Occupation of Drift 25 ended

After twelve days, the occupation of Drift 25 has ended; the protesters voluntarily left the education building during the night of Saturday 13 to Sunday 14 December. In doing so, they complied with Utrecht University's summons to vacate the premises by 12:00 noon on Sunday. Now that the protesters have left, the university will not proceed with the announced civil proceedings to demand the eviction of Drift 25. During the occupation, UU reported a breach of the peace. The repair, clearance and cleaning work will take at least until Tuesday 16 December. Students and staff will be informed as soon as it is known when Drift 25 will be available for teaching again.

"We are pleased that Drift 25 will soon be available for teaching again," said Wilco Hazeleger, Rector Magnificus. “Due to the occupation, a total of 529 activities had to be rescheduled. Thanks to the enormous efforts of our colleagues, only ten educational activities had to be cancelled. Nevertheless, we had to rely heavily on the flexibility of students and colleagues, as they had to find alternative locations for their education at the last minute.”

Damage not exclusively financial

"The damage to Drift 25 is being assessed," said Hazeleger. "The occupation, the destruction of three other buildings this weekend and the gluing shut of door locks at several buildings in the city centre on Monday 15 December have caused unacceptable damage, which is not exclusively financial. As the Executive Board, we have spoken to various students and colleagues from the Jewish community, among others, who feel very unsafe due to these forms of protest and are rightly concerned about antisemitism. While we understand the concerns and outrage about the situation in Gaza, we want to make it clear that we strongly reject any form of antisemitism and intimidation."

Hazeleger: "I understand that many of us feel the need to speak out about the violence and humanitarian suffering in Gaza that continues even after the ceasefire, and I share that feeling. There is room for that within our university. At the same time, we all have a responsibility to be aware of the impact of our words and actions. This is especially true in the role of lecturer, manager or administrator. That is why we must continue to ask ourselves what the limits are to the way we express our social engagement within the university."

"One boundary is crystal clear: there is no place for discrimination and racism within UU. Our university stands for debate, critical questioning and social engagement. And there is room for differences of opinion. But that is only possible in an environment where everyone feels safe and seen."