‘How can it then be that our own staff members are being threatened by legal action by our very own academic institution?’

I have to get this off my chest

I have worked at TU Delft for more than 25 years and in all that time have been proud of our whole community and the impact that we have on a better society. But I shudder when I look at what has happened recently that shows that the impact on our own community is everything but better. I suspect that this is because we have landed in a legal world, instead of in an academic one in which open debate, transparency and freedom of ideas are leading.

And we know all too well that these principles (open debate, transparency and freedom of opinion) are essential for progress. With the degree in their hands our newly promoted students are subtly reminded of this.

Daniel Kahneman, the recently deceased Nobel prize winner, was even known for wanting to work with people who did not agree with him and for calling this adversarial collaboration. His first and most amusing attempt was to work with his wife, the psychologist Anne Treisman. By the way, they never sorted out their difference in opinion on the role of attention in priming effects.

Don’t tell me that more than 6,000 people from TU Delft can be silenced by a couple of Amsterdam Zuidas lawyers.

How can it then be that our own staff members are being threatened by legal action by our very own academic institution? What we see is that our administrators with well-intentioned agreements, agreed to during labour conflicts, have unwittingly put their heads in the noose of expensive law firms that threaten legal action at every violation.

How do you avoid a culture of fear and self-censorship arising in an environment like this? More to the point, now that is has become clear that the threat of legal action has become a part of the process, employees can become discouraged to go into certain controversial or sensitive subjects.

And still more important is the lack of open discussion to draw lessons from issues that have gone wrong to then think through steps for improvement. This is being made impossible for everyone if you may not discuss and evaluate them. Or if you may not express your opinion or criticise something without being afraid of legal action.

How can we get out of this situation? TU Delft has far too much to offer to be intimidated by legal firms. First of all, the open debate must be reopened. Delta has done amazing work to open that door a little and we need to be grateful to Saskia Bonger instead of threatening her. If a law firm threatens legal action, our best course of action is that we cover the costs, if necessary through a fundraising campaign, instead of her being made liable for the costs. Don’t tell me that more than 6,000 people from TU Delft can be silenced by a couple of Amsterdam Zuidas lawyers.