Brawl during Nijmegen intro event is not an isolated incident

Three people have been arrested following a brawl that broke out at the introduction market for new students in Nijmegen. Members of the right-wing nationalist student organisation GNSV were injured in the incident. This is not the first time that controversial organisations have caused a stir during the introduction weeks.

In Nijmegen last week, a stand for right-wing nationalist student organisation was also present at the information market for prospective students. A fight broke out and three people were arrested. Once the right-wing students had reported the incident to the police and then returned to the market, they ran into an anti-fascist demonstration.

The so-called Groot-Nederlandse Studentenvereniging (Greater Netherlands Student Association), with branches in Leiden and Nijmegen, states it has a ‘conservative-national outlook on life’. Its website features a quote from the writer Ernest van der Hallen, a hero of the Flemish nationalist movement: “Be radical, be principled, be absolute, be what the public calls extremist.”

But Radboud University Nijmegen saw no problem with this, according to a statement published on its website on Monday. After all, everyone is welcome at the introduction market, including this student association. Within certain limits, that is. “Expressions of sexism, racism, discrimination or (physical) threats are unacceptable to Radboud University.”

Politics

Information markets for first-year students always host all kinds of clubs, student corps and associations, as well as local branches of idealistic organisations eager to recruit new members. The same applies to political parties, which sometimes leads to political conflicts.

Last year, the Communist Youth Movement of The Netherlands was not welcome at the information market in Utrecht because it allegedly had the wrong position on the war in Ukraine. This turned out to be a misconception as it had actually condemned the Russian invasion. It received apologies from the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht and Utrecht University, and are once again welcome this year.

On the other hand, the Forum for Democracy (FvD) did have a stand at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam market last year, which many people found objectionable. A local student union denounced the party as fascist, racist, Islamophobic and homophobic. Rector Jeroen Geurts was unaware that the FvD would have a stand there, but he was also unsure if he could ban the party. After all, GroenLinks was also there. Enquiries have confirmed that political parties are no longer allowed to be present at the information market at all anymore.

Student corps

Occasionally, student associations are also banned from participating in introduction weeks after incidents of hazing. This happened, for example, to the Rotterdam student corps RSC/RVSV back in 2018.

Update 6 September: An earlier version of this article stated that RSC/RVSV was still not welcome at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Eurekaweek due to a suspension, this turned out to be incorrect. The corps was indeed present in Ahoy.