Traditions are customs that have developed within the association over the years. Some traditions are not only found at Labyrint, such as the Constitutional order in which the board sits or the constitution drinks. Other traditions, such as port as an association drink or our association colors are unique to our association. See below for a list of all traditions.
Terms for (former/future) boards
In the student world, abbreviations such as “h.t.,” “f.t.,” and “e.t.” are often used. The meanings of these are as follows:
h.t.: Derived from 'hoc tempore' meaning present.
f.t.: Derived from 'future tempore' meaning future.
e.t.: Derived from 'ex tempore' meaning former.
k.b.: Derived from 'candidate board' meaning candidate board.
At Labyrint, no-nonsense titles such as president, secretary, treasurer, etc. are used.
Some associations use the following words for these: Praeses/president (President), Ab-actis/secretary (Secretary), Quaestor/thesaurian (Treasurer), Assessor (Commissioner).
Constitutional order
The constitutional order is as follows: first the president, then the secretary, then the treasurer, and then come the other board members, often in alphabetical order. These positions may vary from one association to another. However, the first three positions are always fixed and are also known as the “daily board” or in student terms “DB.
On this order, then, you stand, but not from left to right. You start in the middle, then one person is added each time on first the right and then the left. So if you stand in constitutional order, the president stands in the middle, the secretary on his/her right side, the treasurer on his/her left side et cetera. This is the case because, according to tradition, the secretary and treasurer are figuratively “the right and left hand of the president. The other Board members who, in the same way, stand on one of the president's sides each time.
Attire and Penning
On official occasions (constitution drinks, opening of the academic year, Dies Natalis, etc.) one should be dressed formally: in a suit and in Leiden with a penninf. The penning may only be worn on official occasions, so not yet when the board is still riding a bicycle, for example. In recent years the penning has also been worn on official occasions outside Leiden, such as constitution drinks of sister associations.
Change of Boards
There are a number of traditions associated with the change of Boards. For example, it is tradition at a change to submit playful motions to the new board, which the board must abide by that year. These motions do not appear in the motion summary because they apply only to that year's board. The submission of playful motions that (may) lead to traditions is a tradition in itself. During the agenda item What Comes Further to the Table (W.T.T.K.), it is customary to submit motions.
In addition, an exit speech and an entrance speech are given by the alternating (vice) presidents.
Both the old and new Board are weighed during the G.A. after weighing, the Board may indicate how many pounds they think they will gain/lose. One year later at the next alternate G.A. it is checked how much the board has actually gained or lost.
Function Dinners
It is tradition that each Board member organizes a dinner during his/her board year with function predecessors from past years. For each function, it varies how many people join.
Train Day
It is tradition that the current Board organizes a train day for the f.t. board. This takes place in the summer before the Boards change during the change G.A. During the train day, the f.t. board is sent into the country by train to perform various tasks.
Board theme at Boardchange party
The h.t. Board comes up with a theme for the f.t. Board for the Boardchange party. This theme has to do with the president of the f.t. Board. The f.t. Board , after the change the h.t. Board, then comes to the change party in themed clothing. This theme is always announced one week in advance. It is also tradition that you keep coming with your own Board in theme the following years.
Cortège
On official University occasions, such as the opening of the academic year or the Dies Natalis, the president of the society is often allowed to walk cortège. Cortège is an expensive word for “procession” or “entourage. The order in the cortège is fixed. In front walks the beadle (usher), which is the man with the staff, followed by the members of the Executive Board, the rectors who are guests and the deans (the “bosses” of the faculties). Then follow the other professors. Each year, a different faculty may lead the way. Within each faculty, the emeriti (retired professors) form the leading group. Then come the ordinary professors. Then the special professors (funded by companies and institutions) and finally the ecclesiastical ones. These are the professors involved in ministerial training, which the University also provides. Within each group, the date of appointment is again the determining factor. If they are all there, but that is rarely the case, about 450 professors walk along; on average there are 250. Finally, the presidents of the student and student associations follow. Unfortunately, the student associations lead the way and FSW is the last association to attend. A fixed number of tickets for the cortège is provided per faculty, as a result boards of faculties with few student associations often attend with more people.
The Labyrint song
The Labyrint Song was created by Board 58 (Breuer) and is sung to the tune of the Leiden national anthem. This song may be deployed at will by the president of the association. When he/she is absent, the vice president may take over this task. When the latter is not present either, the constitutional order is followed. The president initiates the chant with a loud “LAAA” and waves the arm as the actual song begins. The third and final verse is accompanied by loud pounding on the ground, this pounding is initiated at the beginning of the third phrase of the third verse. The association song is sung at the following times:
- At the end of each A.V., the entire song is sung
- At events for Active members, such as the Active member day and the Active member dinner
- At constitution drinks, both our own and those of other associations
- At multi-day activities, the song is sung at least once, such as First Year Weekend, Study Trip and All Year Weekend, for example. The song is always sung at the end of the bus ride home.
The Labyrintyell
In addition to the song, Labyrinthalso has a yell. Again, for the yell, the president may deploy it. The yell is often deployed at activities, but there are no mandatory times for this.
Port
Port is Labyrint's association drink. The idea behind this is that burgundy port fills the body with Labyrint's beautiful, red color. Therefore, toasting with port is always allowed. Often, drinking port is accompanied by the Labyrintyell. At the conclusion of an A.V., the board and the A.V. (vice) president drink a glass of port to toast to a successful meeting.
After the brand new board has changed, they drink a bottle of port together. Drinking the bottle of port is done in reverse constitutional order. The bottle must be empty at the end. This is done at the change A.V.
Opening General Assembly (G.A.).
The meeting is opened after the G.A. president and the board sing the last verse of the Labyrint song, while the G.A. president sets the beat by tapping the floor with the beadle staff.
Constitution Drink (CoBo).
The CoBo is a get-together to congratulate the board on its constitution. The get-together takes place at the beginning of the board year. Broadly speaking, the CoBo should include the following facets:
Drinks and appetizers: drinks and appetizers should be bought off in advance, otherwise there is a greater chance of exceeding the budget.
Beadle and beadle staff: the person who talks the evening together is the beadle. This person calls out who may reciprocate. To get the attention of those present, the beadle staff is struck on the ground three times. It is recommended that a hostess or host is also appointed to structure the applications for the recipients.
Guest book: a guest book and pen should be present during the CoBo. These should be properly secured.
Security: to protect the board and attributes present such as the staff and guest book, some members of the society will be asked to act as security guards.
Port is drunk by the board and receptive guests after congratulations.
A unique feature at Labyrint is that members themselves are welcome to attend CoBo and congratulate the new board.
Burgundy
Labyrint's traditional color is burgundy. Together with the colors black, gray and white, this fits the association's house style. The color burgundy will be guaranteed in at least the following parts of the association:
Promotion: an established house style should be used in original pieces. The official font of Labyrint is “Garamond.
The clothing line: it is recommended that board members continue the color in their own association clothing (such as the board suit), as well as in the association's clothing line.
Assemble candidate board
Once consensus has been reached, after days of meetings, on the new candidate board, the current board will uncork a bottle of champagne, toast the new candidate board and sing the Labyrint song!