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The 1897 College Review in recalling the first decade of the College, notes that one of the most regular early attendants at lectures was Dr Fitchett’s dog, Zeus. They claimed “The monotony of the proceedings was occasionally enlivened by the ‘pit-pat-pitting’ of the dog’s tail on the floor, and it was claimed by his fellow students that Zeus could wag his tail in Latin and bark in Greek."

When the College first opened in 1873 lectures started as early as 7.45am and went late into the evening, as well as on the weekends. The schedule was geared to cater for the majority of students who were working full time and had to fit study around the demands of their professions. As the College progressed, greater numbers of students studied full time, but the lecture timetable continued to allow for those who were working. The schedule for 1947 shows lectures starting at 8am and running to 9pm, while laboratories ran from Monday to Saturday from 9am to 6pm. Some lectures were no doubt more demanding than others. Professor Macmillan Brown was well known for running over time in his classes, sometimes talking for up to three hours or more. Yet he claimed that his students’ were happy with this arrangement, declaring that “It was heroic work, but they seemed to enjoy it.”

At that time students marks were determined solely on examinations, but they still had to attend lectures and complete course work in order to get ‘terms’, which qualified them to sit the examinations. To prove attendance at lectures, students had to sign an attendance register, and in some of the larger lectures this led to students assisting each other by signing on behalf. Some students took the practice further, and began signing the roll on behalf of fictional students, which meant that in one year the students ‘I.V. Lenin’ and ‘D.B.Lager’ qualified to sit the examination for English 1.