There was no sense of panic. The other article was about a petition calling on the university to close, which had quickly gathered a thousand signatures. It was launched by three Italian first-year students who were “extremely worried” about “the lack of awareness” in the Netherlands. In their own country, universities had closed until at least 3 April. In Maastricht, lectures, tutorials and exams were still continuing as normal. The Minister of Education had made it clear that educational institutions could only close on the recommendation of regional health authorities or the local mayor.
Christian Hoebe, a professor at UM and head of infectious disease control at the regional health authority GGD Zuid-Limburg, appreciated the Italian students’ concerns. “The situation in Italy is a nightmare [with up to six to eight hundred deaths per day], which we hope we won’t see in the Netherlands.”
Intelligent lockdown
It all happened very quickly after that. Just three days later, the government ordered universities to close – initially until 6 April, soon extended to 1 June. On TV, prime minister Rutte referred to it as “an intelligent lockdown”. Teaching moved online almost overnight. Lecturers worked overtime, Zoom and Teams quickly became part of everyday life, and exams were either postponed or replaced by essays, papers, take-home exams or oral exams via Skype. That same spring, UM began using proctoring software: online exams monitored by cameras. It didn’t always run smoothly and caused a lot of complaints. Student representatives on the University Council warned of the risks: “It could lead to ‘weaker’ students [e.g. those who scored poorly on midterms or practicals] being more closely scrutinised. And what if someone wears a hijab or has political posters up on their wall? Would that influence assessment?”
Loneliness
Loneliness became an increasing concern. Students missed their friends, and online tutorials offered far less interaction with peers, Observant found. The Observant team began working from home on 16 March and kept putting out articles online. The situation was especially tough on staff members with primary-school-aged children – they suddenly found themselves not only journalists and parents, but also teachers.
Face masks
It was not until a year later, on 2 September 2021, that the university newspaper appeared in print again. “No wave of infections during introduction week” read the headline of the lead front-page story. Above it was a photo of a long queue of students, all wearing face masks, on the footbridge between Universiteitsingel 40 and 50. Concerns about new large-scale outbreaks had eased as vaccines became available and many staff and students had already been vaccinated.
But some concern still lingered, as was clear from an opinion piece in which Bart Verspagen, a professor at UM, argued that anyone taking part in in-person teaching should be vaccinated. Students who refused could follow classes online. Opinions were divided: “You’d not only have to admit vaccinated students, but also those who have already had the virus”, responded Christian Hoebe, by then a member of the national Outbreak Management Team (OMT). University Council member Lotte Meerhof said, “I think it’s important that students and staff get vaccinated, but it shouldn’t play a role in access to education.”
Infection rates
In October, infection rates rose again. University buildings became increasingly empty as teaching moved partly online once more. In early December 2021, Observant decided to go fully digital again: “We hope to return to print by mid-January.” That proved too optimistic. It was not until early March 2022 that another issue rolled off the presses. The war in Ukraine had just broken out – overshadowing all other news, as we wrote on 10 March.