Student society
A student society is an organization operated by students in a University, with a membership normally consisting only of students. Their aims are often to facilitate a particular activity or promote a belief system. They are usually affiliated to a university student union.Typical examples are:
- Faculty society - uniting students from one university faculty
- Regional society - uniting students from the same region or hometown
- Debating society - political debates
- Film society - Often using lecture theatres to show films cheaply on campus.
- Hiking club - Organising trips.
- International student society - Introducing international students to one another.
- Music society - student ensembles
- Science fiction society - Meeting to watch science fiction TV and films.
- Taekwondo society, Karate club - Meeting to learn martial arts.
In Flanders student societies play a special role in student life. They have traditionally been politically engaged, and played a siginificant role in the division of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in a Flemish and a Walloon part in the 1960s.
A student society is being led by the praesidium. The head of the praesidium (and thus the student society) is the praeses. Other functions include:
- Vice-praeses: assists the praeses where needed.
- Qaestor: takes care of the money.
- Ab-actis: the secretary of the student organisation.
- Cantuor: Leads the canti.
- Vertor: Organises cultural activities.
- Scriptor: Is responsible for creating a magazine.
- Bachhus: Makes sure there is enough beer.
- Dominus morem: Is responsible for keeping order at a cantus.
Student societies used to be politically engaged, but nowadays they are more focused on organising parties, canti and socio-cultural activities. A student society is generally linked to a certain faculty: it can, for example, group together all biology students at a certain university. Other societies group students from the same region or hometown.
One can find student society at a university or a hogeschool.
Newbies take a very special place in a student society: during one year, they are schacht, which means that they have more or less no rights within the student society. You become schacht by getting yourself baptised. Before that, you are called shit. After being baptised, a year of suffering comes, which is ended by the ontgroening. Then you are a normal member of the student organisation and you can become a member of the praesidium if you want to do so. Normal members are also referred to as anciens.