Polemic surrounding student party VSP escalates

VSP founder Marlon U. was aggressive and intimidated others on the VU Amsterdam campus for years, according to the national newspaper Het Parool. The assault that recently took place on campus was just the latest chapter in this story. In January, Marlon U. allegedly beat up a student who had confronted him about singing a Nazi song.

Since then, several VSP members have turned their backs on the far-right party. VSP members in Utrecht left the party at the end of January, followed by their counterparts in the University of Amsterdam. Last Wednesday, VSP members in Leiden announced that they would remain in the University Council in a personal capacity.

Suspension
Meanwhile, things remain turbulent at VU Amsterdam. Students staged a protest on campus against the "ineffective" actions of the Executive Board. They want the board to be clearer about what it will do in response to misconduct.

According to VU, measures have been taken. The university has talked about the topic, issued warnings, and it is rumoured that someone was even suspended. "Any form of intimidation, discrimination, violence or exclusion is unacceptable," a spokesperson for the university said.

Gag order
There is currently one VSP member left on the VU University Council, but the remaining councillors refuse to meet with him. As a result, the council has not held any meetings for some time.

In an attempt to resolve the crisis, the student council's executive committee asked the council members not to discuss the Marlon U. issue “externally”. Some interpreted this as a gag order, which sparked widespread anger.

Fabrications
The executive committee of the VU student council (USR) is resigning. They say on Ad Valvas that they have been “dehumanised” by their own supporters. “Emotions have run so high that dialogue is no longer possible,” said one of the two members.

The second one warned the councillors who spoke to Het Parool about Marlon U, allegedly boasting about fabricated or exaggerated allegations. "That's so stupid," she said, "the facts are bad enough." It is unclear whether the fabrications made it into the Het Parool article.

“Disturbing pattern”
Last year, the student council's election committee reported that VSP had displayed a "disturbing pattern of increasing aggression, intimidation and misconduct" during the elections. Ad Valvas' editor-in-chief was also intimidated by Marlon U and filed a police report against him.