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Freemasons begin university recruitment drive |
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Sunday, 10 June 2007 |
Anthea Lipsett
Friday June 8, 2007
EducationGuardian.co.uk
Male
undergraduates who have had enough of the "lager mentality" of
university life are being encouraged to join the Freemasons.
The
English masonic lodge is looking to boost its numbers by actively recruiting students and staff from several
UK universities.
The organisation's
second-in-command, assistant grand master David Williamson, started the
recruitment scheme to create wider opportunities for undergraduates and
other university members to enjoy freemasonry.
He hopes to replicate the success of the established
Oxford
and
Cambridge university lodges across the country.
At present there are nine lodges in university cities participating in the scheme:
Bath
,
Birmingham
,
Bristol
,
Cambridge
,
Durham
,
Exeter
,
Manchester
,
Oxford
and
Sheffield, but the aim is to gradually expand it beyond these universities.
Mr Williamson said: "This is a
challenge for the lodges that have chosen to participate. Young masons
under 25 make up only about a quarter of 1% of the membership of the
craft in this country, so we want to make the craft more accessible to
young men."
The
masons hope to encourage new members by dropping the joining age from 21 to 18 and halving the fees for under 25s. Lodges at
Oxford
and
Cambridge can already admit members at 18 at their discretion.
The
group's chairman, Oliver Lodge, said: "
Oxford
and
Cambridge have
proved just how popular freemasonry can be at universities. I hope we
can help to make those same wonderful experiences available to more
prospective masons."
The
group's media manager, Chris
Connop, said: "We've fundamentally never been a recruiting
organisation. But we really should be trying to appeal to young people
as well as old. It was always possible to join at 18 at
Oxford
and
Cambridge, but in this day and age that's a bit of a nonsense."
Mr Connop, who was headteacher
of a comprehensive school for nine years, interviews potential members
and tries to gauge whether they are suitable or not before introducing
them to lodgers.
"I'm the first obstacle.
They
have to write a letter of introduction first, saying how the masons
came to their attention and why they want to join. I head off people
who think they will get an advantage from it because that's part of the
mythology about the Freemasons. It's against the rules. You don't just
walk into the Freemasons, we want people of the right calibre with the
right values from whatever level of society."
The organisation
does a lot of charitable work and Mr Connop says this explains a lot of
the interest. "We do an enormous amount for charity and that really
appeals to students."
What also appeals to new members, the majority of whom are aged between 18 and 35, is contact with older generations.
"When I talk to these
youngsters they really appreciate meeting with adults with more
experience. Most are tired of going to the pub and of the lager
drinking mentality.
They are traditionalists as well. We uphold traditions and they like that aspect," Mr Connop added.
EducationGuardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2098762,00.html
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