“It is the student associations and independent student associations that are allowed to supply the mentors for the INKOM and by doing so, they are given ample opportunity to recruit newcomers,” the student says. “We organise the INKOM, so we are responsible for the way things are run that week,” president Rianne Letschert reacts. “We bear the responsibility for the selection of the mentors, for the information given to new students about the types of associations, and for the monitoring of their introduction activities.”
Nevertheless, the past few years there has been a great deal of ‘tinkering’ to the setup of INKOM. “Precisely because of the more diverse and international student population in Maastricht,” says Margriet Schreuders, director of the Student Services Centre (SSC). It used to be that the large student associations had quite a hand in the organisation of all kinds of activities during the introductory week. But the past few years, the INKOM Working Group has paid more attention to culture, sports and the city, “and yes, some of the associations had to get used to that idea,” says Schreuders.
The INKOM programme has to be attractive for everyone, Letschert and Schreuders emphasise. That also requires more diversity among the mentors. The groups are not just ‘allocated’ to the large associations; their contribution is actually quite small. Of the six hundred mentors this year, 66 were from Tragos and Circumflex. The rest was divided up among KoKo (no hazing), rowing association Saurus (have hazing), study associations, sports associations, Kaleido students, but also individual students. The latter ‘category’ was added during the last edition, but there were not a lot of registrations, says Schreuders. “We need to create greater awareness.” In addition, INKOM participants can tick off what they would like: parties, culture or sports. “That makes it easier for us to make up the groups.” A third adaptation concerns short interviews that take place with the mentors about their motivation.
One thing is clear: the Executive Board will not accept any infringements of the Code of Conduct about hazing. Next year, for example, Tragos will be excluded from participating in the INKOM, due to the recent ‘excesses’ during their hazing. This means that the association cannot supply mentors. Letschert: “They must show that they can make a cultural change, which we will scrutinise very strictly.”