PDF). ox.ac.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2018.