Rustication (temporary expulsion) is a term used at some
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
academic institutions for a disciplinary action. The term derives from the Latin word
rus, countryside, to indicate that a student has been sent back to his family in the country or from medieval Latin "rusticorum" among the heathens or barbarians and is also traditionally used at Oxford and Cambridge universities.
Use in the United Kingdom
Rustication (temporary expulsion) is a term used at some
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
academic institutions for a disciplinary action. The term derives from the Latin word
rus, countryside, to indicate that a student has been sent back to his family in the country or from medieval Latin "rusticorum" among the heathens or barbarians and is also traditionally used at Oxford and Cambridge universities. It is also commonly employed in many British public schools. The term was also used in the United States during the 1800s, but has been superseded by the term "suspension."
A student who has been rusticated may not enter any of the school/university buildings or facilities, or even travel to within a certain distance of them. To be rusticated is not the same as being "sent down" (
ExpulsionExpulsion at a school or university is defined as removing a student from the institution for violating rules or honor codes.- The rules associated with the exclusion :...
) .
Notable Britons who were rusticated during their time at University include:
- John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, author, polemicist and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England. He is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost and for his treatise condemning censorship, Areopagitica....
(1609-1674), Rusticated from Christ's College, CambridgeChrist's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College has consistently finished in the top ten colleges in the Tompkins Table in recent years.-College history:...
in 1626 for quarreling with his tutor.http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ma-Mo/Milton-John.html
- John Dryden
John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.-Early life:Dryden was born in the village rectory of Aldwincle...
(1631-1700), Rusticated from Trinity College, CambridgeTrinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 160 Fellows ....
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/1/4/8/11488/11488.txt Exchanged insults with his college vice-master.
- Walter Savage Landor
Walter Savage Landor was an English writer and poet. His best known works were the prose Imaginary Conversations, and the poem Rose Aylmer, but the critical acclaim he received from contemporary poets and reviewers was not matched by public popularity...
(1775-1864), Rusticated from Trinity College, OxfordThe College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol and Blackwells, and opposite...
in 1794 http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext03/cntjl10.txt. Fired a gun at the window of a fellow student whose late night revelry had disturbed him and for whom he had an aversion. Landor chose not to return
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded among the finest lyric poets in the English language...
(1792-1822), Rusticated from University College, OxfordUniversity College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
in 1811 for having written "The Necessity of AtheismThe Necessity of Atheism is a treatise on atheism by Percy Bysshe Shelley, published anonymously in 1811 while he was a student at University College, Oxford. A copy was sent as a pamphlet to all heads of Oxford colleges at the University...
" and then having published and disseminated the pamphlet to the heads of all colleges at the UniversityThe University of Oxford comprises 38 Colleges and 6 Permanent Private Halls of religious foundation. Colleges and PPHs are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university, and all teaching staff and students studying for a degree of the university must belong to one of the colleges...
. Shelley had originally been Sent Down (permanently expelled) but upon a supplication from his father to the University was given a chance to deny authorship and return. Shelley refused to deny authorship and was therefore sent down.
- Richard Francis Burton
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was an English explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and...
(1821-1890), Rusticated from Trinity College, OxfordThe College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol and Blackwells, and opposite...
in 1842 for having challenged a fellow student to a duelAs practiced from the 11th to 20th centuries in Western societies, a duel is an engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with their combat doctrines. In the modern application, the term is applied to aerial warfare between fighter pilots...
, the latter having mocked the shape of his moustache. Burton had also attended a SteeplechaseSteeplechase may refer to:* Steeplechase, an event in horse racing* Steeplechase , an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing* Steeplechase , an event in dog agility...
, a contravention of Oxford University's rules at that time.
- Algernon Swinburne (1837-1909), Rusticated from Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.Traditionally, the undergraduates are amongst the most politically active in the university, and the college's alumni include three former prime ministers. H. H...
in 1859 http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=617493 for having publicly supported the attempted assassinationAn Assassination is the targeted killing of a public figure.Assassinations may be prompted by ideological, political, or military reasons. Additionally, assassins may be motivated by financial gain, revenge, personal public recognition, or mental illness....
of Napoleon IIINapoleon III , Charles-Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, was the first President of the French Republic and the last monarch of France. He was also Napoleon I's nephew. Made president by popular vote in 1848, Napoleon III ascended to the throne on 2 December 1852, the forty-eighth anniversary of Napoleon...
by OrsiniFelice Orsini was an Italian revolutionary and leader of the Carbonari who tried to assassinate Napoleon III, Emperor of the French.-Early:Felice Orsini was born at Meldola in Romagna, then part of the Papal States....
- Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest "celebrities" of his day...
(1854-1900), Rusticated from Magdalen College, OxfordMagdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million....
after having returned to his college some three weeks after a new term had begun. http://www.biographyonline.net/poets/oscar_wilde.html
- Auberon Waugh
Auberon Alexander Waugh was a British author and journalist.-Life and career:Born at his maternal grandparents' house at Pixton Park, Dulverton, Somerset, he was known as "Bron" by friends and family. He was the second child and first son of the novelist Evelyn Waugh and his wife, Laura...
(1939-2001), Rusticated from Christ Church, OxfordThis article is about the Oxford college. For other uses, see Christ Church or Christchurch .Christ Church , is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
in 1957. Waugh failed to perform sufficiently well to pass his Philosophy, Politics and Economics prelim exams. Waugh chose not to return.
- Mark Boxer
Charles Mark Edward Boxer was a British magazine editor and social observer, and a political cartoonist and graphic portrait artist working under the pen-name ‘Marc’.-Personal life:...
(1931-1988) Rusticated from King's College, CambridgeKing's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.Founded in 1441, the college's formal name is "The King's College of Our Lady and St. Nicholas in Cambridge". It is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the university.- History :King's was founded in 1441 by...
, as editor of GrantaGranta is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom.-History:Granta was founded in 1889 by students at Cambridge University as The Granta, edited by R. C. Lehmann . It was started as a periodical featuring student politics, badinage and literary efforts...
, the student magazine, when it published a poem deemed by the authorities to be blasphemous.
In the 2009 feature film
Morris: A Life with Bells OnMorris: A Life with Bells On is a comic spoof documentary about morris dancing. Written by and starring Chas Oldham, it is directed by Lucy Akhurst, although a low-budget film, features some well-known actors including Derek Jacobi, Harriet Walter, Sophie Thompson, Greg Wise, Clive Mantle and...
the team Milsham Morris are "Formally Rusticated" from a fictional Morris Dancing governing body known as 'The Morris Circle', for an apparent infringement of the governing body rules.
Use in the United States
The term also was used in the United States in the 19th century.
Mark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is extensively quoted...
and
Charles Dudley WarnerCharles Dudley Warner was an American essayist and novelist.-Biography:Warner was born of Puritan descent in Plainfield, Massachusetts. From age six to age fourteen, he lived in Charlemont, Mass., the scene of the experiences pictured in his study of childhood, Being a Boy...
, in
The Gilded Age, have a character explain the term:
- "Philip used to come to Fallkill often while he was in college. He was once rusticated here for a term."
- "Rusticated?"
- "Suspended for some College scrape." http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5820/5820.txt
In a story in the August 1858 Atlantic Monthly
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10626/10626-h/10626-h.htm, a character reminisces:
- "It was long before you were born, my dear, that, for some college peccadilloes,—it is so long ago that I have almost forgotten now what they were,—I was suspended (rusticated we called it) for a term, and advised by the grave and dignified president to spend my time in repenting and in keeping up with my class. I had no mind to come home; I had no wish, by my presence, to keep the memory of my misdemeanors before my father's mind for six months; so I asked and gained leave to spend the summer in a little town in Western Massachusetts, where, as I said, I should have nothing to tempt me from my studies."
Kevin Starr
http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=vpMI4z-tDPMC&dq=kevin+starr+rusticated&prev=http://print.google.com/print%3Fq%3Dkevin%2Bstarr%2Brusticated&lpg=PA40&pg=PA40&sig=nUJrmz7IYYSI_dlcTzPbqbfQqLU writes of
Richard Henry Dana, Jr.Richard Henry Dana Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of an eminent colonial family who gained renown as the author of the American classic, the memoir Two Years Before the Mast...
that:
- "Harvard
Harvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
's rigid rules and narrow curriculum had proved equally repressive. Rusticated for taking part in a student rebellion, Dana had spent six months in quiet rural study in AndoverAndover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2000 census population was 31,247. It is part of the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts-New Hampshire metropolitan statistical area....
under a kindly clerical tutor."
A biographer
http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=BX2yToKJx40C&dq=rusticated+college&prev=http://print.google.com/print%3Fq%3Drusticated%2Bcollege&lpg=PA82&pg=PA82&sig=Ikpr0Mt59U2fTYqDgSmuQweYQ_w refers to one of
James Russell LowellJames Russell Lowell was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the Fireside Poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets who rivaled the popularity of British poets...
's college letters as "written while he was at
ConcordConcord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2000 Census, the town population was about 17,000. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature...
because rusticated."