Academic Traditions

Praxe (New Student’s initiation)

You might be surprised the first few times you spot groups of students wearing black costumes, similar to the ones seen in Harry Potter movies. 

This is a traditional portuguese costume or suit for university students, which origins can be traced back to the University of Coimbra, one of the oldest in Europe, that adopted the same clothing for all students, independently of their background and family’s wealth, in order to combat discrimination: everyone dressed exactly the same, everyone was a student, a no one was above others.

It is now used as part of an initiation, or hazing ritual for freshman students done by older students, usually as a way of integrating all the new students from different parts of the country into the academic life, and as a way for everyone to make new friends!

Nowadays, the cultural part persists, and even though not everyone chooses to dress with the traditional “traje”, it is still an honor for those who do. Every university now may choose different rules in order to be able to dress it, and some are more or less severe.

In Aveiro, the norm is to:

• Participate in the Praxe from the 1st year of university;
• Complete the freshmen behavioral evaluation;
• Wear the Traje according to the dress rules (varying by university: some don’t allow visible piercings, only black socks, no sunglasses, etc);
• Correct knots for each course, year and role within the Praxe;
• Customization with emblems allowed from the 2nd year onwards.

You will mostly see these suits, or Trajes, in some specific occasions:

• Beginning of Classes when older students welcome the newcomers.

• Academic Weeks are the most fun times of being a student! They are usually outside of evaluation periods when students have more freedom from their studies, or sometimes even no classes, and involve concerts during the full day and night, with partying happening during the same time!  There are also options that involve less partying, such as sports competitions or tournaments.

• Desfile Académico (Students Parade) where everyone dresses up in the Traje, and rides around the city in a decorated car made by the students of the course that it represents, and usually involves a lot of alcohol, both to drink and to spray and wet everyone around!

• Tuna Concerts The Tuna is the University Band, where students often play traditional instruments and have dance moves inspired by Portuguese folklore. They play in most university events, as well as organize their own concerts and small festivities!