I noticed a lot that made me think: Can’t this be done in a better way?
“Why did I become the vice-president of the Student Council? Because the dean once sent us an email about the fact that no-one from our faculty, Psychology and Educational Sciences, had applied for the Student Council, even though it was already the eve of the deadline. It bothered me that no-one had signed up. Nobody was willing to participate, to help shape our policy. I just couldn’t get that.
I’ve always been politically engaged. In high school, I sat on the student council and before the university’s Student Council, I was active in several student clubs. Back then, I already noticed a lot of things that made me think: Can’t this be done in a better way? So when I read the mail, I thought this was an opportunity to make the switch and get to know the other side.
I think few students sign up for the Student Council because they don't even know it exists, or what it does. Thanks to the hard work of previous councils, there aren’t any major issues left, such as rising fees. Well, there are still issues, but not like there used to be. And there is just so much to do around our campus that it’s difficult to find students who still have time.
The Student Council checks and supports the university’s administration, offers ideas and allocates a fund of some two million euros. I think that’s what special about the VUB, that direct influence of the students. That’s is why I will always recommend the VUB.”
On the occasion of the VUB’s 50th anniversary, prof. dr. Martina Temmerman asked the students in her introductory course on journalism genres to make portraits of people on the VUB campus. The ‘snapshots’ resulting from the project Humans of the VUB offer a lovely cross section of life on our university campus in 2019/20.