VU student council board resigns over far-right party conflict

The student council of VU University Amsterdam is in crisis due to the conflict surrounding the Vrijmoedige Studentenpartij (VSP). According to reports in newspaper Het Parool, VSP founder Marlon U. has been aggressive and intimidating on  campus for years. Among other things, he knocked a student to the ground after the student confronted Marlon U. for singing a Nazi song.

Several student council members refuse to meet with the VSP member who sits on the student council too. Therefore the student council has not met for some time. In order to calm things down, the executive committee of the student council asked that the Marlon U. issue not be discussed “externally”. The party’s supporters interpreted this as a gag order. This led to a great deal of anger and heightened emotions, after which the board decided to resign.

A number of VSP members from Utrecht, the University of Amsterdam and Leiden have now also turned their backs on their far-right party.

On the VU campus, there are protests against the “ineffective” actions of the Executive Board. They want the board to be clearer about how it will act against misconduct.

The VU responds that measures have indeed been taken, in the form of discussions, warnings and a suspension. “Any form of intimidation, discrimination, violence or exclusion is unacceptable”, a spokesperson said.

HOP, Olmo Linthorst