Over the last months, several incidents have taken place at Tragos and Circumflex that crossed the boundaries of “physical safety and personal integrity”, the university wrote on its website Friday afternoon. The incidents include “fainting during activities, over-exhaustion, and a panic attack” during introduction activities for new members. The incidents were either not reported at all or not reported in a timely fashion (within 24 hours), which is against the Code of Conduct of the Introduction Period. That is an official UM document, signed by the student associations every year, which contains rules regarding alcohol consumption, sleep, personal integrity etc.
The incidents came to light during the talks that UM held with the boards of the four largest student associations (which also includes Saurus and KoKo) and Onafhankelijk Maastricht (OM), the umbrella organisation which represents over 30 independent student societies. The cause: “multiple reports of misconduct” during the so-called ‘A-tijd’, a period when prospective members are introduced to a student society. After the initial conversation, the chairs were given ‘homework’ to talk to all their societies about possible misconduct.
All the chairs – including the chairs for Circumflex and Tragos – told Observant, twice, that “nothing had come to light” that they would consider misconduct in this regard. Yet it is now clear that there were incidents: the new measures have been implemented based on information revealed in these talks. The reports that started the ball rolling are not included, said UM, because “the people who submitted them hadn’t given permission to share their reports with the associations”.
Cutting ties means that Circumflex and Tragos will no longer be eligible to use UM facilities and won’t be allowed to take part in INKOM – traditionally, a time to recruit new members. There are also financial consequences: the associations can no longer rely on money from UM, including the so-called ‘administrative months’ (financial compensation for the study delay built up by board members), which for both associations amounts to a maximum of 30 thousand euros per year.
What makes this worse, is that the ties with Tragos had been restored less than a year ago; they were cut after instances of misconduct during hazing in the autumn of 2022. An investigation into the culture and a ‘plan of change’ were needed to convince the Executive Board that the association had mended its ways. It was not the first time the association had promised to better itself. In 2017, UM withdrew part of the grant after there were instances of misconduct during hazing two years running. Circumflex was also given a warning for breaching the code of conduct at the time. The following year, UM complimented the associations for “really having taken the feedback on board”.
UM is now fed up with history repeating itself and said that “working with codes of conduct mostly seemed to be a case of ‘papering over the cracks’”. It wishes to break the “cycle of ‘amending codes of conduct – misconduct – sanctions – further amendments to codes of conduct et cetera’”.
At the same time, the university acknowledges that the student associations are “independent organisations” that are in charge of their own activities, including hazing. UM also sees “the value that these associations can offer” students, and because of activities for the community, the city, too. They would prefer to “maintain the value of introduction activities for the associations” while “guaranteeing the physical and social safety of the participants”.
If and how that can be achieved is a question for the Student Service Centre (SSC). Over the coming period, there will be discussions with all parties involved, including “the UM community, the student associations and experts”. This will reveal whether the university “should review its policy of support for student associations”.
Whether the answer to that question is ‘it is impossible to prevent misconduct, so ties will be permanently cut with the associations’, is not something SSC director Margriet Schreuders expects will happen, she said in a phone interview. “We are confident that we will come to a good solution, we just don’t have it yet.” Although she “hasn’t looked into it”, she thinks UM is ahead of the curve on this in the Netherlands. “I believe every other university still uses codes of conduct. But I think that our community can come up with enough groundbreaking and innovative ideas.”
The other student associations don’t need to worry that they will suffer as a result of Tragos and Circumflex’s actions. Schreuders: “That is exactly what we wish to avoid. If you make the code of conduct even more strict, then the others will also be affected. We don’t want that negativity, we’re trying to find a positive approach, more in line with the times.”
Tragos and Circumflex should not expect the ties to be restored as long as there is no new approach, confirmed Schreuders. How long that might take is unknown. “But it’s not going to be a question of years. We feel the pressure to tackle this quickly. We want a solution sooner rather than later.”
Reaction from Circumflex and Tragos
In a joint press release on their websites, on Friday afternoon, Tragos and Circumflex wrote that the talks with UM over the past weeks had been “disappointing and without any clear conclusions” and that “as a result of the university’s decision”, the student associations “regret the situation even more”. Before continuing, “At this moment, we are exploring our next steps.” The associations also emphasise that they “are committed to providing a safe time for all their members and are open to conversations on this subject”.
What the disappointment is exactly, whether they resent UM for anything, and what the next steps for the associations might entail: all that is currently still unclear. The chairs of both associations were unable to be reached by phone on Friday. Circumflex chair Joost Mol indicated that he would only answer questions “by email”. As yet, Observant has not received any answers by email.