Belgian Students Prank in a
Big Way
The author of this article,
.lean Itoddewyn, attended the
University laat year and gradu
ated In business administra
tion. Now hack home in Bel
* kilim, he Kent un this report on
student life there. He said he
hoped w<» “wouldn't find it too
revolutionary."
Practical pokes in the USA
hie usually performed on the fra
ternity or dormitory level: wa
- iei bagging, showering, "putting
in the stocks," hacking, etc. At
best, they usually involve a few
fiats or dorms. To my knowledge,
Junior Prom traditions are the
only exception to that custom,
on the Oregon campus.
Jlut in Belgium, there are no
fiats and very few dorms (male
students usually rent rooms in
piivate lious- s). Students there
can’t find an exutory for their
fan* leu and complexes.
It's Different There
Here lies the difference: Amer
ican students respect legal and
academic authorities, professors
s and policemen are taboo, and no
one seems to dare provocating
them by jokes. European stu-.
denis, on the other hand, are
• traditionally, actively and, if
. possible, humorously “against"
j rofessors, municipal and na
tional police and the “bourgeois,"
' i.e., tlie decent citizens, symbols,
in their eyes, of order, peace
and boredom.
\ cry universities had jails
for troublemaking students. The
municipal police now takes care
of ihern, and one of the most
aspired to honors is to have spent
- at least one day in this jail
There is even kind of a secret
frat of former residents of this
hospitable place!
A Serious Procession
When .school starts in Septem
b' l. professors of the University
.of Louvain, clad in caps, gowns
and hoods, make a procession
through the city. These orna
'mei.t.s are stored in some univer
. sity building.
Well, in 194!), these caps,
gowns and hoods were stolen the
’ vt ry day preceeding the begin
ning of class. As they couldn’t
l>e found, the president, who blew
liis.top, and had to send frantic
'telegrams to all professors to tell
- them to bring tuxedos, wedding
garbs, dress-coats, anything to
have something black and serious
to wear during the procession.
It took a week to find the ap
parel. hidden in some remoted
dace. One of the professors, the
Ibime Minister of Belgium, found
lis garb floating on top of the
ampaniila, the stairs of which
lad been covered with soap to
hake its rescue harder!
forming the Lastie
In the center of the city of
|hent, there is a very solid-look
_niedievil castle castle, sur
L'd by a broad ditch full of
rer, the entrance to which
is protected by a draw-bridge.
Well, in 1950, a couple of thou
. sand students of the University
of Ghent walked in with food and
projectiles, drew the bridge up,
• and waited for the fight.
After a couple of hours, hun
dreds of policemen, gendarmes,
and firemen were besieging the
-castle with water hoses and lad
ders. It took about a full day of
for
BREAKFAST
LUNCH
DINNER
or that Late Snack
. . . try . . .
De"i Sun
From Castle Commandeering to Pants Pulling
Our Belgian Brothers Are Out for Some Fun
heroic battle to get the students
to surrender. They were shaking
the ladders, pushing the besieg
ers in the ditch, and throwing
rotten eggs and apples on their
opponents. This day, the old city
lived some hours of its glorious
medieval past.
Peaceful Traffic Jam
In October 1952, the students
of the same university of Ghent
rented all the carts they could
find, and peacefully, decently and
innocently pushing these carts
through the busiest part of the
city They succeeded in creating
the most awful traffic-jam in the
city's history.
Another traditional joke at the
University of Louvain is the
stealing, or rather “borrowing"
of statues the day before their
unveiling. As lots of big wheels
(governors, state secretaries,
bishops, representatives, profes
sors) are usually invited to this
official ceremony, it is always a
mess f>0 the invited speaker to
have to give his talk in front of
an empty pedestal.
The kidnapping of famo u s
speakers invited to the Univer
sity in also a traditional joke,
either before or after the speech
(it depends on the interest>. Stu
dents even succeeded once in
making one of these kidnapped
guests so drunk that they were
aide to take off his pants. Then
they rejeased him in a public
place where he was apprehended
by the police for drunkenness
and gross indecency!
A good practical poke was de
vised lately by English students.
They put cjuite a few pounds of
soap powder in a public fountain.
After a short time, thousands of
cubic feet of soap suds were
pouring in the street, creating a
terrible traffic jam in a very
busy business district.
Who's the King?
There happened to be at the
University of Louvain a boy look
ing exactly like our young King
Baudouin. Some wise guys took
notice of it, and with the help of
some professors, they prepared
their farce very carefully.
One afternoon in October 1951,
the Reverend Sister of. a Catholic
high school for girls got a phone
call supposedly coming from the
king's palace The caller said:
“The king's secretary is speak
ing: His Majesty will arrive at
3 p.m. to visit the new buildings
of your school.”
They Didn't Suspect
As the King sometimes makes
such visits, the good nun didn't
suspect anything. She ran wild
ly into the classes, shouting:
“The King is coming! The King
is coming!” Everybody got wild
and started running from class to
class. The flag was hung on the
front door, and the girls hastily
repeated our national anthem.
A quarter of an hour later, a
car arrived with some young
men who showed special cards,
"Private Police of the King,” and
who took command of the phones
and entrances of the. building.
At 3 p.m. sharp, a black auto
mobile with the King’s plate
number stopped in front- of the
school. The National anthem,
hurrahs and flowers greeted it
. . and the “King” appeared be
fore the fainting nuns and girls.
Then started a visit of the build
ings and a fresh new series of
national anthems, .hurrahs and
flowers every time the monarch
entered a class.
His Majesty Detected
By this time, the chaplain had
guessed something was wrong,
as the King’s confidants looked
very young and could hardly
keep from laughing. And one
girl was insisting that she had
danced with the “King’’ some
time ago. He tried to phone to
the Kings palace, but couldn’t,
as the “detectives” prevented
him. Finally he took a bicycle
and rode to the next phone booth
where he learned from the King's
house that His Majesty was some
place else in Belgium.
A Royal Foot Race
The chaplain came back with
a few policemen to put an end to
that farce. By this time, the
“King” had almost ended his
visit and was about to grant a
special holiday to the girls when
chaplain and policemen entered
the school. Under the eyes of
shocked nuns and girls the
“King" and his confidants started
a hundred meters dash through
the building and across the lawn
bordering it.
They were finally caught but
King Baudouin (the real one)
had enough sense and humor to
laugh about this high-treason
performed with so much skill.
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