They say laughter is the best medicine—but at INSEAD it was always more than that. During welcome week’s initial orientation, every incoming class was unknowingly enveloped in an elaborate, imaginatively configured practical joke – inclusive of weird events, fake clubs, and surreal challenges. These windups weren’t just rituals — they were rites of passage. They put students into situations of sheer absurdity, where the only option was to laugh, adapt, and bond.

Here was one of the world’s leading business universities fully embracing and cultivating an atmosphere of levity. The entire community, including students, faculty, and administration played their parts in creating a shared theater of the ridiculous. And because promotions overlapped, each student was first the subject of a prank, and then the orchestrator of one. Far from hazing, it was a bold, community-building initiative that alumni overwhelmingly cherished and one of that forged INSEAD’s special character.

Then, in 2018, after decades of continuously running, the tradition was suddenly banned amid a flurry of political correctness and an official investigation over student complaint. On paper, it was about mental health and well-being; in reality, something precious was lost. Because in stripping away absurdity, INSEAD tore down one of its most human, unique, and unifying experiences.

Sure, the tradition could have been tweaked to minimize possible embarrassment and discomfort on the part of any participant. But banned altogether? Which leads to the real question for alumni and educators: Do we value safety, conformity and polish so much that we need to renounce absurdity and laughter, qualities that teach adaptability, humility, and connectedness?

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