Thirteen protesters gathered at 6.00 pm on Friday evening on the Plaza, in front of the entrance to the Pavilion. “Get Shell out, and we go!”, they shouted at the top of their lungs. Inside the Pavilion, study association STAR was holding a wine tasting, an orientation evening for master’s students, sponsored by Shell and featuring speakers from the company.
“It’s outrageous that a company like Shell is welcome on our campus”, says Elli, spokesperson for Occupy EUR. According to her, it is unacceptable that the university portrays itself as a sustainable institution with its own climate strategy, while at the same time allowing the fossil fuel industry to take part in events on campus. “We have a glass bridge here with the slogan ‘positive societal impact’, but where’s that positive impact when Shell is sponsoring events here? The university says we need to become critical global citizens, but at the same time it gives a platform to companies that contribute to climate disasters and wars.”
Going inside
Elli brought a megaphone and delivered a speech on the Plaza. “Today, Shell – the very symbol of environmental devastation, exploitation and corporate greed – is welcomed onto our campus. They call it wine tasting, but let’s call it what it really is: a recruitment for destruction pipeline. A spectacle of corporate greenwashing. A desperate attempt to sell us future drenched in blood, oil and ecological collapse.”
For an hour and a half, students demonstrated in front of the glass wall on the side of the Pavilion’s conservatory, where the event was taking place. At one point, Elli sneaked inside and gave the same speech to the wine-drinking participants. “They were quite friendly”, she recalls. “Someone even asked me: ‘hey, would you like a glass of wine too?’”, she laughs. “I declined. I also tried to ignore the security staff and just carried on with my speech.”
“It’s their right to protest”, responds Vigo Wijers, president of STAR. “But it’s also our right to organise this event.” According to him, the association holds evenings like this ‘so students can make an informed decision about the direction they want to take their careers’.
Pavilion unaware of Shell’s involvement
The Pavilion’s spokesperson states that they were not informed in advance about Shell’s sponsorship. “We had no idea. RSM organised this event, so we were not aware that there was a risk of a demonstration. We are completely neutral, and the safety of our guests and staff is our top priority. So if we had known there was a risk, we would have taken safety measures or even cancelled the event.”
Although security was on standby, the protest ended without incident. Elli left after making her point. Around 8.30 pm, the demonstrators left the Pavilion, while the event carried on.
The university must draw a line
Occupy EUR has no intention of policing students, Elli explains. “We just want them to listen to us and understand why we’re doing this”, she says. “We don’t want to dictate what every study association should do, but the university needs to draw a clear line. Some companies simply don’t belong here.”
“I do understand what they stand for”, responds Vigo. “But I also hope they understand why we’re doing this: we mainly want to leave the choice to the students themselves. We don’t want to decide for them where they should work or which companies they should engage with.”
Elli: “As long as Shell and other destructive companies like Google, Nestlé, Amazon, ING and Rabobank are welcome on this campus, we will continue to protest.”
