Corporation (university)

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Corporation refers to different kinds of student organizations worldwide.

Generally, universities in the various European countries have student organizations called corporations. The name is derived from the Latin corporatio meaning a body or group. There was an earlier type of student organization, called a nation from the Middle Ages, where students from all over Europe at a particular university would unite according to national (actually regional) lines. Today, student organizations in Sweden, Finland, and, to a lesser degree, Scotland are still termed nations, while most of the rest of European universities, the organizations are considered corporations.

Below are short entries on the organizations found at universities on a country-by-country basis. There are also references to longer articles.

[edit] Austria

Sharing common roots, Austrian corporations are quite similar to their German counterparts. While Catholic corporations generally are associated with the Christian-conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and are generally pro-Austrian, other corporations, especially Burschenschaften, are involved with the right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ) and can be characterized as German-nationalist organizations.

[edit] Canada

See Fraternities and sororities.

[edit] England

There are very few corporations in London, all of which were founded by students from continental Europe.

[edit] Estonia

Corporations in Estonia are very much like those in Germany though foxes (first-year members) do not wear colours, but a black cap instead. Estonian corporations usually have a circinus stitched to their caps, that is, the letters VCFC (an abbreviation for a Latin sentence: Vivat, crescat, floreat corporatio, meaning "Live, grow, prosper together") and the initials of the name of the corporation. Corporations are popular in Estonia. Other student organisations or societies with a lengthy tradition, but without the name, corporation, are also commonly referred to as corporations.

[edit] Finland

Corporations in Finland are called in Finnish osakunta, in English, "nations". The name refers to the historical custom of the continental universities where students usually formed corporations according to their home nations. In Swedish universities, the same practice was followed by the provinces but the name remained. The Finnish version of the name actually is an archaic form of department, and this name was adopted during the nineteenth century when the government tried to diminish the importance of nations as political organizations.

It was traditional for students to belong to the nations of their provinces but the requirement was abolished in 1930s. Now, nations are a feature peculiar to the University of Helsinki, the oldest Finnish university. Their membership is, since 1937, voluntary, and they concentrate on the student culture. There is also a Swedish-speaking nation (Teknologföreningen) in the Helsinki University of Technology.

In most universities, the primary form of corporation is an association of students majoring in a particular subject. In the universities of technology, these are called guilds.

In addition to the voluntary corporations, every Finnish university student is also required to be a member of the general student corporation of the university, the Student Union (ylioppilaskunta, studentkår), which has the power to levy a membership fee. This corporation also has the legal power to represent the students to the university administration and in all other matters. It also organizes the health care of the students.

See also Nations at the university.

[edit] France

Corporations in France are called bureaux des élèves, corporation or, for short, corpo.

[edit] Germany

See Studentenverbindung.

[edit] Italy

Corporations in Italy are called goliardia.

Moreover, in Rome, there is a corporation of German catholic students (mostly theologians), the Capitolina, associated with the German CV, and, in Bozen, there is a German-speaking catholic corporation, the Meinhardia, associated with the Austrian ÖCV.

[edit] Japan

In Tokyo, there is the corporation Edo-Rhenania, associated with the German CV.

[edit] Latvia

Corporations in Latvia follow traditions similar to those in Germany, however "foxes" (first year members) do not wear colours. The first Latvian corporation, Lettonia was founded in 1870 at the University of Tartu (then Dorpat). It combined beer, commercium songs, and academic fencing traditions of German corporations with Latvian nationalism and a strong emphasis on Latvian culture. The first women's corporation, Daugaviete, was founded in 1921 at the University of Latvia. As of 2004, Latvia has 23 male and 13 female corporations, with about 10,000 members in total.

[edit] Poland

The first Polish corporation, Konwent Polonia, was established in 1828 by the Polish students of the University of Dorpat. The second and third oldest corporations were established by the Polish students of the Riga Technical University: Arkonia (1879) and Welecja (1883). There were more than one hundred corporations in Poland between 1918 and 1939. During communism in Poland (1944-1989), corporations were forbidden. Today about fifteen corporations continue to be active in Poland, among them all three of the oldest ones: Konwent Polonia (in Gdańsk), as well as Arkonia and Welecja (in Warsaw).

[edit] Netherlands

In Leiden a group of students establish in 1799 Collegium in Academia Lugduno Batava Supremum, however this corporation died out in the mid of the 19th century when it was replaced in 1839 by the Leidsche Studenten Corps . The oldest still existing corporation, Vindicat atque Polit, was established in the Dutch city of Groningen, on 4 February 1815 by Dutch students. More corporations were established soon thereafter in the cities of Utrecht, Leiden, Delft, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Wageningen.

During the first half of the nineteenth century, it was very common for every student to join such a student corps (Latin, plural corpora). At the beginning of the twentieth century, more types of corporations were established, and many had a religious basis.

During World War II, all corpora not willing to subscribe to the new German law that Jewish students no longer could become member of non-commercial unions, the corpora either closed-down or became clandestine organizations. During the 1970s, most of the corporations started to enroll women as fully-accepted members. Now, student corporations in the Netherlands are widespread. Although the corpora are still the major corporations, other corporations are gaining ground.

[edit] Scotland

See Nations in Scotland.

[edit] Spain

The corporations in Spain are called tuna.

[edit] Sweden

See Nations at Swedish universities‎.

[edit] United States

See Fraternities and sororities.

[edit] External links

• Academic corporations (in English)
• Weltkorporationstag (in English, Spanish, and German)
• Ruderverbindung (in German)