At Hester Bijl’s inauguration as Rector Magnificus, Dap Hartmann mainly heard empty words. He offers a suggestion on how she might turn those words into decisive leadership.
(Photo: Sam Rentmeester)
Hester Bijl was officially inaugurated as our new Rector Magnificus during the Dies Natalis on 15 January. In the cringe-inducing welcome interview (in Dutch) with the Head of Corporate Communications, very little of substance was said. As befits a seasoned administrator, the conversation consisted largely of a generous sprinkling of hollow phrases and clichés such as collaboration, the bigger picture, diving right in, together, openness, progress, setting goals, making choices, a sense of the broader context, adapting, challenges, and remaining agile. The words together and with each other alone were used no fewer than 24 times.
Hester said she enjoys solving problems and that she wants to be the Rector for everyone. That may prove useful, because a major problem TU Delft has faced in recent years remains unresolved: social safety. This elephant in the auditorium was largely ignored so as not to spoil the celebration. The outgoing Rector Magnificus merely proclaimed that we are “well on our way to a socially safe university, where everyone feels safe, welcome, and at home”. And the new Rector Magnificus said “It is extremely important that all our staff and students feel welcome here, respected and valued. A great deal has happened […] but for that really to take hold […] there is simply a lot of work to be done by everyone.”
From the file of cases involving staff members who have been treated badly, I would like to bring two to your attention
Listening to this, I felt as though I was hearing Won’t Get Fooled Again by The Who: Meet the new boss / Same as the old boss. I sincerely hope that Hester will tackle this problem very differently from the old boss. It is no secret that I myself once aspired to become Rector Magnificus (in Dutch), and it is no surprise that this was successfully prevented. So allow me to offer the new boss some unsolicited advice on how she might restore confidence in the Executive Board and the management layers beneath it.
Dear Hester, from the extensive file of cases involving staff members who have been treated badly, I would like to bring two to your attention.
Bob van Vliet is a lecturer at Mechanical Engineering and a former Delta columnist. TU Delft reported his name to the police because he attended a peaceful demonstration and because he wrote a critical column.
Tim Djedilbaev is a PhD candidate at Mechanical Engineering who took TU Delft to court over an unjustified ‘no-go’ decision that terminated his appointment. The court ruled entirely in his favour and ordered that the ‘no-go’ be annulled. This implies that Tim can resume his doctoral research, but the ME Faculty has no intention of allowing this.
Dear Hester, please fulfil your role as mater familias of TU Delft and restore trust for these filii familias. In your life outside TU Delft, you are the mother of two sons, so you are well acquainted with that role. First give them a hug, and then show the TU Delft community that you are serious about restoring social safety and trust. Live up to your name and wield the axe to cut through a few difficult knots. Give the responsible nincompoops their marching orders. Show that new brooms sweep clean and that chips must fall where wood is chopped.
I wish you the best of luck. If you would like more unsolicited advice, feel free to give me a call.
Dap Hartmann is Associate Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Delft Centre for Entrepreneurship (DCE) at the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management. In a previous life, he was an astronomer and worked at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Together with conductor and composer Reinbert de Leeuw, he wrote a book about modern (classical) music.
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