Opening of the academic year marked by new strategy, but current events were never far away

Mayor Carola Schouten appealed at the end of her speech at the opening of the academic year for students and associations to ‘speak about women with respect, so that they are safe here too’.

Schouten made the appeal after a weekend of protests and actions in many Dutch cities – also Rotterdam – to draw attention to the safety of women in public spaces. “Young women have the right to day and night. Safety begins here, by speaking to one another at the university and in the associations.” The appeal was met with thunderous applause from the audience.

'It is serious'

Schouten was guest speaker at the opening of the new academic year, which was primarily marked by the launch of the university’s new Strategy 2030 entitled: Globally connected, locally embedded. With the new strategy the university chooses to position itself as an engaged university, standing at the heart of society not only by choice but also out of necessity. Or, as President of the Executive Board Annelien Bredenoord put it: “We must fight for our license to operate, that is to say the trust and support of society. Because that is under pressure everywhere in the world, also in the Netherlands, make no mistake. It is serious.”
Bredenoord emphasised that the university must be aware ‘that everything we do as a university is inextricably linked to society.’
Mayor Schouten underlined that vision and gave the university three tasks for the coming years: keep listening, keep explaining and keep connecting.

University as a bridge

The mayor compared the university to the Erasmus Bridge, which is much more for the city of Rotterdam than merely ‘a technical structure’ to get from north to south. “It became a symbol for the connection between two parts of the city that for a long time turned their backs on each other. That is how Erasmus University should function too: as a bridge between city and world.”

It will not always be easy to be open to criticism from the city and the world, Schouten acknowledged, and the natural tendency is to shut yourself off. “Yet the strength of the university lies precisely in not doing that. In engaging in the conversation with an open face. Because if difficult questions cannot be discussed at the university; where then?”

Increasing hardening

President of the Executive Board Annelien Bredenoord also referred to the sometimes fierce debate, especially online, between people with different viewpoints within the university. “We notice an increasing hardening.” She called for people to continue talking to one another. “Because only by continuing the conversation can we as a university continue to move and grow, even in uncertain times.”

Awards

Alongside the attention for the new strategy and the emphasis on the bond between the university and the city, the traditional prizes for best thesis, most engaged student and the teaching award were also presented.

Thus Ralph Ivar Berkman received the Student Societal Impact Award for setting up the project l’Oiseau Bleu, which aims to guide pupils from special secondary education towards further education in mainstream education. Berkman himself also took that step from special education to the university. In an interview with EM you can read more about it.

The thesis prize went to criminology student Meike van Mierlo – now graduated – who researched the effects of explosions at homes on residents in Rotterdam. She received a certificate and a cheque of 1,500 euros from alderman Kasmi.

The teaching award for a teacher who has made an exceptional contribution to education at the EUR went to Anderson Mora Cortes, a teacher at the university college and the initiator of Brain Awareness Week, a week in which everyone from the city can learn more about the grey matter in our heads through demonstrations and activities.

All about Strategy 2030 can be found here on the website of Erasmus University.