Last year, new members of the association’s society Ares were awarded points for completing a range of assignments. “Piss on another new member”, “Shag a slut in an alley”, “Show your willy to a stranger” or “Have sex with a refugee”.

A letter containing the assignments is in possession of De Groene Amsterdammer. The new members had to carry out the assignments during a hazing trip to Bucharest. A punishment awaited the ones with the fewest points. All of this happened in 2022.

Betrayed

In a statement, L.A.N.X. has said the assignments were degrading. “The letter and the assignment are at odds with everything our association stands for.” A bit further on, the statement reads: “We are deeply ashamed of the letter. We feel defeated and betrayed.”

The association has established contact between the young men who went on the trip and the confidential advisor “so they can talk about their experiences”. The society has been suspended indefinitely and cannot take part in the new orientation period.

The two Amsterdam universities and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences subsidise L.A.N.X., which started out as an association affiliated to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The educational institutions have indicated to De Groene Amsterdammer that they are thinking about what measures to take.

The magazine published the news in anticipation of a themed issue on hazing rituals at societies, which happen outside of the view of the overarching associations.

Every year

Almost every year there are new stories about problems during hazing. Last year, for instance, first-years of student association Tragos in Maastricht received the order to throw up on each other. The year before that, things got violent at society-specific hazing rituals of the Amsterdam association A.S.C./A.V.S.V. 

The problems do not limit themselves to the hazing period. The general culture within associations has been criticised for a while now. Last year, for instance, a video surfaced containing nasty speeches about women at the aforementioned Amsterdam association. Groningen-based association Vindicat has also been closely scrutinised for years, due to a series of incidents.

In Flanders, student Sanda Dia died following severe abuse during a hazing ritual at an association that has since been disbanded. Many people were shocked by the light sentences for the perpetrators. Protests have flared up again now the former (and convicted) president of this association has been accepted as a PhD candidate at Ghent University.

Soot mask

In 1965, the Netherlands was shaken up by the ‘roetkapaffaire’, where an aspiring member of the Utrechtsch Studenten Corps suffocated while wearing a mask filled with soot during a hazing ritual, with the perpetrators receiving only light sentences.

In 1997, a student from Groningen passed away due to alcohol poisoning at association Vindicat. But things can also get dangerous without alcohol: in 2005, a student at Albertus Magnus went into a coma due to water intoxication.