THEY STUDIED IN OPULENT SURROUNDINGS but students had plenty of irreverent fun within the refined walls of Craigdarroch Castle when it was Victoria College's home from 1921-46.

A visitor can still find evidence of the antics by looking closely at the oak panels of the castle's Dogwood Room. Among other late-'30s graffiti, Pierre Berton's name is carved in the wood. The author and Canadian historian (and a ringleader of the satirical Microscope student newspaper) returned to Victoria in September for a centennial ceremony at the original site of Vic College, at Fort St. and Fernwood Road.