Bussemaker (PvdA) is not satisfied with the response from the Board of Directors of the RUG. The board continues to insist that the ‘bang list’ and a violent altercation during the most recent hazing period – which ended with a student in the hospital – are not university matters, but rather ‘an internal matter for the student association.’
Bussemaker says that the RUG’s response is ‘completely inadequate’ and has asked for more clarification from the board. She is also calling on the university to prepare to take steps against the association, according to the Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANP).
‘Resolve it themselves’
The RUG’s view is that the university has no connection to the student association. ‘They are independent bodies, governed by their own board. They have to handle and resolve it themselves’, a RUG spokesperson told the UK on Wednesday.
Groningen mayor Peter den Oudsten is also fed up. Den Oudsten has called upon the board of Vindicat to file a police report against the members who struck an aspiring member and sent him to the hospital, rather than conducting an internal investigation. ‘Their own rules cannot be permitted to replace Dutch national law.’
Police report
Henk Pijlman, president of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, has also chimed in on the matter. On Twitter, he wrote, ‘What a mess there at Vindicat. First the bang list, now a student who was so badly injured that he suffered a concussion. Time for formal complaints.’
The ‘Vindicat question’ is listed on the agenda for the University Council meeting on Thursday. Bart Beijer, chairperson of the Personnel faction, says that ‘it is time for the Board of Directors to speak out.’