Kollege and female residences
Kollege has also contributed mascots to many of the ladies’ residences. Asterhof obtained Giraster, their giraffe mascot, after Kollege students used a statue of a giraffe to poke inside their windows to scare and annoy the ladies. Klaradyn obtained their first two lions after Kollege “aquired” them and gave them to the ladies in 1969, after which Kollege gave them a lion every feesjaar. In that same year Erika was presented with their mascot of a unicorn by Kollege students when they kidnapped the primaria, which the Erika ladies were not too pleased with. Madelief ’s mascot, which is based on the cartoon character Garfield, is named Charisma and has been set on fire by Kollege twice.
Oom Gert
Oom Gert was known as Oom Paul until 1932 and was stolen by Kollege and Sonop students. During his stay at UP he suffered several abductions, a fractured skull, and an amputation of the arm. Because of the raids becoming increasingly violent, the committee of 1945 decided the victor of Rag would have the rights to Oom Gert, which resulted in Sonop keeping him. Kollege and Sonop have now resurrected the tradition where Sonop encircle Oom Gert and Kollege surrounds them. Sonop then sings their house song and Kollege sings the Gheibalt, a traditional song of theirs. Thereafter the president of Kollege presents a letter addressed to Oom Gert’s mother.
Stories of Kollege
The Toga Day tradition started as a protest against one of the rules instituted by the university where everyone had to wear suits. In response, Kollege students took some of their own bed sheets and made togas out of them. Now every year on that day Kollege students and oumanne wear their togas and sing the house song on the Aula grass in front of Ou Kollege where they used to fly the residence flag.
Kollege has always been seen as a mischievous residence. During a rugby game on Loftus Versveld, two Kollege students lubricated a pig named Oscar and let him loose on the field. The students were later expelled from the university after the story exploded in the media. Another pig-related story is of the time when discussions of closing the beer gardens (now clubhouses) were underway and Kollege students took the resident pig, Spiesang, along to the meeting. They then pulled on his tail, which resulted in so much noise that the meeting had to be concluded.
The centenary year
Everything Kollege does is done for the Republic first. This can be seen by how they approach their Serrie performances, where they have come last in the past two years but have done so in such a way as to never be forgotten. Kollege joolpakke are black and white. According to them, this is because the university started using Kollege’s original colours of blue, red and gold stripes. In typical fashion, Kollege did not want to use the same colours as the university and instead decided to go with no colour at all, black and white. They are painted by the residents in their second year to show their unique personalities and to unite the students by doing something distinctly Kollege. These joolpakke are not replaced, instead being worn each and every year. Lavagna says, “We all want them to be linked by something Kollege but in the same [way] we don’t want to make clones.”
Kollege is looking on to their hundredth year with the same principle of always having the ability to change as the rules change. Due to the significance of the Aula grass, Kollege is planning to have their feesdinee there. They also have events involving the oumanne planned (such as a golf day) and the feesjaar logo, banners and t-shirts have been designed. Feesjaar duties have been included in two EC’s duties instead of the usual one.
