What led to these seriously disrupted relations is striking: the East Asia Committee drank a few beers after an event they had organised in the Beehive university building in The Hague. Although this is against the rules, since the committee had not been given permission by the board to drink alcohol, the consequences are far-reaching: the president of the committee, Maya (real name known to editors), was forced to leave the committee, is no longer permitted to hold any position within BASIS and was excluded from a trip to Vietnam.
But it did not stop there. Since then, she has been slandered, excluded and even falsely accused of attempted arson. A salient detail: Maya had been in a relationship with the treasurer, which she ended a week earlier.
The ombudsperson’s report presented a scathing critique of the board’s conduct: she concludes that there is a lack of social safety, students are afraid to go to campus, unproven allegations of misconduct have seriously damaged Maya’s reputation, the suspension procedure was flawed, and various personal relationships have influenced the board’s decision-making processes.
Summoned
Internal e-mails obtained by Mare now reveal that the treasurer and his current girlfriend continued to harass and slander Maya even after the report had been completed. In e-mails from the ombudsperson to Maya, dated 13 April, she writes that ‘serious discussions’ are planned with the treasurer, his girlfriend and BASIS’s board president. For example, the treasurer is to be summoned by the Faculty Board and the programme director, who ‘is also very surprised that this behaviour is continuing, and will make it clear that this is extremely unwise and must cease immediately’.
The conversation with the Faculty Board will be ‘even more serious’, the ombudsperson expects. The treasurer ‘will be made to understand that not only this behaviour, but his entire conduct in exercising formal and informal power, is strongly disapproved of’.
His girlfriend will also have to come in for a conversation. She allegedly said of Maya, among other things, that she ‘wanted to knock her teeth out’ and ‘slam a door against her head’. A recording of this conversation is in the possession of the ombudsperson. The programme director will warn her ‘not to approach or slander Maya, including via social media, on pain of disciplinary action’.
In part because of these threatening remarks, Maya was given an emergency number for the reception desk of the Wijnhaven building by the Security Department last week.
Finally, a meeting has been scheduled with the president of the BASIS board. ‘They will also be told that board members must refrain from this kind of behaviour’, wrote the ombudsperson in mid-April.
Over the past few weeks, Mare has repeatedly asked the treasurer for a response, to no avail. Following publication of the article, he sent an e-mail containing a statement to all members last Thursday. In that e-mail, he denies having been in a relationship with Maya. ‘I have not been in a relationship with anyone since March 2025; neither with members of the board, nor with association members or anyone else.’
Unproven accusations
This is notable, as both the treasurer himself and Maya told the ombudsperson the opposite. ‘Both parties acknowledged during the interviews that there had previously been a personal relationship between the complainant and one of the members of the BASIS board’, the report states.
In addition, the treasurer writes that he had a relationship with a former board member during the 2024–2025 academic year, but that they are ‘on good terms professionally and privately’.
However, the report states: ‘A prior conflict revealed comparable structural features’, such as ‘escalation following the breakdown of a personal relationship, serious allegations of misconduct or fraud, social isolation of the concerned member, and reputational consequences extending beyond BASIS into the academic environment’. That case, too, concerned a relationship with the treasurer who later made unproven allegations. The victim declined to comment in Mare.
An internal document from the BASIS board also shows that the treasurer had a ‘girlfriend’ last autumn who is a member of the association. This was shortly after Maya had ended her relationship with him.
‘Affected and stressed’
The treasurer also claims in his statement that he has neither read nor received the ombudsperson’s report. This is highly unlikely, given that the report states that ‘both parties involved will receive the opportunity to submit a response to the findings’. The deadline for this was 20 March.
In his e-mail, the treasurer also explains why he has been on the board for four consecutive years, three of which in the role of treasurer. ‘My several re-elections have each been a consequence of treasurers resigning or an absence of applicants for the position. Without a treasurer, the association legally cannot function, and it is normal procedure to ask the previous holder of a position to take on the responsibility again in such a case.’
He acknowledges that he is no longer a bachelor’s student, even though the association is specifically intended for bachelor’s students of the International Studies programme, but he says that ‘my appointments have always been approved by the General Meeting of Members’.
