{"id":118307,"date":"2020-10-06T12:06:17","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T10:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=118307"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:07","slug":"dutch-students-only-wtf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/10\/06\/dutch-students-only-wtf\/","title":{"rendered":"DUTCH STUDENTS ONLY? WTF?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Medical student Ferayed Hok got a bit of a shock when he opened a university e-mail calling on students to apply for the Eurekaweek board. The message header? \u2018DUTCH STUDENTS ONLY\u2019, in all caps. And while the Eurekaweek board has since issued a public apology, Hok believes the university should do everything it can to prevent a phrase like this from popping up in any of its communications ever again.<\/p>\n

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First-year students exploring the city during the Eurekaweek 2020<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEurekaweek 2020<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Looking for a room in Rotterdam, you\u2019ll undoubtedly run into adverts that clearly aren\u2019t intended for international students. You can\u2019t miss them, basically: the text is headed off by a big all caps announcement: NO INTERNATIONALS. Or: DUTCH STUDENTS ONLY.<\/p>\n

Well, you can get mad about it \u2013 as many international students have been doing for years. I prefer to look at it this way: some Dutch students prefer to spend their student years in the company of fellow Dutchies, who understand that nothing beats an uncooked knakworstje<\/em> on a slice of white bread, flushed down with a bottle of Hertog Jan.<\/p>\n

They don\u2019t feel like having some Italian fellow explain to them that spaghetti Bolognese isn\u2019t from Bologna, listening to a Surinamer who objects to Surinamese banana ketchup or have a Brazilian disturbing their boreal bliss with unnerving samba rhythms. And I suspect that as an international student, you probably wouldn\u2019t feel very at ease in a household like that. So maybe the heads-up isn\u2019t too bad after all. When you\u2019re looking for a room, it helps to get used to DUTCH STUDENTS ONLY.<\/p>\n

Specific problems<\/h2>
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Ferayed Hok is a medical student and works for EM as a (video) reporter.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Still, you wouldn\u2019t expect to encounter this exclusion based on nationality in an e-mail from your own university. Did you ever get an e-mail where the first thing you thought was: what the fuck<\/em>? In this case, the contents dealt with the Eurekaweek, an important period of the year for all students. But particularly for students from abroad, since they tend to run into very specific problems. It\u2019s harder for them to find a room, for example, due to the homogenising preferences of some fellow students. And international students have to get used to all sorts of other customs and complications: cultural differences, language barriers, the public transport system, the local approach to banking, insurances and taxes, the legal aspects of working as an international student, registering with the municipality, etc.<\/p>\n

More importantly, many international students are thousands of miles away from their familiar surroundings. As a result, they frequently have to deal with loneliness and other psychological pressures. And Dutch students in turn are often unaware that their international peers are affected by such problems.<\/p>\n

Anyway\u2026 the university generally seems pleased with internationalisation, which is why you\u2019d expect it to do everything it can to facilitate its international students \u2013 by actively involving those students in Eurekaweek who know first-hand what it\u2019s like to move to Rotterdam and get to know people and the city as an international student, for example.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018The university generally seems pleased with internationalisation, which is why you\u2019d expect it to do everything it can to facilitate its international students\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Exclusion based on nationality or language<\/h2>

Back to that e-mail, sent out to the entire student body. It starts as follows: \u201cLooking for: Board members for Eurekaweek 2021.\u201d Followed once again by that ugly phrase **DUTCH STUDENTS ONLY**.<\/p>\n

Reading the vacancy, it becomes clear that you need to speak Dutch to be eligible for a position on the Eurekaweek board. Basically, the restriction doesn\u2019t relate to nationality but to language proficiency. Students who don\u2019t speak Dutch need not apply. To start: do we really need to have DUTCH STUDENTS ONLY in all caps for that? That means something else entirely. A team with a better sense of international students\u2019 circumstances, problems and concerns wouldn\u2019t make that kind of goof.<\/p>\n

Besides: why wouldn\u2019t you allow students who don\u2019t speak Dutch to become involved in organising an orientation week that\u2019s also intended for international students? If the university is working on English or bilingual versions for its lectures, services, signage, website and speeches, why does one of the few organisations that clearly cater to all students need to be kept Dutch-language only? Of course, I understand that for practical reasons, part of the team will need to have a good command of the Dutch language. But excluding fellow students beforehand \u2013 in ALL CAPS to boot \u2013 from the Eurekaweek board based on their nationality or language ensures that the orientation week will never be a truly shared experience for everyone. In fact: if the university is really serious about inclusion, it should actively involve international students in the organisation of what may well be the most important week on the academic calendar.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018If the university is really serious about inclusion, it should actively involve international students in the organisation of what may well be the most important week on the academic calendar\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

What is not being noticed<\/h2>

The board of Eurekaweek only admitted to a mistake after being questioned by the editors of Erasmus Magazine<\/em>. In a post on Facebook, they put it down to a \u201cpoor choice of words\u201d. The board apologised via social media, emphasised that students who weren\u2019t Dutch nationals or who didn\u2019t speak Dutch were welcome to apply after all, and extended the deadline by three days. And while I appreciate the gesture and hope that everyone involved in this procedure has learned something from this kerfuffle, I don\u2019t think many international students suddenly developed a desire over to weekend to join a board where previously they clearly weren\u2019t welcome.<\/p>\n

During the Opening of the Academic Year, rector magnificus Rutger Engels said: \u201cExploring what is not being noticed and using evidence to make the unnoticed visible. This is how we help find solutions and stimulate the debate. That\u2019s how we make minds matter.\u201d Well, Professor Engels, one thing that is often unnoticed is the difficult situation faced by international students. I know you see it. So I hope it can be brought to light by getting international students to join the Eurekaweek board \u2013 students who understand such issues. And please never again include the phrase \u2018DUTCH STUDENTS ONLY\u2019 in e-mails sent out by your university. EUR has over 6,000 international students who don\u2019t have a Dutch passport, and most of them don\u2019t speak Dutch. Leaving aside the occasional practical complications, I\u2019m sure that in this case we can find a solution. And even if we can\u2019t, you really don\u2019t have to exclude us in advance. And particularly not with caps lock on.<\/p>\n\n\t

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