“What are you going to do in Aarhus?” asks the coach driver before the coach pulls out of the car park in front of the Department of Education in Emdrup. And he gets a prompt reply:

“We’re going to the Aarhus University Boat Race.”

More than 70 students in two coaches have packed everything they need (beer, colas and rugs) for a great day in Aarhus watching their fellow students whipping the lake in the University Park into a frenzy. They aren’t supporting any team in particular – they just want to join in the fun.

Part of AU

“What’s a boat race got to do with education?” asks the coach driver. And it’s a fair point: this is clearly NOT an outing that is going to be dedicated to hard work and academic achievement. But this doesn’t make it any less important.

In fact, the Student Council (DSR) has been working for weeks to get financial backing for the coach trip.

“It’s important for us to join in and be part of the social life of Aarhus University. Our department is located a very long way away from Aarhus, which can make it hard to feel like part of the AU community,” explains Sissel Wolf Mundberg Sørensen, chair of DSR and one of the people who took the initiative for the trip.

She explains why DSR asked AU to fund the outing: “We weren’t the ones who decided to be part of an AU that was split into two campuses in Aarhus and Emdrup. I suppose we could go to a similar event at the University of Copenhagen, but it wouldn’t be the same. We’re demonstrating our interest in AU by turning up for the Boat Race; and by helping us to go to the Boat Race AU is demonstrating its interest in us,” she explains.

The department is paying

The DSR application was granted, and the department is paying the bill of DKK 20,000.

“The department is split into Campus Emdrup and Campus Aarhus, so of course it’s interested in helping all the students at both campuses to take part in joint events designed for all the students at the university. Particularly the traditional Boat Race. This is the kind of thing that strengthens the ties that bind us, and as head of department I think that a sense of community is very important,” explains Hanne Løngreen from the Department of Education.

Marianne Ping Huang, Vice-Dean of Arts, praises the students’ initiative:

“It can be difficult to feel like part of AU when you study in Emdrup, so it’s great that the students are so keen to show their commitment to a common sense of AU identity in this way,” she says.

Sissel Wolf Mundberg Sørensen was also at the Boat Race last year with a group from DSR, who had decided to hold their AGM in Aarhus the day before the race. And she says it was very valuable to see Campus Aarhus with her own eyes.

“It changed the way we think about AU. Before the trip we knew virtually nothing about what the university looked like. We also managed to talk to some of the other students in Aarhus, which has benefited the social life of the department in particular.”

A generous gesture

Spirits are running high on the coach that Omnibus has chosen to sit in. The music of Alberte and Anne Linnet entertains us, and there’s the crisp sound of beer cans being cracked open. The students are delighted that this is a free coach trip.

“I think it’s great that the university is paying,” says Mathias Breum.

“Yes, it’s a generous gesture, and I would actually have paid some of the fare myself,” says René Kristensen.

For Nanna Rasmussen it was vital that AU paid for the cost of transport.

“I wouldn’t have come otherwise, because a return ticket to Aarhus costs quite a lot. But I’ve heard it’s a really cool event, so I’m looking forward to it.”

One happy family

As a general rule they don’t mind studying a very long way from all the other departments of Aarhus University.

“I don’t feel like we’re ever ignored and I don’t normally think we’re missing out. We’re hugely committed to the course we’ve chosen,” explains Nanna Rasmussen.

“It’s actually nice that Emdrup is such a small place. It makes you feel more at home, and we’re like one happy family. But of course it’ll be fun to watch the Boat Race – it’s got great traditions, so we’ll have to see if it lives up to our high expectations,” adds Daniel Dam. This is his first Boat Race.

Not many traditions

However, it is sometimes a bit hard to get a proper social life going at such a small campus, which is part of the relatively new set-up following the merger between the School of Education and Aarhus University, explain three girls on the coach. They’ve tried time and time again to get some kind of study environment going in Emdrup – a film club and student revue, for instance.

“We don’t have many traditions, so it’s important to come along and watch the Boat Race because we hope this can be the start of a new tradition. We’re coming along to create a sense of community, and the event is already proving popular. Last year there were about 30 of us at the Boat Race, but this year there are more than 70 of us,” says Stine Bech Olsen.

“We often have to explain where we come from. We study the science of education, which is a new degree programme that lots of people have never heard of. And although we’re students of Aarhus University, we’re based in Copenhagen. People find that a bit difficult to grasp,” explains Lin Thomsen.

On the way across the island of Funen and up through Jutland, the students start drinking from bottles with more of a kick than warm beer. Spirits rise accordingly, the back window mists over, and the coach begins to emanate an increasing level of mirth and jollity.

By the time the coach hits Trøjborg in Aarhus, where the students are due to spend the night at the department, the atmosphere is truly buzzing.