Wookiee
Know what you mean when I was at our local college, Thurrock Tech as an engineering stuident, I stumbled across an old patchable synth, Arp I think do not remember, back in 1983-4, but like you they would not lets us play they had locked all the patch leads away
At my own Tech in Torquay the electronics lecturer was well into electronic music and had written a book on synthasizers. He was quite proud to have had a forward written for him by Robert Moog.
We had a EMS Synthi A which were were encouraged to patch and program. There seemed to be an eleitist attitude at Dartington.