In the habit of students

Traditions thrown up by University of Otago students have an uneven history. Shane Gilchrist sorts the time-honoured from the time wasters.

The Otago University Students Association's Toga Parade may have morphed into a more mellow Toga Party this week, the transformation a result of the disorder down Dunedin's main drag last year, yet the event is just one example of the ebb and flow of university traditions over the decades.

What does the Toga Parade have in common with the Capping Procession, Otago Harbour raft race, Wet Lunch and Capping Magazine? They are, if not defunct, certainly dormant, stricken by a rash of issues ranging from behavioural, perhaps self-inflicted, wounds to matters of taste.

Time, or an apparent lack of it, has taken its toll, too.

Some things remain, however.

The annual Capping Show, intercollege sporting fixtures and the current orientation festivities are among the more obvious events, but there are many others, including initiation ceremonies, some of which go back a century or more to when residents first inscribed their names in the wooden surroundings of colleges and halls such as Selwyn (established 1893), Knox (1909) and St Margaret's (1911).

The establishment of such rituals is rooted in a sense of belonging.

In that, the students of the University of Otago are not alone.

In 1871, when university lectures first began in Dunedin, those attending the institution were looking over their shoulders, influenced by stories of the behaviour of students at Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow and, closer to home, Sydney and Melbourne.

In his 1990 publication Ritual Song of Defiance: a social history of students at the University of Otago 1890-1990, author Sam Elworthy documents a life beyond the lecture theatre, explaining that the attention of students has often roamed beyond the confines of books and examinations.

"They have got drunk at Capping time, shouted at meetings, danced at `bob hops' and cheered at Tournament.

They have established traditions and a sense of what it means to be an Otago student."

Elworthy writes that Otago students were not only influenced by their peers in England, Scotland and elsewhere but also by the social fabric of colonial New Zealand.

"Students had to establish an identity for themselves in the minds of people who were often sceptical of the value of higher education in colonial society ... the wild and sometimes uncouth student traditions were also, in part, an attempt to assert an identity which stressed the links between students and ordinary people."

Capping has long been a key structure (call it an excuse) on which the frivolous have clambered.

In 1879, the first public ceremony was held in the university library, where a "considerable turnout" witnessed two bachelor of arts graduates receive degrees.

Ten years later, 3000 people packed Dunedin's Garrison Hall.

By 1888, the University of New Zealand was contemplating banning the public graduation ceremony because of the antics of students.

In 1886, the students rose as a body and left the hall following a threat by the Premier of New Zealand, Sir Robert Stout, to punish one particularly noisy attendee.

The students later returned, only to groan every time Sir Robert's name was mentioned.

(The University of New Zealand did get its way; in 1894, it banned all public graduation ceremonies.

By the time they resumed in 1899 a carnival - now known as the Capping Show - had been organised and was held separate to the graduation ceremony.) Yet others welcomed the atmosphere of the ceremonies.

In 1883, Otago Daily Times columnist Civis commented: "The traditions of all old universities sanction a good deal of boisterous conduct on such occasions as that of Thursday".

Perhaps the best encapsulation is provided in Elworthy's book, which quotes a student in 1929: "Capping is a glorious time.

It is a sort of annually recurring 21st birthday, when you feel like drinking a thousand beers and kissing a thousand girls and laughing a thousand times a day".

These days, the Capping Show is well-rehearsed entertainment and often sells out over several nights.

This year's event, titled Alice in Cappingland, will be held at the university's Union Hall from May 12 to May 22.

Auditions begin on Monday, March 8, with the OUSA describing it as "a compulsory rite of passage for every Otago scarfie ... with the same groups your granddad was in - the Selwyn Ballet (meaty guys in tutus), the Sextet (meaty guys) and Knox Farce, along with the Sexytet".

Other aspects of Capping have declined, however.

The risqué and sometimes offensive Capping Magazine, sold since 1926 and featuring such titles as Playboy and Fanny, wound up in 1998.

In the early 1960s, 30,000 copies of the magazine were being produced.

Two decades later, a petition called for the banning of the cover of the 1981 issue, Thrust, which depicted a phallic University clock tower between female legs.

In a 2005 University of Otago magazine article, Chris Trotter, editor of Critic at the time of the Thrust issue, was quoted as saying: "It was simply a matter of time being up for the outrageous style of the Capping Magazine . . .

It wasn't satirical; it was just ugly.

Society had moved on".

Likewise, the Capping Procession, which first took to Dunedin's streets in 1899 and became affectionately know as "procesh", took a dive in the late '80s.

Ron Chambers, University of Otago proctor from 1981 to 2001, recalls the floats, "traditionally a feature enjoyed by the general public, slowly sank into the realms of smut and bad taste, and the behaviour of the students on board attracted little in the way of favourable comment".

As a result of complaints about egg-throwing in 1987, students were denied permission to parade down George St the following year, the procession restricted to streets around campus.

However, a combination of more egg-throwing and an incident in which a student was run over by his own float prompted a 12-year hiatus for the once popular event, although it was resurrected in 2001, renamed the "Scarfie Parade" and held during Capping in May.

ROSS BLANCH, OUSA Clubs and Societies manager since 2000 and president of the OUSA in 1986-1987, laments the demise of a few other events, including the Capping raft race, which used to be held on Otago Harbour but finished in the mid-'80s.

"I think all the colleges used to enter.

People used to dress up in funny costumes, make relatively seaworthy craft and throw things at one another.

That was a bit of a hoot.

"My lasting memory of that time is of Wet Lunches, which were quite good.

The emphasis was on the band.

You had a pint and listened to a band and had your lunch.

"It was quite nice sitting up on the union veranda.

Personally, I think it's a shame there is not more of that, tying very light drinking in with food, because I think that is a more responsible way to go.

"Most of the faculty student associations used to have events at the union: commerce would have a happy hour on Fridays, law another day.

The union was a real hub of student life.

That is long gone.

The union building is not a social hub at all anymore, which is a shame.

"The Capping procession ... just got to the point where it was an embarrassing standard.

What had once been quite elaborate floats had deteriorated to a half a dozen people and a keg on the back of a trailer.

"A lot of that also ties in to the advent of internal assessment, Mr Blanch says, referring to the introduction in the early 1970s of a system which, although aimed at reducing end-of-year exam stress, seemed to compound academic demands.

"That killed a lot of the spare time people had for those activities. To build an elaborate float took a lot of time and effort, and people just didn't have that time to commit once internal assessment came in ... that probably killed the raft race as well."

Mr Chambers agrees: "As the years went by, you could see that was an increasing blockage to people who wanted to enjoy themselves. They didn't have the time. Of course, there were always the idiot ones who didn't do any study anyway."