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While many student societies offer mainly fun and games, the Iranian Students Society TU Delft (ISSTUD) also has a serious edge: defending Iranian students’ rights to education. Hence, among the new society’s first events was the December 7th gathering to express support for students in Iran who are being denied the right to education by the Iranian government. This was followed by the December 10th meeting to protest the Dutch government’s decision to deprive Iranian students of the right to pursue certain university graduate programs in the Netherlands.

ISSTUD believes that many challenges Iranian students face here can be attributed to incorrect generalizations and lack of accurate knowledge about Iranians, their culture and history, and that the society’s activities can help rectify this situation.

With nearly 300 Iranians currently enrolled at TU Delft, ISSTUD was initially formed to create a social network for Iranian students and a platform to facilitate intercultural exchanges between various international networks – specifically between the Dutch and Iranians. ISSTUD is also helping to present a better understanding of Iran’s current social and political situation.
This Society will moreover help new Iranian students adjust to life in the Netherlands, while also serving as a bridge between students and university officials.

On September 29, many of TU Delft’s Iranian students met to elect seven representatives to serve on ISSTUD’s first board. Since then, several independent committees have also been started, focusing on culture, art and music, sports and entertainment, and socio-political issues.
As revealed by the impressive range of ISSTUD’s recent events – ‘Memorial Poetry Night (Hafez)’; an open debate about the post-Iranian election events; a sports tournament; and the December 7 gathering on Iran’s National Student Day – this is a society that offers fun, games and serious engagement with serious global issues.

In Iran, National Student Day is an annual event traditionally held in honor of three students killed at Tehran University in 1953. This year, however, Iranian students renamed this day ‘Green December 7th’, with the color green signifying the ongoing civil movement in Iran that calls for freedom, justice and democracy.

On December 7th, TU Delft students donned green clothing and gathered in front of the Aula to show support for their fellow Iranians, condemning the expulsion, imprisonment and torture of hundreds of students and scholars in Iran and honoring their brave, peaceful resistance against violence.
ISSTUD’s next international event will be held on December 18 at TU Delft’s Cultural Center, in celebration of the longest night of the year, which is an ancient Iranian custom called Yalda Night. Everyone is invited to attend this very special night and help build common grounds as citizens of the world.