I am of a similar vintage and agree that it was not uncommon for academic buttons who weren't monitors to read Grace.MrEd wrote: ↑Fri Jul 17, 2020 4:39 pm In my time, 1978-85, the 'academic' Button Grecians did read Grace, but thinking back less frequently than Monitors. There never seemed to be any particular order to it, and it should be noted that anyone getting their buttons and reading grace for the first time was always greeted with a cheer, an indication that the ethos of the school amongst the pupils was to recognise and appreciate achievement (even if it was more accurately a prediction of future achievement).
There was of course the Court Room, the small dining room at the side of the Dining Hall, where in my time, two junior houses were shoved for iirc a term at a time, and where junior house prefects read Grace. I didn't make an orator out of me, but I think it is better to start with the rough diamonds and polish them than look only for rubies.
However the first occasion for any Button Grecian was very much a litmus test of popularity and occasionally it would be followed by boos and hisses once the final gavel had come down.
Not much Killer Fry, JMC or Hammerhead could do about that and they knew it.