On Monday, during the University Council meeting, Students’ Collective asked whether the Security Department has drawn up a ‘blacklist’. Groups and individuals on that list would not be allowed to organise events without explicit permission from the Security Department and would be subject to additional checks. Students’ Collective said they heard this from staff members at the Services Department.
According to the Board, such a blacklist does not exist and certain groups or individuals are not subject to additional checks. However, the Board did say that service desk staff are given a number of guidelines for assessing events.
‘These are themes related to countries in a state of war or conflict situation, events with a religious character, diversity and inclusion of events and events resulting from social engagement on the part of the organisers,’ said the Board.
University spokesperson Mischa van Vlier confirmed to Mare that the Board ‘has not had a policy document drafted on this specific matter’. These guidelines ‘are derived from the existing house rules’.
REGISTRATION
For events open to external participants, externals are required to register. Their names are put on a list and when entering a university building, their details may be checked. The University Council had some questions about this. What does the university do with this data? Are participants vetted? ‘It’s insufficiently clear to me why external persons have to be registered’, said Council member Ebrar Kaya of Students’ Collective. ‘It doesn’t contribute to safety because anyone can register. In fact, the procedure actually creates a sense of unsafety. So why implement this measure at all?’
‘If it’s necessary for safety reasons to gather information about an event, we do so’, Vice-chairman of the Executive Board Martijn Ridderbos responded. ‘Purely for the safety of our staff and students. We want to know who is in our buildings, as their safety is our responsibility.’
Kaya was not satisfied with that response: ‘No background checks are done on the list of names. So I still don’t understand in what way the list contributes to safety. Someone with bad intentions can also register.’
Ridderbos appeared slightly irritated by this follow-up question: ‘What is it that you want to know?’ Kaya: ‘If anyone can register, why is registration necessary?’ Ridderbos: ‘Because we want to know who is in our buildings.’ Kaya: ‘But you don’t do anything with the information.’ Ridderbos: ‘But we do want to know. Our house rules state: externals are welcome, but must be registered.’
Kaya: ‘How do the checks work?’ Ridderbos: ‘Honestly. The name is checked at the entrance. If it’s on the list, they may enter. If not, no entry.’
Later during the meeting, Ridderbos briefly revisited Kaya’s questions about various security matters. ‘There was some tension during the exchange of words,’ says the Vice-chairman. ‘I noticed that I got a bit irritable, which is, of course, not the intention at all. If there are additional questions about any topic that came up, we could address them at another time.’
Students’ Collective also posed written questions about the freedom of staff to talk to the press. ‘Does the Board recognise the importance of university journalists being able to speak openly to staff without those staff members having to fear repercussions?’ ‘Staff and students should be able to speak to journalists without fear of repercussions,’ the Board replied. ‘As far as I know, we do not hinder anyone from speaking to journalists’, added Board president Annetje Ottow on Monday.
However, Council member Floske Spieksma of staff party UB had different experiences. ‘In that case, I am a counterexample. When a colleague and I gave an interview to Mare a few years ago about a certain issue (the rotten work environment at the Mathematics Institute, Ed.), we were indeed confronted and threatened. Not by the Board, though. There is more going on in the background than you think.’
Ottow: ‘But not by the Board, because that was the question, right?’
Spieksma: ‘No, not by the Board; but the Board did write: “Staff and students should be able to speak to journalists without fear of repercussions.” As it turns out, that is not always the case.’