... head of college awoke and went on a spree (8)
I believe the answer is:
caroused
'on a spree' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'head of college awoke and went' is the wordplay.
'head of' suggests taking the first letters.
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'went' becomes 'roused' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The initial letters of 'college awoke' is 'ca'.
'ca'+'roused'='CAROUSED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for caroused that I've seen before include "Partied noisily" , "Revelled" , "Enjoyed oneself in a noisy, lively way" .)