National Action Day for universities

Today the democracy of the university government will be debated in Utrecht, Delft, Leiden en Nijmegen. The division of ‘The New University’ in Groningen organizes a demonstration to create awareness and increase support for democracy at the University of Groningen. Also representatives of the universities of Rotterdam and Wageningen will be campaigning. However, at the University of Twente, no actions have been announced yet.

Student party UReka, currently the largest student party in the University Council, stated earlier in UTnews that their student representatives have good relations with the university board and they do not recognize the criticism on decisions being made based on financial return. The Student Union sees no reasons to join the national action day either. The PvdUT declared to support the ideas of The New University, but did not prepare any actions yet.

Taste and Audentis

Student societies Taste and Audentis do not yet decide on whether they join the action day. In a meeting with student representatives from the University Council and the Student Union, the executive board of the University of Twente has discussed the way students are involved in policy making at the university. The board declares that, at the UT, students already have lots of opportunities to have a say in governance issues, even though there is room for improvement. As requested by the students, the board will soon organize a larger meeting to consult the students’ opinion.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam has been the scene of heated student protests for more than two weeks. On Friday 13^th of February, tens of upset students of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) occupied the Bungehuis, home of the Faculty of Humanities, to protest against the efficiency-oriented management. Ten days later, their negotiations with the executive board members broke down and police forces evicted the building on Tuesday 24^th, arresting 46 people. Most of them had to spend the night in cells and were released only the next day. In between, the aborted occupation had not lead to real consequences, and the underlying discontent and unrest persisted.

Maagdenhuis

A protest march was organized which ended in front of the Maagdenhuis, the building where the UvA board is located, and after a while the crowds forced their way in. The Maagdenhuis has been occupied for seven consecutive days now and yet no agreement has been reached between the protesters and the UvA board. Instead, today students from universities all over the country express solidarity with their Amsterdam colleagues at the National Action Day.