Rups wants to solve everyday student problems pragmatically

Rups is short for Rechtvaardige Utrechtse Partij voor Studenten, or Utrecht Fair Party for Students. Rups aims to be a broad-based student party tackling the problems UU students face.

Among other things, the party will fight for a cheaper and better alternative to Spar at Utrecht Science Park (USP) and an end to the rule, applied by some programmes, that stipulates students must get at least a 5.5 in all course components to pass. The party wants rules to be introduced at the university level about compensating for a fail in a course. 

In addition, Rups would like to introduce a non-binding referendum so that students can have their say in university policy.

Ideological differences
Founders Daniël van Driel, a third-year student of Sociology, and Lucas Meijer Galan, a fourth-year student of Management & Organisational Science, have known each other since secondary school but only became real friends in the last two years of school.

Both already enjoyed following politics at the time. ‘We thought it was funny, more than anything else. Politics always seems so hopeless,’ says Daniël. ‘We never thought about running for office ourselves.’

They decided to found Rups because they felt that the current student parties do not address the actual problems UU students face. Daniël: ‘Student parties are mainly concerned with ideological contradictions. VSP talks about "identity politics" and "cancel culture", which doesn't have much to do with students' daily lives. It is not very clear what they mean by that, actually.'

'As for Vuur, it often talks about issues such as ‘social justice’ and ‘democratic values’. Rups wants to be more pragmatic and get things done without adhering to any vague ideology.’

Lucas and Daniël (right). Photo: DUB

Supermarket in De Uithof
Daniel and Lucas dislike the Spar supermarket, as do many other students. Daniel: ‘It is expensive and has a meagre assortment. Due to the limited facilities, USP is in danger of becoming a problem neighbourhood.’

‘UU promised to make the campus more liveable several times. Everyone wants an alternative to Spar, including the municipality of Utrecht. UU is the one blocking this and not allowing other supermarket chains to establish themselves on campus. We are going to work hard to make sure that happens.’

Few students vote
Rups' founders believe that a practical approach will help to get more students to vote. Lucas: ‘The number of students who vote has been very low for years. We are talking about percentages between 11 and 18 percent in the past three years.’

In their view, UU needs a student party that does 'what it is supposed to do,' which is improving students' lives. ‘We hope that this will also make students realise that students in the University Council and faculty councils can do something for them.’

The student party is in favour of introducing a non-binding referendum. A poll, so to say. Lucas: ‘We want students to give their opinions monthly about the topics the University Council is working on. This would give students more insight into what is going on in the University Council and get them more involved in the decision-making process. This way, the student delegation would know what students want and would be in a better position to defend its choices to the university board.’

Although Rups prefers to stay away from ideology, the party will also have to deal with subjects other than students' everyday problems. What will they do then? ‘We are left and progressive in principle,’ says Daniël. ‘We are pro-Palestine and in favour of sustainability. When such topics come up, we will take a left-progressive stance, but that is not what we want to achieve in the council.’

Law, Economics & Governance
The student party will also present candidates for the Utrecht University School of Governance (USBO) within the Faculty of Law, Economics & Governance. All three departments must be represented on the faculty council, so three of the ten seats for students are up for grabs for USBO.

This will give the right-wing conservative VSP a challenger. In the last elections, VSP won all three USBO seats because they were the only party running. Lucas: ‘We will offer an alternative to VSP. As a result, we can now happily speak of elections instead of one student party automatically winning all the seats.’

The student parties must submit their candidate lists by April 10 at the latest to participate in the elections. New parties must first be approved by the electoral committee. The lists will be made public on April 22, when the university will also announce which new parties will be participating in the elections. Students can vote for the University Council and their faculty councils on May 12-14. There will also be elections for the staff delegations this year, which are renovated once every two years.