No more student baptisms will be held at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in the coming weeks after potentially serious incidents earlier this month. The board of the Amsterdam Student Corps (ASC) must come to the attention of the university’s management next week.
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The ASC board reports that several statements have been made about violence during the hazing and that therefore no form of testing on aspiring members is allowed anymore. It is not stated exactly what kind of violent incidents are involved. But different stories are being circulated among students in the Netherlands via WhatsApp. For example, an aspiring member would have been beaten with a wine bottle, a person with a bottle would have crushed someone’s arm and a participant would have suffered loss of vision because alcohol got into his eye.
It is not clear whether the rumors are true. The ASC board was unavailable for questions. However, the board emphasizes in a statement that there is no room for cross-border behavior at the association.
Withdraw scholarships
A spokesperson for the University of Amsterdam: “The news has surprised us, so the board of the ASC will have to answer for any violent incidents that have taken place next week. Depending on that conversation, we will see whether an internal investigation will have to take place. This could lead to certain sanctions, such as the withdrawal of study grants or the severing of ties with the association.”
The police could not indicate on Saturday whether reports of hazing violence had been received at ASC.
In the past, hazing of student associations in the Netherlands often got out of hand. For example, the University of Groningen severed ties with student association Vindicat in 2018 after a number of incidents related to excessive alcohol consumption, sexual intimidation and violence. The relationship has since been restored after promised improvements were implemented. In our country too, hazing rituals regularly got out of hand, as witnessed by the story of Sanda Dia who died in Antwerp after a baptism of student club Reuzegom.
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