British university bans hat-throwing, offers to Photoshop mortarboards
LONDON -- A British university has banned the traditional hat-throwing tradition on graduation day, claiming it poses an "unacceptable risk" of injury.
The University of East Anglia (UAE) in Norwich said a number of students have been injured over recent years by falling mortarboards.
You May Also Like
"This is an unacceptable risk and we want to ensure no student’s graduation day is ruined by the potential for avoidable injury," the institution said in a statement to Mashable. "This has been agreed by our academic dress suppliers who often receive back damaged mortarboards, and our photographers."
Instead, it will offer £8 ($11) photographs of students miming the throw with the hats Photoshopped in, according to student newspaper The Tab.
The offer has been criticised by the Law Society president at UAE, Louisa Baldwin, who said: “If I’ve paid £45 to hire a bit of cloth and card for the day, I should be able to chuck my hat in the air! It’s nothing worse than the weekly ritual of dodging VKs [alcopop bottles] as they’re lobbed across the LCR [lower common room] dance floor.”
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
