Unless the Pope decided to enroll in a University, and requested to be a student, which is what Mathurin did.
This point of view is something I find at odds with the station of many of the members of the University. Many of the most prominent "students" in the university would not "enroll as students". Nobles the stature of foreign rulers, dukes, heads of prestigious religions, would not become average, ordinary students. They would certainly be brought into the university as respected benefactors, supporters, honored professors, etc. The university would be falling all over itself to bestow any number of honorary degrees on someone with the stature of Mathurin. You wouldn't require him to write the equivalent of a term paper in order to be recognized as a Dean of Theology. And, to be fair, the same could be said for the prophet of Verdis Elementum, or whatever other religion has managed to survive and spread across a significant portion of the island.
I suppose this is an artifact of the guild system, though. Or perhaps the way the guild is run. But when you talk about "we're all equal here", I think you have to remember that some people are more equal than others.
