On Campus Blog

How not to treat college freshmen

When it comes to frosh abuse, today's frats have nothing on Leipzig University in 1495:

"Statute Forbidding Any One to Annoy or Unduly Injure the Freshmen. Each and every one attached to this university is forbidden to offend with insult, torment, harass, drench with water or urine, throw on or defile with dust or any filth, mock by whistling,

Medieval-university
(Wikimedia Commons)

cry at them with a terrifying voice, or dare to molest in any way whatsoever physically or severely, any, who are called freshmen, in the market, streets, courts, colleges and living houses, or any place whatsoever, and particularly in the present college, when they have entered in order to matriculate or are leaving after matriculation."

Bad news for University of Minnesota chemistry professor Chris Cramer, who quipped on Twitter: Aw... What'm I gonna do with this Winchester full of urine now?

You can read more of these literary nuggets on Ask the Past, a website that extracts tips and how-to advice from the old books.

(h/t Jon Ruzek  for this little gem)