About two hundred students and staff had gathered on the Koeveld. University Council member Ellen Konijnenberg was one of them. She saw that a broad representation of the university was present. “They were people from the departments, services, and research groups, and I also saw policy makers and directors,” she says in a personal capacity. Konijnenberg herself was there because she thinks that the cutbacks and their effects on students are ill-considered. “If they are implemented across the board, certain groups of students will suffer the most. Then, studying will only be for rich children.”

“It’s actually to support the people who are now speaking in the House of Representatives on behalf of all the action groups,” said Hieke van Heesch of the Groep-één party before the walk-out. “Because safety in Utrecht cannot be guaranteed, we are doing it here. It is a strong statement to show that we won’t accept this. There shouldn’t be so many cutbacks in education and research. The slow-progress penalty will also cause so much more stress for students. It’s at the expense of the student culture and of students who cannot study full-time for whatever reason.”

Organizing the walk-out was a last-minute decision, said Van Heesch. “Following yesterday’s news, people throughout the country were already suggesting to organize walk-outs, but we didn’t hear a whole lot about it here.” How different things were this morning. “We received so many messages from students who wanted to make themselves heard and take action themselves.” In order to maintain peace and order, the party decided to take the initiative into its own hands. “We immediately contacted security and the Executive Board. They gave us their full support.” Not much later, at around 12 o’clock, the action was announced via various WhatsApp groups.

All over the country

There wasn’t only a walk-out in Eindhoven, but all over the country, including in Delft, The Hague, and Tilburg. There were also around three thousand people in Utrecht, to protest against the cutbacks, in spite of the official rally having been canceled. Prior to the walk-out, representatives of the education unions and action groups expressed their concerns about the cutbacks in the House of Representatives, as an alternative protest. This could be followed via a livestream.

Also by way of an alternative protest, umbrella organization Universities of the Netherlands published a protest video with all university executive boards. Robert-Jan Smits, president of the TU/e Executive Board, can also be seen in the video.

The General Education Union (AOb) already announced a new protest, on November 25 at the Malieveld in The Hague. The demonstration ‘will take place before the education budget is discussed. Postponement does not mean cancellation. We will stand together against these cuts in higher education no matter what,’ the union writes in a news item about the protest.