‘We must not publicly judge student associations too quickly’

In the mayor’s office the past of Alexander Pechtold is clearly present. The lamp on his desk he brought from the CBR, where until recently he was the head. The large cabinet against the wall, filled with gifts and other relics, belonged to his father and was made from timber from the Delft Saint-Hippolytus Church, demolished in 1974.

Although Pechtold was born in Delft (and from the age of three grew up in Rhoon near Rotterdam), he chose to study in Leiden after high school. This included membership of the corps Minerva (comparable to DSC) and a room in a corps house. “The house with the golden gate in the Herenstraat. If you locked your bike to the gate, we’d spray-paint your mudguard gold. Those are these typical traditions. Is that vandalism, or a student prank?”

Typical dilemmas for a mayor of a student city. After being an alderman in Leiden and mayor of Wageningen, Pechtold is now an administrator for a third time. In that role he sits monthly at meetings of the Student Association Council (VeRa), where leaders of large and small associations meet with the university and the municipality.

At those meetings many things come up, he says. “But just like forty years ago, student housing is a problem. Definitely in Delft. Here the private rental offer is declining the fastest in the whole of the Netherlands.”

Even DUWO is barely managing to build more. What does it mean for Delft if fewer students can live here?

“From one day to the next, not much. But over a period of ten years you will certainly notice it. The character of your society changes. I hope Pieter Verhoeve (mayor of the Dutch city Gouda, ed.) is not listening, but then you become a kind of Gouda. Also nice, but you no longer have that vibe of a student town.”

What is that vibe?

“You only realise what it means once it’s gone. That’s the treacherous thing: you take it for granted, like water from the tap. The social life, the activity, the buzz, sometimes the unrest, it all belongs. If that disappears, your character disappears.”

Do the other residents of Delft,  the non-students, also see that?

“There is of course always some healthy tension. But to put it bluntly: the university hasn’t just appeared yesterday. So everybody who’s involved chose to live here consciously, or stayed here knowing these students would be around.”

Over the past years the nuisance from the associations has decreased significantly. What remains is nuisance from student houses. What should we do about that?

“I think that will remain. The question is: how do we live together? I believe it isn’t just about student houses versus other housing. It’s also about that we have become less considerate of each other, or have less understanding for each other.

I remember that when we had a house party back in my day, we’d let the neighbours know a week in advance, and tell them what time we would stop. If you know that as a neighbour, you take it into account and you don’t start complaining. It’s part of living in the city. It’s a conscious choice to be living in the city center as a non-student.”

You are still looking for a place yourself. Would you want to live next to a student house?

“I wouldn’t find it disturbing, as long as you make good agreements. I just don’t know whether they would enjoy having the enforcer of the municipality next door. I do hope that a message from the mayor isn’t received any differently than one from any other neighbour.”

Although student houses are happily full, student life is under pressure. Not only are there too few rooms, but registrations for associations across the country are falling. They find it harder to recruit board members due to academic pressure and finances. How do we keep the association life going?

“That worries me. Because of a number of serious excesses in student cities in recent years, the whole idea of joining, and the usefulness and necessity of it, is under pressure. I think that’s a shame.

Yes, there are excesses. But I think there were in the past as well. Through the speed of social media and a changing society in which we are less tolerant to each other, things have become more intense. Student associations perhaps thought too late that their traditions — as they call them — no longer always belong in this time. For instance with respect to sexuality, alcohol use, how you treat each other.

‘Student associations perhaps thought too late that their traditions sometimes are no longer fit for our time’

What used to go on behind closed doors at an association is now judged by society within a different moral framework. But we must not publicly judge student associations too quickly.”

Are student associations allowed to hold different norms than the rest of society?

“Certainly. Look: in your twenties, your brain is still developing. Because of the stigma around student associations, that idea that it’s one big Sodom and Gomorrah (ed. two ‘sinful’ cities from the Bible), we forget it can also be fun, and that you as a young person can grow through it. I find it important that we don’t stigmatise too fast. During your student years, you should be allowed to make mistakes.

‘Because of the stigma around student associations, we forget it can also be fun’

It’s also important that the associations are self-correcting. Some even have their own form of justice. And if something really happens that society considers unacceptable, then regular law will step in.”

Does a student association risk becoming a mini-society with its own norms and rules, separate from the rest of society

“Again: the law applies to all of us. But we must give associations the chance to self-regulate. Exploring boundaries belongs to student life. Being able to let loose and make mistakes once in a while belongs to it.

I am personally very happy I was a member of an association and lived in a house with that character. The house or the association sometimes is a very important safety net. After I quit my law studies after half a year, my senior housemate told me they had registered me with an employment agency. Another time I lay in bed feeling ill until my eye swelled up, it was a housemate who made sure I was in a car to the hospital ten minutes later.

Far too little attention is paid to how a house or association can prevent loneliness. That you have people around you with similar experiences. People you get to know and friendships that often last your whole life.”

‘I shouldn’t act as if I know exactly how student life works now, based on what it was thirty-five years ago’

I hear a lot of empathy for students in your words — stemming from your own student days. Is it an advantage if as mayor of Delft you have that background?

“No. But you must be open to it. And I shouldn’t pretend that my knowledge from thirty-five years ago is the same as now.”

It does give more empathy.

“That’s what I’m saying. I tell you that mistakes should be allowed. That doesn’t just fall out of my head.”

Have you personally made mistakes during your student days?

“I came from a village near Rotterdam, was quite protected, and suddenly found myself in a city where I didn’t know anyone — armed with an unfolded map. I had never washed my own clothes, my parents took care of my insurance. So yes — I’ve walked around with keys without knowing exactly where I was going. And I have lain completely hungover in a corner of my room, promising myself never to drink again.

‘I’ve lain completely hungover in a corner of my room’

I don’t want to idealise student life. I’ve seen ministers who — in their sixties — still wore their association ties in the parliament. That always struck me as going a bit far. Because if all goes well, you’ll still experience many exciting and fun things after that. But for me it was good that in my student years I was somewhat tested.”

What will the municipality do to ensure that all that student culture remains alive?

“That will become an important question again at the municipal elections in March. For example: who are we building for? I think that, as a student city, it’s important not to see the university as a cuckoo chick in your community, but rather to work together.”

Your mayorship in Wageningen you left after two years to become a minister in the Balkenende‑II Cabinet. Could Delft also lose you that way, if Rob Jetten calls soon?

“No, I will not do that a second time. I don’t regret my fourteen years in The Hague politics, but life moves on. I really regretted leaving Wageningen back then. My thought was: the country calls, as they say. But this time they really don’t need to call.”