Prospective new members about to be rejected by RSC/RVSV due to merger

The merger between Rotterdam’s fraternity (RSC) and sorority (RVSV), which came into effect at the start of this academic year, is proving quite a boon to the newly established student society. On Day 3 of Eureka Week, RSC/RVSV is merely thirty provisional signings-up short of its new-member cap (400 students). In recent years, the number of new members has been 250 to 300, annually.

So far, the other societies affiliated with the Rotterdam Chamber of Societies have yet to disclose how many new members have enrolled in their clubs. Tonight Laurentius will announce how many students it has convinced to sign up this week.

Henriette Claus, the president of RVSV, the Rotterdam sorority, is very happy with the number of new members. “On the day before Eureka Week kicks off, we always organise a festival. Last year, the festival resulted in twelve people signing up provisionally. This year, we had one hundred new members provisionally signing up after the festival.”

The merger

Claus feels that the increase in membership applications is due to the merger. “Students who in previous years might have vacillated between Laurentius and the Rotterdam fraternity and sorority and ended up choosing Laurentius because it was a mixed-sex society, are now more likely to opt for our mixed-sex society.”

The first president of the new society, Tobias de Lange, added, “Another contributing factor is that more students have enrolled in Erasmus University this year than in previous years.” Moreover, according to De Lange, RSC/RVSV’s contribution to this year’s Eureka Week was a relatively well-organised one, featuring good artists and a cool al-fresco drinking area.

Provisional signings-up

It should be noted, though, that the students who have applied for membership have done so provisionally. “The formal registration procedure is a little more time-consuming and takes place at the clubhouse,” explained Laura Nieberg, a member of the committee that handles the society’s enrolments. “However, the majority of people who provisionally sign up do end up properly enrolling.” Provisional enrolments which had not yet been finalised were slated to expire at 2pm yesterday, so new spots may by now have become available.

More about the merger

• ‘Ketelaars’ act of betrayal’: why RVSV and RSC are going to merge