Skadi adjusts programme Eurekaweek after death of board member

Rowing association Skadi is scrapping three of the four Eurekaweek parties after the death of board member Niels van Rooijen. The 23-year-old died last Saturday. On Tuesday evening, the rowing club will hold a silent march. The terrace of Skadi will remain closed that day.

“Niels would also want us to get new members”, says Gilles Luijendijk, Skadi president and roommate of Van Rooijen. Therefore, there will only be a final party for the new members on Thursday. A whole week of partying did not feel right and so the timetable has been adjusted. “We also want to deal with this respectfully. We have shared and discussed the new programme with his family. They thought this was a nice gesture.”

Unbridled enthusiasm

As Commissioner of Rowing, Van Rooijen was responsible for the competition branch of the rowing association. Previously, he was a competitive rower and coach. He was also involved in the almanac committee in 2019 and 2020. “We will never forget his uninhibited enthusiasm and unbridled commitment”, writes the Skadi board in the online in memoriam.

“Skadi was central to Niels’ study life”, Luijendijk further explains. “He rowed very hard and coached a lot. Here everyone knew his smile and big grin.” Therefore, the association wants to give everyone who knew him, member of Skadi or not, the opportunity to come together. The silent march starts at half past seven at the intersection of Viaduct Rozenlaan and the Gordelweg. The march goes along the water to the Skadi terrain, where people can talk afterwards.

Van Rooijen completed his two bachelor studies Fiscal Economics and Economics & Business Economics in 2021. After this board year at Skadi, he wanted to start the master Fiscal Economics.