Student - August 30, 2007

Bornsesteeg for foreign students only

Bornestesteeg will gradually become an apartment building exclusively for international students. At the end of July, Idealis sent a letter to its tenants in the Bornsesteeg about the planned change.

The decision was made by the student accommodation office Idealis after talks with Wageningen UR, during which it emerged that 150 extra rooms were needed to accommodate international students.

Idealis gives several reasons for this new policy. Last year, 100 temporary international rooms were created, mainly in other buildings. This meant that many mixed corridors had a quarter or more international inhabitants. According to Idealis, this put a lot of stress on these corridors, so creating more international rooms in the other buildings was not an option.

Another reason given by Idealis is that the Bornsesteeg is not very popular among Dutch students. They prefer corridors with more of a social life. Bornsesteeg, with its private kitchens and bathrooms doesn’t really offer that. International students, on the other hand prefer to have their own facilities. Idealis also thinks it will be easier to offer extra services like cleaning and information if this group is housed in one building.

Dutch inhabitants of Bornsesteeg won’t be forced to move out. The change will happen gradually. Whenever one moves out, an international student will move in./ Richard Esser

Should Bornsesteeg stay mixed? Students give their views in Opinion: Mixed student flats or not?

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