Socialist students establish second history study association
Is getting together, beer drinking, and partying all you can do in your social life? Not if it is up to the founders of S.S.V.G. Jan Romein, the second student association of the history department. “MBO students are also allowed to become members.”
For many students, a student association is not synonymous with a place for political involvement. But a group of UvA history students sees it differently. Therefore, in February they founded a second student association for the history program, one that focuses more on content and social involvement and less on the festive side of student life.
The association now has 30 members. The Socialist History Study Association “Jan Romein” - the name of the student association, after a well-known socialist historian and professor at the UvA - will exist alongside the already-existing student association Kleio. “This has been lacking since many student associations nowadays characterize themselves as apolitical,” states one of the founders Teun van Kasteel (23, research master of history).
So they started a student association that is socialist and, unlike the already existing one, deals with politics. This is important because political decisions often cannot be separated from student life, such as the loan system. This means that the apolitical choice of many associations is only ostensibly nonpartisan, according to the founders of Jan Romein, including Tim Ruting (25, also research master in history). “We think that choosing a politically neutral student association means agreeing with the current political climate. And that is also a political choice.”
Socialist get-togethers
Since February, the group has already organized a number of activities, including a tour of the International Institute of Social History. And at their first get-together, historian and writer Bart van der Steen was invited as a guest speaker. These are the kinds of educational activities, as well as lectures and film screenings on the history of socialism, for example, that Jan Romein plans to organize mostly next year.
“We want to connect socializing, history, and socialist politics. No aspect should be secondary to the other. Although Jan Romein does not want the association to focus solely on socializing, there should also be room for that. That’s why the monthly get-togethers are a must,” Tim says, “which is why we are now looking for a regular pub for getting together where the beer doesn’t cost three euros. Because that is also part of socialism, of course.”
Will Jan Romein and Kleio become rivals? Tim laughs. “Kleio hasn’t contacted us yet. We would be open to that. We also want to make sure that students involved with Kleio can also become members of Jan Romein.”
Social struggle
“History lends itself ideally to social involvement because the knowledge we have as students of history can contribute to how we approach future problems,” says Tim. “For example, you can see that many social problems, such as the housing shortage, are not unique to our time, but were also a big issue in the 1960s and 1980s.”
Teun adds, “In the society we live in, students are under pressure. Many of them have large student debts, and inflation only exacerbates money problems. Climate change also hangs over our future like a sword. Student unions are a place where students come together, and in doing so we want to give them the space to discuss these kinds of issues.”
In addition to the apolitical nature of Kleio, Jan Romein's group said that student associations lack a focus on history. “It is important that a student association for history have a strong focus on history. Paying attention only to the fun aspects of student life, such as drinks and parties is, in my view, an unsuccessful student association. I could have put the Kleio association together with any of the other humanities student associations because the history theme hardly appears in their activities. They mainly emphasize socializing,” Tim says.
Yes, it is. The Committee on Recognition of Student Organizations assesses whether the study association meets the requirements listed in the Profileringsfonds regulation. “If there is a second association, it is usually a specialist association,” explains a UvA spokesperson.
“If there is no substantive distinction from the existing association, recognition would be difficult, but there is usually an aspect in which the new association differs from the existing one.” Other specialist associations have been established in the past, such as in art history and law.
Socialist merchandise
Not everything is finalized in practice just yet. For example, students who sign up with Jan Romein cannot yet get discounts on books, as the association is not yet officially recognized by the UvA and is still in the process of registering with the Chamber of Commerce. But if all goes well, that will all be done in September before the registration period for new students.
Students not studying at the UvA or history are also welcome to join the association. One of the founders is even studying in another city, namely Jules Maximus van der Sloot (21, history at the University of Utrecht). “Although as a student association, we mainly focus on UvA history students, we are certainly open to other people. For example, there are also a few MBO students in our association.”
Jan Romein is basically for anyone who is open to gaining historical awareness. This year, registration is free. Tim laughingly adds, “New members get a 10 percent discount on merchandise from the socialist platform De Rode Lap.” But isn’t it non-socialist to entice members to buy things? Tim doesn’t think so. “The merchandise includes promotional stickers that further spread the socialist message.”
Kleio
Stefanie Collignon, Kleio's president, writes in a response to Jan Romein's founding, “We as the 93rd board of Kleio are pleased to hear that there is more interest in history-related student associations. We ourselves have had no contact with the members or organization of Jan Romein, but everyone is welcome at Kleio regardless of their political or party affiliation. We merely choose not to represent certain ideological or political movements. We wish Jan Romein every success and are open to cooperation in the future.”
