“A little meagre,” says the (now) former chairman Karel van Melle. “I am convinced that we had a good programme. Maybe the rain prevented us from showing ourselves well as a sports association. With that kind of weather, a pub is probably more interesting.” Anyway, this result is not the end of the world, says Van Melle. “It is a pity that we are below the level of last year (274 registrations), but with 195, we have more than enough people to fill the boats and committees.”
Koko outshines the rest by far and is “very proud” of that, says former chairperson Maaike Hooghiemstra. “Despite the weird Inkom, without the parties that we normally hold, we registered more than three hundred new members.” Hooghiemstra thinks that it is because Koko is the most progressive association in Maastricht. “We are the most open. Dutch or international, everyone is welcome.” There aren’t any exact numbers at the moment, but there are a lot of internationals among those numbers this year too.
According to Hooghiemstra, students of the future are becoming less and less interested in the classic association traditions such as hazing. Koko doesn’t have those. A member stop, as is the case with their sister association in Groningen, wasn’t necessary. “We were able to cope with the growth pretty well last year. We will manage this year too.”
Circumflex is also “very satisfied,” says the new chairman, Simon Hoek. They registered 253 new members. An unprecedented number, says Hoek, certainly because the association couldn’t go to its normal lengths because of COVID-19. Still, Hoek thinks that the high number of registrations are partly due to the virus. “Student associations are a good way to meet a lot of people quickly with things the way they are now.” Whether the bad weather was an impediment for them during Inkom? “Of course we would prefer to be sitting outside in the sun at our outdoor cafe, but for the association it may not have been such a bad thing. Our clubhouse is in the city centre, maybe first-year students found it easy to just walk in.”
Tragos registered 202 new members. “Slightly fewer than last year, but that is also because there were extra registrations then due to the pandemic,” says the new chairman, Robert Roosen. At that time, only members were allowed to make use of the outside terrace because of COVID-19.” Inkom participants who signed up at the door for a temporary membership, were allowed to have a drink on the terrace. Many of them remained members. In short: “Very happy with the result. At every event, there was a queue waiting at the table to register.” Anyone who registered with the association did so to the loud applause and shouting from people on the terrace, Roosen laughs. “Tragos is more than happy.”