{"id":139049,"date":"2022-04-20T15:10:41","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T13:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=139049"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:15","slug":"why-the-university-is-responsible-for-student-welfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/04\/20\/why-the-university-is-responsible-for-student-welfare\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the university is responsible for student welfare"},"content":{"rendered":"

More students than ever are suffering from mental health issues and depressive thoughts and although the university offers support, just how far does its responsibility extend? \u201cIf the university is part of the reason why someone isn\u2019t feeling great, it\u2019s up to the university to come up with a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Studying is prohibited here, right in the heart of the university campus. The huge white tent on Erasmus Plaza is the ideal spot for a break, where you can play table football, pool or just chill out. Or talk to someone, such as a co-student or one of the students that work there.\u00a0<\/span>The Living Room<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>is there for everyone, explained Sigita Lapina (23), one of three student assistants who manage the living room. \u201cWhen I came to study here, they showed me everything\u201d, she explained. \u201cAll those lecture halls and the library, but nobody showed me where I could relax.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Students have been able to do that since 2019 in The Living Room<\/em>, which aims to offer that all important place to chill: the fresh air of relaxation among the stale odour or endless studying. The student living room is there for a reason. Students are really suffering from loneliness and depressive thoughts; problems that only worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. According to the late 2021 <\/span>Mental health and drug use among students in higher education monitor<\/span><\/em><\/a> from the Trimbos Institute and others, three-quarters of students suffer feelings of loneliness.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe university also discovered that many people were feeling depressed\u201d, explained Lapina in the living room. \u201cThat was already the case prior to the coronavirus but the pandemic increased this considerably.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And Erasmus University is trying to address this, including by offering The Living Room<\/em>. But is EUR actually responsible for its students\u2019 mental welfare and should the university suggest solutions for this? Lapina is clear about this: \u201cIf the university is part of the reason why someone isn\u2019t feeling great, it\u2019s up to the university to come up with a solution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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