It is mainly sports associations that are represented at the lunch, although board members of umbrella organizations, study associations and all three social associations are also present. A brief introduction by Student Diversity Officer Lara Hofstra about Confidential Contact Persons (CCPs), the Intro and a possible social safety training for board members is followed by some sort of musical chairs game resulting in mixed groups of board members. Anne Karien van der Stee, who organizes the lunch on behalf of DAS, provides the participants with topics to discuss.

It turns out that there is a lot of difference in what associations are already working on in terms of social safety and how well that is going. One association that seems to be a bit further ahead than some others is SSRE, which set up a system last year that allows members to make anonymous reports, which may also lead to suspensions. “We were shocked when we actually started receiving reports,” says a board member to her discussion partners from Ichtus and Don Quishoot. “That’s when you realize these things are really happening.” The system also introduces new challenges, because if you suspend someone and don’t disclose who it is, members can start speculating about that among themselves, which also doesn’t guarantee a safe environment, another SSRE board member tells members of Quatsh and Squadra Veloce.

In English

The cross-pollination between board members leads to more examples of the efforts associations are already making in the area of social safety. For example, Don Quishoot has appointed two CCPs on its own initiative - although they would have preferred four - and all the communication at Quatsh is now in English. The latter will become increasingly relevant, says Hofstra later on in the meeting, as many associations are getting more and more international members. Although, for now at least, the proportion of international students at sports associations seems to be considerably larger than at, say, social associations.