Students celebrate Raisin Monday with traditional foam fight

Hundreds of students have taken part in a mass foam fight as part of a ritual dating back centuries at Scotland’s oldest university.

Raisin Monday is the culmination of a weekend of festivities when first-year students at the University of St Andrews say thank-you to their more senior student “parents” for mentoring them.

The so-called “children” are given embarrassing costumes to wear and take part in a shaving foam fight in St Salvator’s Quad in the Fife town.

Jamie Rodney, president of the University of St Andrews Students’ Association, said the event helps bring the student community together.

He said: “It was really successful, people enjoyed themselves and there were some really creative costumes.

“People put a lot of thought into dressing up their academic kids.

“I think one of the most important parts about St Andrews is our unique student community and taking part in these traditions is a really important way of being part of that community.

“We’ve got people from all over the world and all walks of life at St Andrews and it’s just nice to have them all taking part in these events.”

Raisin Monday
Raisin Monday

Raisin Weekend dates far back into the history of the university and is named after the tradition whereby “children” gave their academic “parents” a pound of raisins to thank them for welcoming them to St Andrews.

Nowadays it is more likely to be a bottle of wine.

The University of St Andrews was founded in 1413.

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