He further states that he is ‘sure that for those who have worked together with me, it is clear that I uphold professionalism and, above all, dedication to our little international bubble’. According to his statement, his intention was to create ‘an inclusive and safe community’. ‘It has never been my intention nor wish to make anyone feel uncomfortable or excluded. If this has been the case, I offer my apologies.’
Stepping down prematurely
He writes that he hopes the members ‘will be able to make your own judgement of the situation’ and announces that he will not return to serve on a new board: ‘It has been almost 1,200 days since I started working in this wonderful association and I want to cherish the final 38 days with all of you.’
By now, the BASIS board is in a state of considerable disarray. Internal e-mails obtained by Mare reveal that, as a result of the months-long conflict, two board members stepped down prematurely. In December, the external affairs officer resigned. She wrote to her fellow board members that ‘the current ongoing situation has vastly disrupted my mental well-being and I have been unable to upkeep my composure and diligence’. She also writes that the other board members will likely have been equally ‘affected’ by the conflict and ‘feel stressed about it’, but that ‘certain events and sentiments have risen, which I simply cannot ignore’.
Two months later, in February, the internal affairs officer also resigned ‘due to unequal dynamics and treatment within the board’. The ‘never-ending’ situation surrounding the East Asia Committee has ‘taken up too much space in my mind in the past few months’ and has ‘greatly disrupted everyone’s mental wellness. I did not expect all this to happen during a board year’.
Both the reporting on BASIS and the treasurer’s statement have caused quite a stir. The president of BASIS’s Middle East Committee sent an e-mail to the association’s board stating that ‘the latest developments and allegations are deeply concerning’. He demands that BASIS issue an official statement within a week and writes that if the allegations are confirmed, ‘we stand in full solidarity with the victims and expect appropriate consequences’.
Dean Henk te Velde also sent an e-mail to all members regarding ‘recent developments’. That e-mail essentially reiterates the response the Faculty Board previously gave to Mare: external guidance will be brought in to ‘change the structure and culture of BASIS’. This requires ‘time, commitment and continuous attention’.
Emergency number
A concerned International Studies student has sent an e-mail to, among others, the Executive Board, the Faculty Board and the ombudsperson. In it, he writes that he finds it problematic that Maya has been given an emergency number for the reception desk of the Wijnhaven building, whilst no measures have been taken against the treasurer and his current girlfriend, who is said to have made threatening remarks about Maya. ‘This makes it difficult for students to feel safe.’ He wants to know from the administrators whether ‘measures are being considered regarding the presence of the treasurer and his girlfriend at the university’.
He also asks the administrators to consider revoking the so-called Golden Stork Award for ‘most outstanding student’ in the International Studies programme, which the treasurer won last year.
Students have launched a petition with the aim of holding the responsible board and advisory board members to account and demanding stricter measures to ensure social safety within associations. On Thursday evening, the General Meeting of Members will take place, at which the BASIS board will discuss the events with the members.
This article is also available in Dutch
On Wednesday afternoon, the board e-mailed all members, stating that ‘the public discussions about social safety within International Studies and our association has taken a dramatic turn through a recent publication in Mare’.
‘We have come to realise that we have to be more transparent about the way decisions are taken in our association. The first step is to publicly discuss what has happened in recent months. Our goal is not to point fingers, but to ensure that everyone can think critically about the situation on the basis of as much information as possible.’
Regarding the suspension that marked the beginning of the conflict, the board states that ‘it is well known that the consumption of alcohol at events is against university regulations’ and that they were concerned that the association would no longer be eligible for funding. ‘We trusted that we acted in accordance with internal policy guidelines.’
The board does not explain why only Maya was ultimately suspended, excluded from the trip to Vietnam, or barred from holding any other positions within BASIS. However, the board does admit that a ‘more informal approach’ would have been more appropriate and that the members involved should have been afforded more opportunity for input. ‘It was never our intention to cause harm or distress’ and ‘we are sorry if our actions gave caused this.’ Together with the programme committee, ‘structural changes are made in the running of the BASIS, which will give future boards the appropriate instruments to deal with future conflicts within the association humanely and positively’.
The role of the treasurer ‘falls, in our view, within the personal sphere for which the board itself cannot be held responsible’, according to the statement.
This is notable, given that multiple board members have been summoned by the programme and faculty boards. Like the treasurer, the board also denies having seen the investigation report.