This year’s organising committee is committed to hosting a more inclusive Eureka Week, although different night-time options have been offered for years. “Diversity and inclusiveness are prominent themes within our university, but we, the committee, are firm believers in them ourselves,” says De Fluiter Balledux. “We have opted for a second option on evenings that we feel might be just a little too targeted to one single type of people. It’s designed for people who do wish to see a little of the city at night, but who aren’t crazy about hanging out at a crowded party venue.”
This year, the Eureka Week Organising Committee has entered into a partnership with Pathé. Students who do not want to attend the opening party at the Maassilo or spend Tuesday evening drinking and singing (the notorious cantus) are welcome to watch a film at the Pathé multiplex at Schouwburgplein instead. Attendees do not have to indicate beforehand which night-time option they will pick; they can choose whatever they feel like on the day. “We’re offering a programme for everyone, regardless even of whether they are over 18 or under 18. That doesn’t matter, either.”
Guides
The training given to the guides who will show the three groups of freshers around has been revised, too. “Back in the day, they would attend a 2.5-hour lecture. We’ve reduced that to a one-hour lecture. We now give them the important information on the programme – you know, how the wristbands work, or whom to turn to if you have any questions during the week. After that we teach workshops featuring real-life situations.”
The training given to the guides who will show the three groups of freshers around has been revised, too. “Back in the day, they would attend a 2.5-hour lecture. We’ve reduced that to a one-hour lecture. We now give them the important information on the programme – you know, how the wristbands work, or whom to turn to if you have any questions during the week. After that we teach workshops featuring real-life situations.”
Since the guides are the direct supervisors of the freshers attending the event, they serve as the students’ first point of contact. The new-style training sessions are designed to raise the guides’ awareness of the fact that the fifteen freshers they will supervise may differ in many respects. “In the seminars, the organising committee and guides express what they expect of each other, but we also discuss case studies. In one case, some of the students in a group wanted to do something else than the rest of their group, which resulted in a certain amount of tension. How would you respond to a situation like that? In this way, we wanted to get the guides to give some thought to such situations.”
De Fluiter Balledux emphasised once again that guides play a very important part in the process. For this reason, the organising committee seeks to assign students to guides with whom they will match. “We talk to the guides and ask freshers about their expectations, with regard to the Eureka Week and to student life in general. If we have any students who indicate that they expect to party a lot, we try to find them a guide who is a good match for them. On the other hand, if people are more interested in culture and getting to know the city, we try to find a suitable guide for them, too.” The Eureka Week Organising Committee started doing this a year ago. A member of last year’s organising committee created a software program allowing students to be automatically assigned to guides in this manner. Until that time, students were assigned to their groups manually.
Rotterdam (By Night)
Last year, Eureka Week attendees visited Rotterdam-Zuid twice. The opening ceremony was held at the Ahoy Convention Centre, while the opening party was held at the Maassilo on a Monday evening. In 2019, the Tuesday evening event will be held in Zuid, as well, as the cantus singing event will no longer be held in the exam room in the Van der Groot Building, but rather at Ahoy (again). The induction week will also swing by the Lloyd Multiplein Square in Rotterdam-West. “We’ll be there on the festival’s Thursday. It’s another waterfront location, so that’s kind of cool. It should be a place where we can dance and chill out.” On the Monday, lunch will not be served in Schouwburgplein Square in the city centre, but rather in front of the Market Hall. “It will be the first event after the opening ceremony. The freshly arrived students will be able to relax here and get to know each other. The Market Hall has become a bit of a landmark in the city, so I’m glad they’ll be able to host us.”
The president of the organising committee thinks that Rotterdammers will be most aware of the Eureka Week activities held in the city centre on the Wednesday. That day marks the Rotterdam by Night event, which this year will be the only event hosted at that particular time. “As far as we’re concerned, the Rotterdam by Night event is accessible to everyone as it is. We ourselves made a point of focusing on cultural activities. We think that if people are after a drink, they’ll get one afterwards, anyway. We wanted to show what else people can do, on top of drinking. For instance, there will be a stand-up comedian somewhere, and there will be a classical karaoke night.”
It will be hard to overlook the 4,300 first-year students and their guides who will be walking from one spot to the next. In order to keep things clear, the activities will take place at three different locations: Stadhuisplein, Oude Haven and Schieblok.
Time for the party to end
De Fluiter Balledux emphasises that the Eureka Week organisers wish to show freshers that the university offers something for everyone. “Obviously, we have an awful lot of student societies here. They all represent something students are interested in. We decided that all sorts of student societies, be they sport-oriented, culture-oriented, multi-culturally oriented, study-related or focused on having a good time, are welcome at our events every day of the week.” This is a new thing, because until this year, the festival’s Sports Day was mostly attended by societies focusing on particular sports. This year, all societies are welcome to send representatives to the Sports Day, although they will be expected to present a sport-related activity.
What is most striking about this year’s Eureka Week is the theme: student well-being. “‘It’s kind of an intense week, so be sure to look after yourself’ is a message the students will receive at various points during the week. We are sending information to students who will be attending EUR, in which we broach the subject. I will broach it again during my talk at the opening ceremony, and we’ve made arrangements with the people who will be hosting events after our own events, such as the societies that are all about having a good time and the study societies. They will switch off the music at a 4 AM for a short time to announce the end. The party should then be ended at 5. We will then send our students a notification through our app, stating, ‘Get some rest. You can do more partying tomorrow.’”
The message the president of the organising committee wishes to give the incoming students is actually somewhat twofold: “Be sure to really, really enjoy the event, but do look after yourself.”
