Vindicat

These two early nineteenth century glasses show Groningen student association Vindicat atque Polit’s coat of arms. The association was founded in 1815, which makes it the oldest student association in the Netherlands.

Vindicat served as a representative for all students, but it also cultivated the habits and rituals from regular student life. Students liked to use them to distinguish themselves from ordinary civilians.

One of the ways to do this was clothing. Around 1850, they were a common sight early in the morning: young men wearing their typical student get-up, paired with a hat, their pipe in one hand and a walking stick in the other, a dog walking beside them. They would be on their way to attend classes that were being taught by the professors in their own homes. It was also quite possible to see them in their dressing gown and on slippers.

Student associations also had many mores, or rituals. Hazing is very well known – around 1900 students’ heads used to be shaven, so they could be easily distinguished from the elegantly dressed senior members of the association. The student song ‘Io Vivat’ was also a part of student culture.

Other rituals had clearly been copied from the academic life. Vindicat – and others after them – constructed a coat of arms, called their board ‘Senate’, and hired a messenger who could serve as ‘bedel’ - or herald – with a sceptre and a costume. The students wore berets, copied from the berets professors used with their robes.

The statue of Minerva – goddess of wisdom – was also a typical object. It could be found in many a student room in the nineteenth century.