‘Universities are responding cowardly to the far-right presence in representative councils’

"You can't ignore this," says Chris Aalberts, a publicist and lecturer at Erasmus University, in Rotterdam. He has been following the rise of populism in the Netherlands for years and believes that far-right student parties should be approached more critically.

Last month, DUB published an article about VSP's entry into the University Council and the Faculty Council of Law, Economics & Governance. VSP aims to establish itself as a party that opposes "left-wing" and "woke" policies. The party is also active at VU University Amsterdam and reportedly plans to start a new branch in Leiden.

Last summer, Aalberts wrote a blog post warning that parties similar to Forum for Democracy (FvD), such as VSP and Liberi Erasmi in his own university in Rotterdam, are taking advantage of students' lack of interest in representative councils.

Thanks to a lack of competing parties and low turnouts in the elections, far-right students can now begin a "march through the institutions", something that FvD leader Thierry Baudet says he had been hoping to see for years.

According to the publicist, the electoral system for faculty councils and university councils should be subjected to a thorough evaluation. In fact, that should have happened long ago, as evidenced by the structurally low turnout in student elections (only 18 percent of UU students voted last year, for example).

Setting boundaries 
Aalberts feels that university administrators often act cowardly and hide behind procedures when the rise of far-right student parties is discussed. "You can always say that everything was done according to the rules and that the elections were fair, which is true, but that's taking the easy way out." In his opinion, administrators should not be afraid to set boundaries. This could be done by demanding candidates and parties to abide by certain principles to be eligible for election. "The question is which principles they should abide by, but non-discrimination seems to be one of them."

"As a university, do you think it is acceptable for a councillor to question the rights of fellow transgender students? Do you think the minorities within your organisation should be protected against such statements? Currently, no obstacles are being put in the way of these student parties, even though one can wonder how many students they actually represent."

Sarah de Lange, a professor of Political Pluralism at the University of Amsterdam, also argues that executive boards must take responsibility and, if necessary, clearly indicate what is and is not allowed in the faculty and university councils. "Universities have codes of conduct that often mention discrimination as a form of undesirable behaviour. These agreements must also be upheld in the representative advisory bodies."

In addition, she believes the activities of these new parties should be closely followed by the other parties in the representative councils as well as by independent university media outlets. She emphasises that there must be room for radical right-wing parties in the councils. After all, even though they have a complex relationship with constitutional, liberal-democratic principles, they remain within the bandwidth of the democratic process. 

However, the professor has a problem with "far-right" movements because they turn their backs on democracy and promote us-versus-them thinking. As an example, she mentions GNSV, a far-right student association which may have a branch in Utrecht. Several VSP members are also affiliated with GNSV, which bears a strong resemblance to the controversial youth movement Schild & Vrienden (Shield & Friends) in Belgium. "Calling this association 'radical right' contributes to its normalisation."

More support
Like Aalberts, De Lange believes that the emergence of new student parties and associations does not only have consequences for the universities themselves. "This mainly serves to support the extreme and far-right ecosystem by recruiting highly educated activists."

According to her, it is not yet known to what extent sympathy for radical or far-right ideas is growing among university students. After all, there is no research into differences in voting behaviour between highly educated people and other young people in the Netherlands.

To Chris Aalberts, VSP's existence does not necessarily mean that the number of students adhering to radical right-wing ideas is growing. "But it is true that students are feeling less inhibited about expressing their views and getting together."

Counter-movement
According to the Nijmegen-based political scientist Roderik Rekker, academics agree that the average young person in the Netherlands has not become more conservative. On the contrary, he believes that the rising level of education in the country results in more progressive views. "This comes up again and again when they are asked about issues like diversity, migration or the climate."

Rekker: "We are seeing radical right-wing parties gaining popularity across the board, including among young people. But the striking thing is there is no significant difference between generations. The far-right movement is gaining about the same amount of support across all age groups. And that has been going on for years. The data is actually very boring and differs from the support for other parties."

According to him, media outlets are telling an incorrect and misleading story when they conclude that young boys have started to support radical right-wing ideas en masse because of the results of recent student elections or the popularity of "anti-woke" influencer Andrew Tate. "Yes, boys have more sympathy for far-right parties than girls, but that is not representative of this generation."

Rekker says he is not exactly up to date on developments in university politics. However, he can imagine that the more progressive ideas of the majority are leading to a countermovement. "Right-wing students may feel isolated in what is perhaps considered an increasingly 'woke' environment and therefore express a more extreme opposing view."

The Dutch National Consultative Committee for University Participation (Dutch acronym: LOVUM) says that it has not received any signals that radical right-wing parties have expressed opinions that would be considered unacceptable, but will discuss the subject soon.

Board member Wim de Smidt is the chair of the Utrecht University Council. He sees no reason for concern in the situation in Utrecht right now. According to him, VSP is taking a constructive approach and cooperates well with the other groups. He also says that he "sees nothing in SP's positions that you could consider undemocratic".

De Smidt also refers to the Higher Education Act, which states that participation councils should "guard against discrimination on any grounds whatsoever". According to the regulations of the Utrecht University Council itself, the council is also authorised to ask the Equal Treatment Commission for an opinion. "In other words, I will immediately intervene if discriminatory statements are made." 

The board of the National Consultation of Political Groups (LOF), which supports students in university politics, emphasises in a statement that the new student parties are part of the democratic playing field. "But that does not mean all their ideas should be normalised."

"VSP and Liberi Erasmi spread misleading information about ‘woke indoctrination’ in higher education and support measures that harm the accessibility and quality of education. This is the opposite of what LOF stands for: an inclusive, accessible and democratic educational environment in which every student is heard."

At the same time, LOF says it does not want to be blind to the reasons behind the two parties' growth. In addition to polarisation in society, the lack of confidence in the effectiveness of representative councils also plays a role in this whole story. The low turnout in student elections also makes these bodies less representative. "We must also work on structural solutions: more accessible and inclusive student participation, an educational environment in which all voices are heard and taken seriously, and actively combating social and economic inequality."