I had to wear academic dress (gown, mortarboard and other restrictions) to sit my finals at Oxford in 1974. The gown turned out to be of practical use, protecting my suit when a pigeon flew through the exam hall, distributing blessings as it went.
A fellow student whose suit was too gaudy to suit the authorities was allowed to sit his first paper but was warned that if he didn't get a duller suit by the afternoon they really wouldn't let him in for the next one. He was last seen heading off in the direction of Moss Bros (for the transpondials: a well-known chain of shops that hire out fancy and formal clothes).
Several ceremonies were still conducted in Latin, and more often than not the academics conducting them had no Latin and were reciting their speeches by rote. Sometimes they got their paragraphs mixed. Students transferring from Cambridge, who should have been offered a welcome 'apud nos Oxonienses', would have been left unprotected against the magical defences of the Oxford colleges.
These are all from my personal experience.
You would need very little exaggeration to produce all sorts of scenario hooks for a university campaign.
Andrew
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