KU Leuven
KU Leuven will file a complaint against Dries Van Langenhove for racist statements during a lecture. The university also prohibits activities of student association NSV in its buildings.
Dries Van Langenhove gave a lecture on Wednesday evening in an auditorium of the Pedagogical Institute of KU Leuven, organized by the Nationalist Student Association (NSV), under the pretext that it was a lecture on regenerative agriculture.
Now that it appears that Van Langenhove made several controversial statements during the lecture, the university has decided that the NSV may no longer use the university’s infrastructure until at least the end of 2025. KU Leuven will also file a complaint against Van Langenhove because of some statements.
“The statements, which were made under the guise of a lecture on regenerative agriculture, incite racism and are diametrically opposed to the core values of the university,” KU Leuven said in a press release.
Anyone who wants to rent a room from KU Leuven must agree to some basic rules of the university. According to the university, NSV has violated the conditions. “KU Leuven will never accept or normalize expressions of sexism, racism, threats or the denial of the genocides determined by law.”
According to the newspaper De Morgen, which attended the hour and a half lecture, Van Langenhove proclaimed, among other things, that “black men end up in prison more often” and he dismissed Roma women as thieves.
Opposition
Van Langenhove’s arrival was met with much opposition at the university. A petition against the lecture collected more than a thousand signatures and seventeen academics from the university spoke out in an open letter against the arrival of the former MP. There was also a counter-demonstration on Ladeuzeplein on Wednesday.
Van Langenhove still faces a possible punishment for racism and discrimination in the case that was initiated regarding messages in chat groups of the extreme right-wing youth association Schild & Friends. On March 12, Van Langenhove and his six co-defendants will know whether they will be convicted.
