It should have been a massive demonstration. Academic Netherlands – from administrators to bachelor's students – standing shoulder to shoulder, marching and chanting through the streets of Utrecht. All in the fight against the immense government cuts in higher education.
It should have been. But the mayor of Utrecht, Sharon Dijksma, put a stop to those plans on Wednesday afternoon. According to her, there were indications that violent pro-Palestinian protesters wanted to hijack the demonstration. On Thursday morning, at the instigation of local student unions and political youth organization ROOD, a demonstration was organized in Utrecht. Not forbidden, yet discouraged by the mayor.
UT students to Utrecht
It is therefore relatively quiet at Enschede Central Station on Thursday morning. A completely opposite picture of what was intended, because hundreds of UT students and staff had the date 14 November 2024 circled in red in their calendars. The plan to travel to Utrecht was thrown in the trash by many after yesterday's news. Nevertheless, a handful of students gather on the Enschede platform at half past ten this morning, to leave for Utrecht.
One of those protesters who will not be stopped is technical computer science student Jelle Bikker. ‘When I heard the news yesterday, I got very angry. The municipality of Utrecht does not give a good reason for cancelling this protest. It is an attempt to suppress the protest. That's why we have to make ourselves heard and seen in Utrecht.'
Slowly, more students trickle into the station. Without banners or other expressions, by the way. 'In the WhatsApp group 'Twente for Protest', I took the lead in recruiting people to go to Utrecht. In the end, I think there will be 25 to 30 people, which is a nice turnout', says Bikker. 'For safety's sake, it's important that we go as a group. There are speculations about threats in Utrecht, but I don't expect anything crazy.'
Banners fill O&O square
The UT specific demonstration starts at 1 p.m. on the O&O square. Red whistles, cowbells, singing, cardboard signs, banners and multiple speakers are the ingredients. Earlier this week, part of the 'Twente for Protest' group - which has grown to more than five hundred members - met in the DesignLab to make the necessary creative expressions. It features slogans like 'Eppocalypse Now', 'Show some guts, stop the cuts' and 'Don't wreck our education', a text that is accompanied by a 'coalition agreement’ wrecking ball that rams into a pile of books.
On the way to The Hague
For weeks, the members and founders of the 'Twente for Protest' have been working towards the moment supreme. Kristy Claassen – one of the founders of the protest group – and her colleagues had to cancel everything last night. 'I received the information by e-mail that it was not going ahead. In the hours that follow, you then go from one conversation to the next emergency meeting. There was a lot of uncertainty about the situation, including among us as the founders of the group.'
Finally, at eight o'clock in the evening, the decision was made: no protest in Utrecht, but at the UT. 'I wasn't angry, but there was definitely a feeling of disappointment. I also understand the decision, because the last thing you want is to end up in a violent situation. That's why I had no doubts about travelling to Utrecht.' The organization came up with the solution to make the Twente sound heard loud and clear on campus. Claassen remains combative and her thoughts are already on the next protest. 'We all have to go to The Hague en masse in two weeks' time. It's not certain yet, but that's what we want. The protest then will be even bigger and more powerful. In this way, we create solidarity again, because we notice that divisions are emerging.'
'Palestine groups are ruining things'
This division is palpable when Jelle van Dijk, of Enschede Students for Palestine, takes the microphone and the floor. The result: some buzz and the occasional booing. One of the attendees is clearly angry about the mixture of the anti-austerity protest with the pro-Palestine voice. ‘Away with him, because I don't care about his story at all!', says an employee of the Faculty of Science & Technology who does not want to be named. ‘He's getting way too much attention again. Because of these Palestine groups, the protests in Utrecht did not take place. They ruin things for everyone. It's the rioters who always get it done. You notice that people are scared and don't say anything about it. When I heard the news yesterday, I was furious.'
'Unique by Twente standards'
Rector Tom Veldkamp also addresses the crowd. 'You have the full support of the Executive Board', he says. And, repeatedly: 'No budget cuts'. ‘ hope that people understand what is happening and that there will be many more protests to come,’ he told U-Today a little later. 'Actually, we're already too late, I'm afraid. Before the last elections, we should have turned the tide.'
Nevertheless, the rector is beaming when Professor Arend Rensink takes the microphone and performs a self-written protest song, to which the audience sings along loudly. 'This turnout is unique by Twente standards', says Veldkamp, who calls the cancellation of the large-scale demonstration in Utrecht a shame. 'Personally, I keep insisting on no budget cuts, something we all support. We have to be careful that our message doesn't get diluted, that things get mixed up.'
Bella Ciao
After Rensink and the audience conclude with ‘Dom, kortzichtig en niet pluis. Stuur dit kabinet naar huis!’ the crowd moves for the protest march across campus. In addition to Rensink's lyrics, the academic version of the well-known Italian protest song Bella Ciao also reverberates across the campus: ‘Minister Bruins. Graag een momentje. Zeg maar dag, zeg maar dag, zeg maar dag, dag, dag. Tegen zevenduizend docenten. Want je geeft ze hun ontslag.’
Moments later, the protest song by Rensink and his fellow professor Mariëlle Stoelinga is used again. 'In dit rot-regeerakkoord’, it sounds at the Achterhorst, followed by: ‘Wordt de wetenschap vermoord!’.
Echokamer
The singing, the intransigence, the fiery looks in the eyes... It seems that this is not the first and certainly not the last austerity protest. Although the O&O square and a little later the streets of the campus became a kind of echo chamber: a collection of like-minded people who find each other in the shared misery. Preaching to the choir, in other words. However unanimous, it remains to be seen whether this Twente harmony of desperation, dissatisfaction and defiance will reach the typically deaf ears of The Hague.
A somewhat impatient truck driver from a construction company in Vriezenveen, who drives behind the crowd, gives his own down-to-earth Twente view of it. 'What is this?', he asks the local journalists. 'A protest against government cuts in higher education', is the answer. ‘But the people who decide that, they're not here, are they?’
