On May 11, 2023, Silvia Lenaerts was inaugurated as the new Rector Magnificus of TU/e, taking over the baton from Frank Baaijens. It was a “day of celebration and festivity” that got “a dark edge” for Smits, he writes in the New Year’s Message. Climate activists from End Fossil Occupy and University Rebellion occupied the boardroom that day. One of their demands was for a climate emergency to be declared.

The clearing out of the boardroom led to a skirmish, in which both Executive Board President Smits and security personnel were involved. In the New Year’s Message, Smits writes: “The events in the boardroom which included pushing and pulling, in which I also participated, should have never happened.”

“It is also strongly against our tradition and culture of nonviolence, dialogue and mutual respect,” Smits continues. “One student, Ms. Bradley who has consented to being named, has informed me that still today she is suffering both mentally and physically from what happened on the 11th of May. It should of course never be the case that anyone in our community suffers as a result of a demonstration and I say this explicitly as an apology towards her personally as well as towards the entire TU/e community.”

Smits spoke to the activist prior to the Christmas holidays. He is “grateful that we were able to discuss and resolve this matter in a civil manner through dialogue such as to benefit the entire TU/e community." In the message, Smits emphasizes there is a right to protest at TU/e, “as described by the laws in our country.” The text also contains a link to a PDF document that lays down the rules for protests at TU/e, making good on an earlier promise.

Click here to read the entire New Year’s message, which also goes into the largest student intake ever and the collaboration with companies such as ASML and NXP, on the TU/e-intranet.