Central Student Council demands resignation of UvA administration
In response to the police crackdown during last week’s demonstrations and occupations, the Central Student Council (CSR) is demanding “in the strongest terms” the resignation of the entire Executive Board. The CSR released a statement to this effect at six o’clock this evening.
In the statement, the CSR says it is “deeply shocked” by the events at the REC and at the Binnengasthuis-site (BG-4) since last Monday, May 6. “We strongly condemn the police brutality that has been used to suppress protests and we support the protesters’ demands,” the council said.
“When democratic representatives are consistently sidelined, it is only reasonable for students to resort to protest. Instead of facilitating our right to demonstrate, the CvB has resorted to violence against its own students, seriously compromising the safety of our students and staff.”
The student council believes that the Board subjected its students “to brutal violence,” causing many injuries. These included Asva president Lily George. An overview of the number of injured protesters is not available, at least not from the council, Mayor Halsema announced Friday during a debate in the city council.
Apologies
The CSR stressed that it is against the presence of police at student protests “because time and again it turns out that this leads to unnecessary violence”. Instead of facilitating the right to demonstrate “our rights as members of a free academic community are suppressed”. The CSR therefore demands “in the strongest possible terms the resignation of the Executive Board and a public apology for the excessive violence”.
Change of power
Administratively, the whole situation comes at an extremely awkward time: next week the annual student council elections will take place, after which the current CSR will step down and a new council will take office. Board president Geert ten Dam will step down on June 1 anyway, her successor Edith Hooge will take office then.
For incumbent Board members Jan Lintsen and Peter-Paul Verbeek, it will be difficult to function if the formal student participation, which is the CSR, no longer wants to cooperate with them. Both Board members can, of course, comply with the students’ demand and leave. If they don’t, they can re-engage with the CSR to try to restore trust, but CSR president Noah Pellikaan previously expressed that he has “lost all confidence” in the UvA Board.
Maagdenhuis occupation
Another possibility is for the UvA Supervisory Board to intervene and mediate between the CSR and the Board. This also happened in 2015 after the Maagdenhuis eviction. Incidentally, that mediation had no effect: then Board president Louise Gunning stepped down after all.
