Student societies struggle to get permits for their hazing periods

Several student societies in Rotterdam are having difficulty getting the requisite permits for their induction activities. The National Chamber of Societies says the same thing is happening in other university towns.

So far, neither the RSG and Laurentius student societies nor the Skadi rowing club have received permits for their planned hazing activities, which are supposed to kick off immediately after Eureka Week. The societies say it is harder than in previous years to obtain the requisite permits. “The Cabinet may have greenlighted some activities, but if a municipal government objects to those plans, it doesn’t have to follow the rules,” says Laurentius’s Lars Ahsman. His society’s induction activities are supposed to take place in the municipality of Zuidplas, but for now, Zuidplas’s municipal government has failed to issue Laurentius with a permit. The societies have drawn up contingency plans, but hope that their original plans will be greenlighted after all.

For their part, SSR-Rotterdam and NSR will not need to switch to a contingency plan, because SSR has already been issued with a permit and NSR does not need one. “We’re a small society,” NSR President Bas Radder explains. “We get about eighty new members every year and don’t need a permit to hang out at a boy scouts’ building with a group this size.”

With just over a week to go until the induction activities are supposed to kick off, RSC/RVSV has not received a permit either, but its President, Pita Elhorst, is not too worried. “We’ve seen this happen before in previous years,” she says. The society trusts it will receive its permit in time.

The National Chamber of Societies (LKvV) confirms that it is harder for societies to get the permits they need this year. “It’s true that we’ve heard the same story from other towns,” LKvV President Denise van de Sant states. “We see that municipalities struggle a bit with these events due to covid”, says Lotte van den Bergh from the Rotterdam Chamber of Student Societies (RKvV). “And I understand that they’re reluctant. But I believe that the worries are unnecessary. The student societies have been drawing up plans for a safe introduction period since December.”