Editing University of Oxford (section)

=== Traditions ===
{{See also|Academic dress of the University of Oxford}}
[[File:Toby Virno sub fusc.JPG|thumb|upright|An undergraduate student at the University of Oxford in [[subfusc]] for matriculation]]

[[Academic dress]] is required for examinations, matriculation, disciplinary hearings, and when visiting university officers. A referendum held among the Oxford student body in 2015 showed 76% against making it voluntary in examinations – 8,671 students voted, with the 40.2% turnout the highest ever for a UK student union referendum.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Doody and Robinson|title=Students vote overwhelmingly to retain subfusc|url=http://www.cherwell.org/news/topstories/2015/05/22/students-vote-overwhelmingly-to-retain-subfusc|website=Cherwell|date=22 May 2015|publisher=OSPL|access-date=22 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150523132145/http://www.cherwell.org/news/topstories/2015/05/22/students-vote-overwhelmingly-to-retain-subfusc|archive-date=23 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> This was widely interpreted by students as being a vote not so much on making [[subfusc]] voluntary, but rather, in effect, on abolishing it by default, in that if a minority of people came to exams without subfusc, the rest would soon follow.<ref>See, for instance, {{cite web|url=http://oxfordstudent.com/ht2006wk1/News/end_of_an_era%3A_subfusc_could_be_sent_down |title=End of an era: subfusc could be sent down – oxfordstudent.com |access-date=27 March 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060308222153/http://oxfordstudent.com/ht2006wk1/News/end_of_an_era%3A_subfusc_could_be_sent_down |archive-date=8 March 2006 }}</ref> In July 2012 the regulations regarding academic dress were modified to be more inclusive to [[transgender]] people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.govtoday.co.uk/education/40-higher-education/12099-support-for-transgender-students-taking-oxford-university-exams |title=Support for transgender students taking Oxford University exams |access-date=29 July 2012 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910005933/http://www.govtoday.co.uk/education/40-higher-education/12099-support-for-transgender-students-taking-oxford-university-exams |archive-date=10 September 2012 }}</ref>

'Trashing' is a tradition of spraying those who just finished their last examination of the year with alcohol, flour and confetti. The sprayed student stays in the academic dress worn to the exam. The custom began in the 1970s when friends of students taking their finals waited outside Oxford's [[Examination Schools]] where exams for most degrees are taken.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clement |first=Mia |date=14 May 2021 |title=Who are we really trashing? |url=https://www.cherwell.org/2021/05/14/who-are-we-really-trashing/ |access-date=18 April 2023 |website=Cherwell |language=en-GB |archive-date=18 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418141730/https://www.cherwell.org/2021/05/14/who-are-we-really-trashing/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Other traditions and customs vary by college. For example, some colleges have [[formal hall]] six times a week, but in others this only happens occasionally, or even not at all. ''Balls'' are major events held by colleges; the largest, held triennially in ninth week of Trinity Term, are called [[commemoration ball]]s; the dress code is usually [[white tie]]. Many other colleges hold smaller events during the year that they call summer balls or parties. <!-- Ought here to explain Matriculation, make reference to [[May Morning]], and briefly mention Merton's time ceremony, Corpus' tortoise race, etc -->