‘We do not wish to be institutionalised’, explains Jurre Zwart, member of The New University Wageningen. ‘One of our spearheads is actually that it is unclear to students how they can participate in the democratic decision process of the university. We want to be part of that, we aim to bring down the threshold for all students. In the long run I see us becoming a student union instead of a student party.
The group, founded after student protests in Amsterdam, sees more salvation in facilitating activities to provide students with a voice, outside the established structures. As an example, Jurre mentions organizing lectures and workshops about the decision process at the university. But also more specific themes, such as budgets, can be discussed.
‘Only 30% of the students votes. Apparently, other students do not feel concerned. The Student Council should actually get more in touch with this group of students’, says Jurre. The New University also regards this as a possible future role for herself. The movement has approached student party S&I with the question to play a role together in the clear explanation of democratic processes at the university.
The Student Council elections will be held in the week of May 18th until May 22nd. The candidate lists can be found at ssc.wur.nl/elections. Objections against the candidate lists can be made at the election committee until one week after the announcement.