ETV: ‘We also just need to ‘switch off’ in the evening’

The ETV Board members look out grimly from a sparsely furnished room. Is this somewhat bleak photo a good reflection of the Board? It’s just an act, explains President Matthijs Spijker, “I think we’re actually really sweet”. Noud Lindeman, Commissioner of Career, laughs. “We’re plenty of fun, don’t worry!”

The ETV organises the Recruitment Days every March. This is a company market for the Faculty of EEMCS. How do you make sure the market is different every year?

Noud: “This year we invested in a good coffee machine. We used the TU Delft coffee machines the last time. Because we needed a lot of coffee, we taped the coffee passes to the machines. The next day someone had sabotaged it, for some unknown reason, slashing the passes. We also have an air dancer (an inflatable doll used for advertising, Eds.), but it is stored inside at the moment. It was questioned in terms of sustainability so we are checking to see if it would be better to only let it dance during the breaks.”

You turn off the air dancer to save electricity, but at the same time, Shell is at the Recruitment Days. What is your view on this?

Noud: “It was decided last year to reject Shell. This year we want to give students the freedom to choose which companies they want to see. While Shell does produce a lot of emissions, it is also a very popular company among electrical engineering students. This is because they invest a lot in wind farms, though some may call it greenwashing. It is a dilemma.”

‘This is why we arrange accessible activities such as Lego lunches’

You work a lot on well-being. What aspects of this are the most relevant for your students?

Noud: “We are working on producing codes of conduct and sanction policies in the area of social safety. We are also thinking about diversity at Electrical Engineering. The degree programme only has 10% women and a big proportion of neurodivergent students, so we do our best to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome. This is why we arrange accessible activities such as Lego lunches.

Our Female Engineers Committee arranges activities that are sometimes exclusively for women. Others are activities aimed at women but which are open for the whole association. The biggest success last year was a jewellery workshop where you could solder pieces of circuit boards to make jewellery. My girlfriend and I made gala corsages for each other.”

There are five men and one woman in the 153rd Board. How do you view inclusiveness?

Noud: “We try to have two women on the Board every year as this is better for the dynamics, but it sometimes just doesn’t work out.”

Matthijs: “The men on the Board can sometimes be blunt or brash. Ella, the Treasurer and the only woman in the Board, sometimes finds it hard to get a word in edgeways. As the President, the atmosphere in the Board is my responsibility so I try to watch out for this.”

Noud: “An added complication is that Ella is your girlfriend. This adds an additional element to the dynamics which can be challenging.”

How did this relationship in the Board come about?

Noud: “You had already both been asked individually to join the Board by the time you first kissed. But you did not know that of each other at the time.”

Matthijs: “You may not tell anyone if you join a Board. It is a confidential process. But a month later it was brought up when people around us started speculating. While it was nice to this find out, it also created pressure. You see each other 100% of the day and work a lot together. So the question arises whether you are together as a couple or as board members.”

Noud: “I still wonder what you talk about at home.”

Matthijs: “Ha ha, yes, for both of us the ETV is our whole life at the moment. But we also just need to ‘switch off’ in the evening.”

• Also read the other parts of this series about the rowing association Proteus-Eretes, board sports association Drop, freerunning assocation Kong and sustainability organisation Students4Sustainability.