Forget Syllabi; Booze Fest Kicks Off St. Andrews' Year

If only these medieval walls could talk. Scotland's oldest university is seeping with tradition, but perhaps none as unexpected as Raisin Weekend, a two-day hazing festival with unclear roots that encourages "academic mothers" to booze up their "children"—who are then escorted to parties and, sometimes, into bed by their "academic fathers"—and culminates in the world's biggest shaving cream fight, Der Spiegel reports.

The University of St. Andrews, which churns out polished aristocrats like Prince William, counters its stuffy rep by giving students the license to let down their hair. And though the school warns students to curb the antics or see an end to the academic year kick-off, previous years' students stripped nude, bit the heads off live chickens, and poured beans on townspeople.
(More University of St. Andrews stories.)