UK university bans graduating students from tossing mortarboards because they might hurt people
- 8 years ago
NORWICH, UNITED KINGDOM — University of East Anglia in Norwich, England has banned its graduating students from tossing their mortarboards, a common tradition across cultures, after some students were hurt by falling hats in recent years.
"The decision to not have the traditional 'hat throwing' photo opportunity for all students this year follows a number of injuries over recent years to graduates hurt by falling mortarboards. This is an unacceptable risk, and we want to ensure no student's graduation day is ruined by the potential for avoidable injury," the university told the Guardian.
The mortarboard got its name from a similarly-shaped tool known as the hawk, which is used by bricklayers to hold cement. The mortarboard is made of a rigid piece of cardboard that allows it to keep its shape and spin when it is thrown.
The Chronicle of Higher Education cited an incident reported in a 1979 paper in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, where a 17-year-old girl whose sight was impaired after being struck across the right eye by a mortarboard.
In order to compensate the students' loss of the tradition, UEA has suggested graduates to mime the action of tossing their hats, and to have an £8-photo-edit service digitally add the hats to the graduation photos.
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"The decision to not have the traditional 'hat throwing' photo opportunity for all students this year follows a number of injuries over recent years to graduates hurt by falling mortarboards. This is an unacceptable risk, and we want to ensure no student's graduation day is ruined by the potential for avoidable injury," the university told the Guardian.
The mortarboard got its name from a similarly-shaped tool known as the hawk, which is used by bricklayers to hold cement. The mortarboard is made of a rigid piece of cardboard that allows it to keep its shape and spin when it is thrown.
The Chronicle of Higher Education cited an incident reported in a 1979 paper in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, where a 17-year-old girl whose sight was impaired after being struck across the right eye by a mortarboard.
In order to compensate the students' loss of the tradition, UEA has suggested graduates to mime the action of tossing their hats, and to have an £8-photo-edit service digitally add the hats to the graduation photos.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
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Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f
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