D.S.A.V. Dodeka: ‘Separating has created more freedom’

When the people in the cheerful photo above said ‘yes’ to joining the Board of Dodeka, they did not know that their board year would run very differently than they thought. At the time, Dodeka was still part of AV’40, the athletics ‘citizen’ association at TU Delft. The partnership between the two boards had been rocky for a while, but Dodeka’s lavish OWee programme was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It included pole vaulting over new students and a ‘Beer mile’ (a 1,600 metre run and drinking four beers during the run) – AV’40 did not want to take any responsibility for this. Without a word they replaced the then Dodeka Board with a temporary committee. The prospective Board did not know if they would actually form a board.

Two months later, the Dodeka members voted on their association’s future. The Treasurer, Tobias Steevensz, looks back. “Our first year members had hardly been members for a fortnight when they suddenly had to choose if their new association would separate or not.” The outcome was almost unanimous. Dodeka chose independence. The Chair, Joris Gudde, and his Board members could wipe all their plans off the table. Suddenly, the year would have to be spent on creating an independent, financially stable association.

Was there any time that you doubted whether to continue?

Joris: “Whether we could continue the Board depended on the votes at the General Membership Meeting. The votes for ‘separating’ meant that we would all stay. I am very happy that we are still with the five of us.”

Has the situation of the association improved compared to a year ago?

Joris: “At the moment not yet, but in six months it will be better. Some things still need to be fixed that turned out to be harder than we thought. A spelling error by the solicitor means that we now have problems with the bank and the accounting system.”

Tobias: “The solicitor wrote ‘Delfste’ instead of ‘Delftse’. As the association’s name does not match that at the bank and the Chamber of Commerce, the accounting programme does not work.”

Joris: “The entire annual membership contribution used to go to AV’40. Now it comes to us. While most of it goes to renting the court at AV’40, it still works out cheaper per member. Apart from that, the separation means more freedom. Of course when we are training we have to stick to the court rules, but apart from that we can do what we want. And it is nice that as of now we represent our own association, Dodeka, at athletics competitions.”

‘The feeling of unity is stronger. We all did this together and look where we are now’

Disaster at NSK Trappenloop

While the Board members and the former members are busily working on the official creation of an association that was actually already there, business as usual continues. Dodeka organised the NSK Trappenloop (the national tower running competition, Eds.) in December. This annual athletics competition for students was held at the EEMCS Faculty this time, which at 90 metres tall is the second tallest building at TU Delft. But things went wrong during the relay race. The lift got stuck when its maximum capacity was exceeded.

Tobias: “The lift went up to the fifth floor and then, bang. It descended very slowly back to the ground floor and the lift doors did not open.”

Joris: “About 23 people were stuck there for half an hour.”

“In the end, the fire brigade freed the people,” Tobias continued.

Joris: “The people were in a bit of a state of shock, but apart from that it was a very successful event.”

Is it a busier year for you now than for your predecessors?

Joris: “I think it is mostly the mental pressure than is higher than previous years. Everything has to be done quickly and right now, and the consequences of making a mistake are huge.”

Tobias: “I would rather be working on organising events and competitions.”

Joris: “But we don’t do it alone. I am proud of how we actually created a complete association within a half year. This has strengthened the feeling of togetherness. We did this together and look where we are now.”

Tobias: “Everybody helped. That’s really great to see.”

Also read the other parts of this series about the rowing association Proteus-Eretes, board sports association Drop, freerunning assocation Kong, sustainability organisation Students4Sustainability, and study associations ETV and S.V. Life.