Columnist Joël De Ceulaer (DM 7 June) has called for universities to scrap student initiations as a tribute to Sanda Dia. This, he said, would “spark a revolution that will change Flanders forever”.
Really? I think we should draw other, more pressing lessons from the death of Sanda Dia. I write this with caution, because this tragedy largely occurred at another university, and because more research and analysis is clearly required. But I cannot remain silent about the “revolution we must set in motion” at universities.
The reason the Sanda Dia case is so revolting is not because initiations exist where you have to pass a test to be included in a new group. Student circles have carried out this tradition for centuries; at VUB, in Leuven and at any other university. Students explore their limits, mentally and physically. VUB students have taken the lead themselves in preventing transgressive behaviour through a clear initiation charter, and ensuring that each initiation is respectful. We do not tolerate any form of inappropriate behaviour and act decisively when it does occur. Every student is completely free to take part in an initiation or not.
Banning student initiation rituals is not the solution. It just means that baptisms will invariably take place outside the university, as with the Reuzegom, and that is simply asking for more problems.
What revolts so many in the Reuzegom case is the suspicion that someone has been singled out because of a socially disadvantaged position, and that because of this same social position, the victim has been denied justice.
These suspicions are not yet facts. Further, deeper research is needed. But let us focus on the heart of the matter: our discomfort and anger are not about initiations, but about the structural disadvantage with which we are saddling a large proportion of our young people. Some use the term structural racism. But you see such mechanisms with any minority that is in a socially weak position.
So let’s start by asking the right questions. Questions about justice, the media and universities.
For us, the key question is: why are most universities in Flanders bastions of whiteness? In a society that is rapidly becoming more multicultural, this is an unacceptable anomaly, with far-reaching socio-economic and individual consequences. Those who belong to an isolated minority will forever remain “the other”. That is why Sanda not only had healthy ambitions to obtain his coveted engineering degree, but also had so much to gain from belonging to that elite student society.
In the 1960s and 70s, a massive wave of democratisation profoundly changed both our universities and our society. A generation of young people from families that had never been to university before suddenly got that chance. The government and universities provided an unprecedented set of measures to make it possible.
Today, we face a new wave of democratisation: the children of parents who never studied themselves are again knocking on our doors. They represent huge untapped potential, just like they did 50 years ago. But today, far too little has changed.
These young people have new needs and requirements. Covid-19 and the teacher shortage have affected their education seriously and frequently, on top of an often financially precarious home situation. We need to help these young people to overcome these obstacles – for which they are not to blame – and ensure they get over the proverbial bar. This is our social duty.
So if we should really care about anything, it is these structural questions and problems. Let us ensure that every university will soon be a diverse place, where no one has to be an outsider because of where they come from. We ask the government to help universities do this. Mandatory remediation after a poorer entry test: an unequivocal yes. But provide additional resources for it. At VUB, we see these 18-year-olds coming to us today. As an urban engaged university in our country’s most diverse city, we already have a particularly diverse intake. We do all that is within our means to manage them. But for us and for other universities, more will be needed – much more. And to realise those efforts, the government must also take responsibility.
The new generation is not helped by “more of the same”. They need specific, far-reaching support, just like the new students of 50 years ago did. This is the only way to ensure that the next generation of talented students of colour graduate in large numbers. That would change Flanders forever.