Our Traditions

This was an exclusive drinking club of Residence. Membership required a resident to drink 3 glasses of beer in under 25 seconds and then to recite two poems, allowing for one mistake in each. If the participant made more than one mistake, he had to drink another beer in under 7 seconds and then start again.

A meeting of the Boat Club could take place at any time during the year. Usually it convened at 12 midnight after the first AGM of the House. 

No meeting was official unless the mascot, Jock, was present, and other members of the Club.

Jock is the official mascot of the Boat Club. He is a fine statuette of a Scottish Grenadier Drum Major; and may have been intended to promote sales of hard liquor in some low drinking establishment. He stands about 2 feet high.

This was the most exclusive club in Residence. It has had only approximately ten members in the last 30 years. Membership required the applicant to drink one bottle of claret wine in under 25 seconds and keep it down for 10 minutes. The meeting convened at 12 midnight after the AGM. Attire was formal - ie academic gown only. Freshmen assembled upstairs in the Dals (and later in the Old College) quad and seniors downstairs. The official adjudicator was the Chairman of the House Committee. House Committee members stood behind the nominee. If the nominee was successful, a cigar would be lit and smoked first by the new Darts Club member and then by all House Comm members. The newly inducted Darts Club member would then lead all the Men's Residents on a lengthy tour of campus and surrounds to yet again proclaim the rightful ownership of these assets and the neighbourhood by all Mens Residents!!

The 'comprehensive treatise full of wit and wisdom, never dull' first appeared in 1928, under the editorship of Johnny Keen. Originally a collection of jokes that virtually all other magazines would refuse. If you ever find a copy from the late eighties, early nineties, keep it way from the kids.

Initiations were part of Res life from the outset. As men returned from the First World War, they imposed ever harsher measures on freshmen, no doubt to impose a degree of wartime discipline. Under the rule of Professor Hyslop, the rites were much curtailed in 1955. A pre-1955 Resident remembers the rites as follows:

Sliding down a mud-slide on the embankment at the sports fields, into a pool of dirty water, then being ducked; parading on the football field and having to drink some vile concoction; having to wear a black bootlace as a tie for the first month in Res; being made to clean the city Hall steps with toothbrushes; being marched to the Women's Res, standing on a table and singing songs to the girls; being violently upturned in their beds at nights; being made to manoeuvre a cotton reel down the corridor using the nose; being upturned, barefooted, in the common rooms and made to leave an imprint on the ceiling.

From 1955, the initiation included being introduced to Phineas, a ceremony carried out with great solemnity in a partially darkened room. There was fairly strict discipline with regard to wearing Freshers Buttons, taking part in the Freshers Concert, carrying out phone duties and so forth. Early morning awakenings took place, Freshmen trotting around campus wearing white lab coats and little else, from time to time serenading the Dean and Assistant Deans (much appreciated at about 1.00am)

By the eighties, Freshers' buttons had been replaced by large cardboard labels, worn on a string around the neck at all times, as were the specially designed caps. Although rolling down a mud slide was long-banished, Freshmen still rolled down the slope leading to the Rugby ground, wheel-barrowed each other across the field, and had various antics with cans of beer. After touring the monuments, Freshmen ended up at the pool at the end of the Library Lawns, where they were joined by the Sunnyside Freshettes. The men brushed their teeth in the rather unsavoury water, whilst the girls used their bras to fish for whatever lurked within the rather shallow depths. Later in the week, Freshmen in their lab coats also walked to Sunnyside to sing songs of rather basic passion to the Freshettes who usually listened and observed from their windows.

The topic of initiation has been and continues to be a controversial and highly debated topic. Initiation can be seen as: "A rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society." In this case, it refers  to  the  young  and inexperienced first year students, who eagerly arrive after having being accepted into the family of Men's Res, and to help them understand and embrace the core element of what makes Men's Res special, the unfaltering spirit of brotherhood.

The event is now known as Orientation Week, and during it Freshmen are taught about Res and University life, learn Res songs, tour the Monuments, serenade the Dean and Assistants. At one time this included a tour Johannesburg and Soweto, and have many parties both as Men's Res and with the other residence Freshmen. These usually have a theme, such as Toga parties, Shirt & Hats parties, and even Pimps and Prostitute parties. Early morning arousings and trotting around Campus also feature.

FRESHERS' CONCERT

A concert is arranged by a joint entertainments committee (seniors) of Men's and Women's Residences. Fresher's take part in this and rehearsals start during the orientation week. The fresher's are therefore involved in rehearsals for three weeks. The Deans and Assistant Deans of both Residences attend the final concert. This concert is felt to be a good thing as gives the fresher's a chance get to know one another. and gives them somethi ng with which to occupy their time particularly during the orientation week. 

FRESHERS' FLICK

On a Saturday afternoon early in the term, fresher's of both Men and Women's residence are required to dress up 'ridiculously' and meet outside Women's Residence. This is followed by a cinema show (on the campus) and a social in the evening at Women's Residence which is attended by Deans and Assistant Deans of both residences. There is  not much point in this ceremony, but good fun is had by all and it is conducted in the open for all to see.

FRESHER OATH TAKING CEREMONY

This takes place on one evening at Men's Residence. It is controlled by the House Committee, under the watchful eye of the Dean.

There was probably not a student who lived in Res that did not know about the DEV room and approximately only 9 out of 10 only enjoyed the hospitality thereof. Not only was this room the nearest pub, but, (not taking into account its rather unpleasant look and decor) it had an atmosphere about it which still probably still lingers on in the memories of most of its one­ time customers.

The primary purpose of this room was to create a venue where those senior residents who actively contributed to the Residence activities may relax.

DID  YOU KNOW?

The DEV room had a membership fee of R5.00. And a key deposit of R10.00 which was refunded at the end of the year to the members.

Residents in the Dev Room in 1985.

With Raiders being very popular for their singing prowess, it has become tradition to sing at the female residences during Oweek and also throughout the year, especially on public holidays that commemorate women such as Valentine's Day and Women's Day.

Dr GR Bozzoli was a man of achievement. VC of this University, he also resided within these walls of Men's Res. The cricket field below Men's Res is named after him. During O' Week freshmen are introduced to this great doctor who is said to cure all forms of sickness, with his consultation times falling either in the very early hours of the morning or the late evening.

Men's Res has had more than its share of sportsmen, with running, chess, football and rugby remaining popular over the years. 

Below, the Men in Red and White take on Wits Medics.