There was a “small spike in egg sales” during O Week, thanks to the long-held tradition of egging freshers.
A Countdown spokesperson said that they saw “a small spike in egg sales at our Dunedin stores over Orientation Week”. However, they encourage people to think critically about the wanton purchasing of eggs, “seeing as food waste is one of the biggest contributors to methane emissions”.
First-year Grace told us that her mates were the victims of a drive-by egging during O Week. According to Grace, who wasn’t egged herself, some flats displayed cartons of eggs to “scare freshers”. She had also heard of flats storing eggs months past their use-by date, saving them up for some extra pungent eggings.
A spokesperson for the University described egging freshers as a “cowardly act” which can cause pain and injury “particularly to the eye”. They also said that anyone engaging in egging risks facing action from the Proctor or the police.
Egging has “grown in momentum since 1981”, according to an old Dunedin student. By 2009, egging was a full-fledged tradition. The Otago Daily Times reported that a second year was almost expelled for it, but was eventually let off with a final warning. According to the article, he also “urinated in public, attempted to set a couch alight and exposed himself to Campus Watch staff”. When the ODT asked him about this he replied “ah ha”.
Seven years later disciplinary action was still being enforced. In 2016, a teenager from Wellington was arrested because they egged the Otago’s Deputy Proctor. The Deputy Proctor then tackled him. The egger was charged with common assault.
Campus Cop John Woodhouse was concerned about drive-by eggings, which were the source of a car crash on Clyde and Union street last year. John called this a practice of “careless drivers”, who “fail to act in the manner of a careful and prudent motorist”.
Poor Student Beer Reviews (aka @growupdunter on Instagram) said that “there is no greater joy than connecting a yolky, high-speed projectile to side of a first years dome from 20+ metres out [sic].” Brad said that he “will feel no pleasure as great as I felt when I harassed a bunch of first-years and assaulted them with eggs,” and recommended buying enough eggs to attack “the whole fresher community.” Every egger interviewed agreed that egging is “a rite of passage we all must go through,” explaining that “we’ve all been through it.”
“By 2022,” he said, “these hardened freshers will do the same to the next generation. And so on, so forth, till the end of time. This is the way.”