Monday 15 September 2025
Student protest at Pride despite ban: ‘The university is guilty of pinkwashing’
Students protesting police violence from the university boat during Pride were blocked by fellow passengers. The riot resulted in the resignation of the chair of the university’s LGBT+ network. ‘Silencing students goes against everything I teach.’
Tuesday 9 September 2025
University suspends exchanges with Israeli universities
This decision was announced last week by the Executive Board. It follows an advisory document issued by the Committee on Human Rights / Conflict Zones in July of this year.
Tuesday 9 September 2025
No forced redundancies at the Faculty of Humanities: ‘Larger reserve than expected’
Staff at the Faculty of Humanities can breathe a sigh of relief: the prospect of redundancies is off the table now that the faculty is in better financial shape than expected. Nevertheless, 150 FTE will be cut over the next five years. ‘We’re not out of financial trouble yet.’
Monday 23 June 2025
Committee on Israel to issue advice on collaborations only after the summer break
The committee investigating ties with Israeli institutions will issue advice on student exchanges with Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem in mid-July. Advice on other collaborations will follow ‘at a later stage’.
Thursday 22 May 2025
Executive Board president Annetje Ottow to leave early
Annetje Ottow is stepping down on Septembe 1st after close to five years as chair of the executive board. She started her second term in February. na bijna vijf jaar als collegevoorzitter. Ottow states that she wants to dedicate her time to nature conservation and sustainability.
Friday 9 May 2025
Wijnhaven occupied once again – this time, five demonstrators lost consciousness
On Tuesday afternoon, some two hundred students protested in and around the Wijnhaven building against the university’s ties with Israel. Police intervened and dealt heavy blows: around 20 demonstrators were injured.
Tuesday 29 April 2025
Minister not yet willing to scrap language test (despite universities’ hopes)
Despite a call from Dutch universities, Education Minister Bruins is not yet willing to scrap the Test for Foreign Language Education (TAO) from the Balanced Internationalisation Bill (WIB). ‘That would mean surrendering my means to exert any form of control over the objectives.’
Wednesday 2 April 2025
After all the commotion over scrapped programmes, only two masters still face the axe
Is this ‘symbolic politics’ now that the Humanities Faculty Board only plans to shut down two very small programmes? ‘This feels like a symbolic sacrifice.’
Wednesday 2 April 2025
Controversial film sparks protest: ‘Those “poor Russian boys” killed my friends’
The screening of the documentary Russians at War – which critics claim is propaganda – at The Hague campus on Wednesday afternoon sparked protests and a heated debate. ‘Oh, come on: these lies are going way too far.’
Friday 21 March 2025
Departing dean Mark Rutgers leaves faculty in crisis: ‘I had sleepless nights’
With fewer staff, fewer chairs and fewer specialists, the Faculty of Humanities will ‘plummet in all the rankings’, fears departing dean Mark Rutgers. ‘The future of academia looks bleak.’
Thursday 19 December 2024
University forced back to basics by budget cuts: ‘The prospects are very grim’
The Executive Board has to take drastic action in order to address the cabinet’s severe budget cuts. According to Board president Annetje Ottow, everyone will feel the pain. ‘Shaving off bits and pieces won’t be enough, there will be many things we simply won’t be able to do anymore.’
Thursday 19 December 2024
‘Let us remain independent’: Chairs of at-risk Humanities programmes write counter-proposal
Bachelor’s programmes at the Faculty of Humanities that are under threat due to budget cuts propose far-reaching collaboration on the condition that they continue to exist independently. They also want to spare teaching and research as much as possible by scrapping administrative tasks and making additional cuts at the central level.