Gregory Building Statue

What a mysterious piece of art. It stands in front of the Gregory Building which houses the University of Glasgow’s Geology department. There’s no plaque or sign to explain what it is or where it came from. Perhaps it’s intended as a problem for new gelogy students to solve?
These days there’s a minor tradition for new students to squeeze through that gap between the stones and to thus be «born» into university life. This has earned the sculture the nickname of The Stone Vagina.
However, for those who aren’t geology students (or freshers waiting to be born) I can shed a little light on this piece. It’s a piece of Ballachulish granite that was cut from a culvert on the West Highland Way and was presented to the university by amalgamated Quarries (Scotland) Ltd of Stirling in 1977, when the building was opened.

This is the home of the Archaeology and Geology Departments at Glasgow University. The Building is named for John Walter Gregory (1864 – 1932) Professor of Geology from 1904 to 1929 and emanates a rather ‘60s feel. It looks deceptively small and unremarkable from the outside but is actually pretty big inside. It’s always warm, cosy and homely.
Though, the real reason this review is being written actually lies outside of the building itself. Yes, it is the statue — well, monument — outside of the Gregory Building. This is two large, semicircular stones which are positioned to rest against each other and make a rough sort of stone ark.
Unfortunately, this is now mainly known amongst Glasgow University students as ‘the stone vagina’. Indeed. How our tax money benefits society.
Anyhow, through the years a bizarre student ritual has came into being. Students — especially first years — will drink copious amounts of alcohol in one of the two unions and then go in packs to be ‘reborn’ through the stone vagina.
Hence, this little bit of history and current student ritual could be described as ‘loco flavour’. Though, please be assured I have not been ‘reborn’.