{"id":109663,"date":"2020-02-20T17:15:45","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T16:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=109663"},"modified":"2026-01-16T16:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T15:41:12","slug":"five-years-after-the-maagdenhuis-occupation-the-minister-can-no-longer-ignore-the-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/02\/20\/five-years-after-the-maagdenhuis-occupation-the-minister-can-no-longer-ignore-the-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Five years after the Maagdenhuis occupation: ‘The minister can no longer ignore the staff’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Maagdenhuis occupation was front-page news five years ago, but did the protesters get their way? The demands of lecturers and other staff members are given more attention than ever before, but any attempts at democratisation have amounted to very little.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Philosophy Ground enters het Maagdenhuis<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

On the evening of 25 February 2015, a group of two to three hundred protesters invaded the iconic administrative building of the University of Amsterdam (UvA). \u2018Greater participation, more democracy\u2019, the banners read. The protesters also demanded increased funding for smaller study programmes and less emphasis on \u2018profitability\u2019.<\/p>\n

It turned out to be the longest Maagdenhuis occupation ever. A group of approximately thirty protesters stayed in the offices and meeting rooms on mats for over six weeks. Lectures and debates were organised, the mayor came to visit and the Amsterdam student union ASVA delivered<\/a> vegetarian couscous to the protesters. UvA chair Louise Gunning resigned \u2014 to the great delight of the occupiers \u2014 and after the evacuation, the university was charged for over half a million euros in damages.<\/p>\n

The question remains: what has become of the demands of the occupiers five years later, not just in Amsterdam, but throughout the landscape of higher education. Has it led to something?<\/p>\n

'Missed opportunity' <\/h2>

Even though the atmosphere in the Maagdenhuis had been convivial, the debates in the House of Representatives after the evacuation were heated. A right-wing majority were outraged by the actions of the occupiers and wanted to recover<\/a> the damages from them. Then minister Bussemaker feared that this solution would lead to \u2018unrest\u2019 and preferred the insurance company dealing with the costs.<\/p>\n

Some months after the occupation, she presented the Enhanced Governance Powers (Educational Institutions) Act. This had little to do with the Maagdenhuis occupation. The act was a response<\/a> to the administrative mismanagement in senior secondary vocational education. Student and staff representatives were allowed to provide input on the appointment of administrators from then on. Bussemaker was against the right of consent with regards to the contents of the educational programmes.<\/p>\n

Student organisations did not hide their disappointment<\/a>.<\/u> \u201cMinister not listening to #maagdenhuis and making hardly any changes\u201d, the ASVA Student Union tweeted. The Dutch Student Union (LSVb) and the Intercity Student Consultation (ISO) were looking for more consent rights and felt that the act was a \u2018missed opportunity\u2019.<\/p>\n

Lecturers and students had received the right of consent with regards to the broad outlines of the yearly budget that same year. But that was already part<\/a> of the deal concerning the abolition of the basic government grant for students in 2014. It had nothing to do with the occupation of the Maagdenhuis.<\/p>\n

Closed doors<\/h2>

Leiden education and policy historian Pieter Slaman also finds it hard to believe that the occupation of the Maagdenhuis has anything to do with the improvement of staff and student participation. \u201cParticipation councils are still only ever allowed to have their say on the policies developed by the Executive Board after the fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s also why Slaman is not terribly interested in a meeting between the participation council and EB. \u201cThe preliminary discussions always happen behind closed doors; at the moment that the decisions are made, a lot of issues have already been discussed.<\/p>\n

'Suit mob'<\/h2>

\u201cSince 2015, institutions have been pretending that students and staff have more of a say, but actually that\u2019s not the case\u201d, says activist and former LSVb chair Geertje Hulzebos. \u201cParticipation is mainly used to legitimise the policy of the administration. All the advice given can simply be ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a student, Hulzebos \u2014 who herself used to be chair of her faculty council \u2014 is disappointed by the increased willingness of the \u2018suit mob\u2019 to play along. \u201cEducational establishments have become diploma factories, and having spent a year in a participation council just looks good on a person\u2019s CV. But are those the people who deserve your vote?\u201d She believes that the Maagdenhuis occupiers preferred direct democracy, in which anyone willing can influence the decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\t\u2018Since 2015, institutions have been pretending that students and staff have more of a say, but actually that\u2019s not the case.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Great anger<\/h2>

At the end of the nineties, new rules were implemented<\/a> in the Netherlands to make universities more akin to businesses. This led to increased pressure on universities: in order to increase profitability, students needed to complete their study programmes more quickly. The workload grew and small study programmes came under threat.<\/p>\n

It was precisely that corporate culture that led to great anger in 2015. \u201cOn the one hand there were lecturers who were extremely passionate about science and students who were standing up for the significance of their specific study programme\u201d, says historian Slaman. \u201cAnd on the other, you had an administration that was putting on the pressure to increase profitability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five years have passed. Have things really changed? Slaman feels they haven\u2019t. \u201cAnd it wasn\u2019t even ever really on the table. Scholars will always remain trade addicts obsessing over their specific field, while students are looking out for themselves and the administration needs to run the university as efficiently as possible. Never the three shall meet. But that\u2019s all right, as it\u2019s actually the ensuing friction that can sometimes lead to progress being made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zero applications<\/h2>

Even at the UvA, the democratisation plans of the Maagdenhuis occupiers led to nothing much, despite the new administration\u2019s spirited efforts. An experiment that started in 2018 concerning a \u2018university forum\u2019 consisting of over seventy UvA students and staff members \u2014 who were largely appointed through a draw \u2014 was of little added value.<\/p>\n

The Executive Board of the UvA was also expanded with a student member after the occupation. But a vacancy for that position this year led to zero applications<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\t\u2018If the participation council had more influence, those turnout percentages would definitely be higher.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Despite all cries for participation, the average turnout<\/a> for student and staff representation elections is only ever decreasing; it\u2019s currently below 30 percent. Sometimes elections are even called off<\/a> completely because of a lack of candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the participation council had more influence, those turnout percentages would definitely be higher\u201d, believes GroenLinks parliamentarian Lisa Westerveld, former chair of the LSVb. \u201cWhy would anyone vote if it doesn\u2019t make a difference anyway? It\u2019s time that the institutions take their students and staff members seriously and give them a proper say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Lees meer<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t