Initiation in Guatemala

Since the introduction of university autonomy, the University of Guatemala has established the custom of greeting newly-entrolled students with a university baptism. This ceremony consists mainly in a smart hair cut. At the medical school, the new students are also painted by the older students and given large doses of a laxative. Some of the students of the engineering faculty refused to co-operate because they felt it was against their student dignity. (Septiembre, Guatemala).