Maagdenhuis protesters and UvA Executive Board on collision course

The protesters in the Amsterdam Maagdenhuis announced on Wednesday morning that after this weekend they will take a different and tougher approach to their actions. They have refused to say whether or not they will be vacating the Maagdenhuis building.

This week, it appeared for a while that the occupation would end on Sunday evening at 9 p.m., after the close of the Festival of Sciences and Humanities. It seemed as if the protesters and the Executive Board of the University of Amsterdam had reached an agreement on this matter.

On Tuesday however, Folia reported that negotiations had taken a bad turn. According to the protesters, the Executive Board was preparing to initiate legal action against those occupiers whom are known by name.

Increased pressure

During a press conference in front of the Maagdenhuis entrance on Wednesday morning, senior protester and UvA lecturer Rudolf Valkhoff stated that the Executive Board is putting increasing pressure on the protesters to leave the building: “We reject the Executive Board’s ultimatum forcing us to vacate the Maagdenhuis under threat of legal proceedings. Measures like this seek to break the necks of young idealistic people who are working to improve the quality of our education. This is a purely cynical move.”

The protesters maintain their previously stated demands and are now also calling for the Executive Board’s immediate resignation. Valkhoff offered the same statement three times in response to repeated questions of whether protesters would be calling off the occupation: “We will be continuing our campaign with different, harder actions.”

The UvA administration could not be reached for comment. HOP