The Erasmus University has a growing amount of international students, but everybody in the University Council is still Dutch speaking. Kristaps Matusevics wants to change this at the next elections in May.
Matusevics is an IBA student from Latvia and believes it is very important that international students are represented in the University Council “After seeing the efforts of assembling an international sorority and a conversation with the chairperson of the Student Representation, I realized that I could become part of a movement that endorses the rights of not only Dutch students by engaging in this election.”
Campaign
His campaign is currently in the last stages of development. “I want to give every voter a clear vision of my goals and values, by using social networking sites and on-campus promotion. Quick response barcodes for smartphones will be used as well.”
Dutch speaking
The University Council is completely Dutch speaking at the moment, but Matusevics does not think this will be a big problem. “To my knowledge, the majority of staff and students have good working knowledge of English, so theoretically this should not impose a difficulty.”
Considerations
The University Council is not sure yet what to do if Matusevics, or another international students or employee, will be elected. They are considering switching to English completely, enabling an interpreter, or offer the international members a Dutch course. But first, they wait and see if an international student will be elected at all.
From 9th until 18th of May, students and employees of the Erasmus University can vote for the University Council. The results will be announced after 10 a.m. on the 19th of May. BK
