{"id":131191,"date":"2021-10-07T13:40:20","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T11:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=131191"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:54","slug":"student-association-vindicat-scraps-events-following-members-misbehaviour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/10\/07\/student-association-vindicat-scraps-events-following-members-misbehaviour\/","title":{"rendered":"Student society Vindicat scraps events following members\u2019 misbehaviour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Groningen Mayor Koen Schuiling is fed up. Responding to reports of misbehaving members of student society Vindicat last weekend, he has cancelled a big sailing event the society was planning. Other events have also been scrapped for the time being.<\/p>\n

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Friday evening last week, police were called to a recreational lake in Groningen after a Vindicat party. RTV Noord reports<\/a> that the mood turned grim following the event, with fights breaking out among the crowd and buses being damaged.<\/p>\n

The buses were supposed to take the students back to the city centre, but Vindicat members intimidated bus drivers and other passengers, flouted mask rules and removed safety hammers from their holders. Riot police were called to the scene to restore calm, but ultimately no intervention was needed.<\/p>\n

Sincere apologies<\/h2>

After talks with the police, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, the University of Groningen and Vindicat, Mayor Schuiling decided to put the kibosh on a large sailing event that was to take place at the end of this week. In a letter<\/a> to the Groningen city council, Schuiling makes it clear that a \u201cprofound culture change is needed\u201d at the society. He also takes exception to Vindicat\u2019s \u201clack of self-correcting ability\u201d.<\/p>\n

Vindicat has offered its \u201cheartfelt apologies\u201d for last Friday\u2019s events, stating that they \u201cdo not represent our society\u2019s values\u201d. The board intends to do everything in its power to track down the members involved, after which \u201cappropriate measures\u201d will be taken. In consultation with the city council, it has decided to suspend all upcoming Vindicat events.<\/p>\n

Plagued by scandal<\/h2>

Vindicat has been plagued by scandal in recent years due to reports of hazing excesses, sexism and other misbehaviour among its ranks. Because of these problems, the association\u2019s board grants<\/a> were suspended for two years, during which time Vindicat was also barred from attending official higher education events in Groningen.<\/p>\n\n\t

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