No one should be alone at Christmas. This thought was in Lara Hofstra's mind when four years ago she asked her manager at the Sports Centre if she could borrow the key to the complex. The Christmas barbecue she held there for international students paved the way for the Winter University, which this year is taking place for the third time.

The event was first held in the pre-corona era, when meals out, pub quizzes and even sleepovers were still possible. Like last year, this time round the options are limited, although at its heart the Winter University remains unchanged. Students and employees, both international and Dutch, will have the chance to meet each other at activities planned throughout the week of Christmas.

Happily, physical activities are back on the agenda this year, Student Diversity Officer Lara Hofstra tells Cursor. “Now more than ever it is important to be there for each other,” she says. She speaks to numerous students who feel isolated and lonely and she is concerned about the ever lengthening waiting lists to see the student psychologists. But reducing the waiting time is not, she believes, the whole solution. “Even if another fifty psychologists were appointed, that wouldn't solve it. What we need is a feeling of community, a social safety net, with real friendships.”

Friendships

The Winter University facilitates these friendships by putting people at TU/e in touch with one another. The participants get to know each other while baking cookies, bowling, ice skating or enjoying a “Dunch” (an evening meal before 5 p.m.). “We take care of the initial contact,” says Hofstra. “After that, we hope they create their own ‘winter bubbles’ and keep up the contact.”

Last year, when no physical activities at all were possible, Hofstra's team also created similar “bubbles”. Student Assistant Tudor Popescu remembers it vividly: “We formed groups of people with a similar background. We did it manually by selecting them from an Excel sheet.” The small groups then met in person. “It worked very well, but it was a huge amount of work.”

Tinder

And so this year the organizers are trying a fresh approach and are encouraging students and employees to take the initiative themselves by signing up on Activitree. “It's like a Tinder for friendships,” explains Hofstra. “You can organize activities of your own or join in with someone else's.” While the app is not linked to TU/e, it does feature prominently on the event's intranet page.

By providing various avenues, Hofstra hopes to offer people at TU/e a safe haven on the campus. “I find it heartbreaking to see how many people, some of them Dutch, don't have a warm and welcoming home to go to. Spending Christmas with friends isn't an option because their friends have a family of their own.” And so she is appealing to look out for each other, as a caring campus community.

Family

“Make sure you come along to the Winter University and bring your friends, housemates and others on your program,” says Hofstra, who herself will be present at many of the activities during the holidays. And she won't be making a solo effort. “I've got a super group of volunteers around me, and it's a lot of fun for us too.”

Spending the holidays on the campus certainly doesn't feel like a sacrifice. “If I didn't do this, I couldn't help so many people. And besides, these people are my family, thanks to them I feel more at home on this campus than I do in my own home.”