Richard George wrote:Whilst I don't know for sure, I don't think this is looking to be something in the University Scheme; more a 'club' for (ex)OU students who are already freemasons, or to provide a starting point for OU students who might be interested. I could be wrong, and we'll probably have to wait for the website to appear to learn a bit more.
I have in the last few days been informed that our Provincial Grand Master would provide a dispensation to any lodge in his province to initiate any candidate from 18 years, regardless if he had any family connection or full time education status. This is what I and others find scary.
The Club mentioned in the above link may well not be part of the Universities Scheme but since this information enables general lodges to take in 18+ initiates, it sidesteps all the qualification and careful assessments which the Scheme lodges use in order to ensure only suitable people are initiated at that young age. It would appear that whoever thought that up does not know what is involved in dealing with immature students. That's not a derogatory remark; at that tender age a large proportion are found not to have comprehended what is meant by commitment, what financial responsibility entails and so on. With those, our suggestion is that they wait a year or two. It takes quite a lot of probing before you can be reasonably sure an applicant really understands what he is being told. They are just out of secondary school for heavens sake and not yet 'people'.