Praxe
|
Coimbra's Queima das Fitas Parade |
The
Praxe is a student's tradition in
Portuguese universities and other institutions of
higher education. It means a body of ritual and custom founded upon ancient traditions of the
University of Coimbra, the oldest university of Portugal, which is an important part of the academic life. Every year, younger and older higher education students, celebrate together rich and vast traditions for being at an
higher education institution. Tradition, ritual, humor, joy and parody, are some of the main ingredients of
praxe, where older students tend to produce funny situations and jokes with the freshmen, giving at same time a warming welcome to them through initiation rituals. The ritual burning of the ribbons of
Queima das Fitas, the tradition of ripping and tearing of the newly graduates academic suit, the tin can parade
Festa das Latas, the
Cortejo parade of Queima das Fitas, among many other rituals, are other Praxe's characteristics. In most universities and colleges, girls and boys have some gender-separated rituals.
The
praxe, or more precisely
praxe académica (academic praxe), as almost all the other student traditions in Portugal, was born in the city of
Coimbra (possibly also at
Lisbon in the beginnings), at the University of Coimbra, which started its life at Lisbon in
1290. The
Latin expression
Dura Praxis Sed Praxis meaning
hard praxe but fair praxe, is the motto and principle respected for students inside the
academy when performing
praxe. Either that, or they were occasionally forced to do it. Through its history, in some places and occasions, "Praxes" could have been more or less violent and sadistic, which raised the outcry against them inside some institutions.
After centuries of
praxe at Coimbra, the tradition started to be practiced in Lisbon and Porto in the
19th century that also started having higher education. Today, it is known everywhere, being replicated inside higher education institutions of any kind and origin across the entire country.
Its most primitive origin probably lies in the Spanish
University of Salamanca (also founded in the
13th Century like the Portuguese university), where the first Portuguese university picked up some traditions.
The "tradition" of praxe has been criticized for sadistic practices occurred in some higher education institutions, in most cases it happened inside smaller regional institutions. In this context, some older students were accused of going out of their way specifically to heavily humiliate younger students. Practices included simulated sexual activities between the younger students, forced pushups, using animal turd to "mark" students who don't obey or just at random, and there are disputes over the number of violent cases related to the tradition. The Ministry of Education was called by students who wished to see justice applied against abusers, as the institutions themself ignored their complaints. In some regional, or less traditional Portuguese institutions where
Praxe Académica (among many other questionable things) is seen as a kind of informal
certificate to promote the school to the
good school status, instead of the effective quality of its curricular courses, teaching and pedagogic standards, genuine
Praxe Académica is often corrupted, misused, and abused by some groups of students.
*
Traditions section in the University of Coimbra article
