Don (academia)

Not to be confused with Don (honorific).

A don is a fellow or tutor of a college or university, especially traditional collegiate universities such as Oxford and Cambridge in England and Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. The usage is also found in Canada and in the United States.

Like the term don used for Roman Catholic priests, the term don derives from the Latin dominus, meaning "lord", and is a historical remnant of Oxford and Cambridge having started as ecclesiastical institutions in the Middle Ages.^[1]

The term don is also used for schoolmasters at Winchester College, where as well as the term generally meaning "teacher", there are also "Div Dons", form masters, and "House Dons", housemasters;^[2] and at Radley College, another boys-only boarding school modelled after Oxford colleges of the early 19th century.

At some universities in Canada, such as the University of King's College and the University of New Brunswick, a don is the senior head of a university residence. At these institutions, a don is typically a faculty member, staff member, or postgraduate student, whose responsibilities in the residence are primarily administrative. The don supervises their residence and a team of undergraduate resident assistants, proctors, or other student employees.^[3][4]

In other Canadian institutions, such as Huron College and the University of Toronto, a don is a resident assistant, typically an upper-year student paid a stipend to act as an advisor to and supervisor of the students in a university residence.^[5][6]

In the United Kingdom

The word Don is used for fellows and tutors of a college or university, especially traditional collegiate universities such as Oxford and Cambridge in England.^[7] Teachers at Radley, a boys-only boarding-only public school modelled after Oxford colleges of the early 19th century, are known to boys as "dons".

Like the don used for Roman Catholic priests, this usage derives from the Latin dominus, meaning "lord", a historical remnant of Oxford and Cambridge having started as ecclesiastical institutions in the Middle Ages. The earliest use of the word in this sense appears, according to the New English Dictionary, in Souths Sermons (1660). An English corruption, "dan", was in early use as a title of respect, equivalent to master. The particular literary application to poets is due to Edmund Spenser's use of "Dan Chaucer, well of English undefiled."^[8]

In Canada

At some universities in Canada, such as the University of King's College^[9] and the University of New Brunswick,^[10] a don is the senior head of a university residence. At these institutions, a don is typically a faculty member, staff member, or postgraduate student, whose responsibilities in the residence are primarily administrative. The don supervises their residence and a team of undergraduate resident assistants, proctors, or other student employees.

In other Canadian institutions, such as Huron College^[11] and the University of Toronto,^[12] a don is a resident assistant, typically an upper-year student paid a stipend to act as an advisor to and supervisor of the students in a university residence.

In the United States

At Sarah Lawrence College, faculty advisors are referred to as "dons".^[13] Dons meet regularly with students to plan a course of study.

The "Don" is also an official mascot of the athletic teams of the University of San Francisco,^[14] Spanish Fork High School,^[15] Arroyo High School, and Amador Valley High School.^[16]

See also

• Academic rank

References

1. Mary Beard: It's a Don's Life, London: Profile, 2009. ISBN 1-84668-251-7
2. Charles Stevens, Winchester Notions (London: The Athlone Press, 1998), p. 102
3. "Residence & Dining | University of Kings College". University of Kings College. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
4. "Become a Don | UNB". www.unb.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
5. "Apply to be a Don". www.huronuc.on.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
6. "Donships and RAs | Student Life". www.studentlife.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
7. For background information and opinion, see a recently published selection of short articles by Cambridge don Mary Beard: It's a Don's Life, London: Profile, 2009. ISBN 1-84668-251-7
8.   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dominus". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 405.
9. "Residence & Dining | University of Kings College". University of Kings College. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
10. . www.unb.ca. Archived from the original on 14 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
11. "Apply to be a Don". www.huronuc.on.ca. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
12. "Donships and RAs | Student Life". www.studentlife.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
13. "The Sarah Lawrence Education". www.sarahlawrence.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
14. "USF Dons". USF Dons. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
15. "Spanish Fork High School Dons". Nebo School District. Retrieved 17 Sep 2020.
16. "Amador Valley High School Dons". Pleasanton Unified School District. Retrieved 14 Mar 2021.