PPE wants to tackle class discrimination, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia

Eight students from the Bachelor's in Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE) broke into a graduation ceremony on June 22 to raise awareness of sexual abuse and harassment going on in their community. According to these students, the university does little to protect students from abuse. In a statement, they denounce the lack of action on the part of employees and fellow students, "who were informed about intimidation and discrimination incidents but opted to remain silent. The behaviour of these members of the PPE community can no longer be tolerated. They must be held accountable."

The students have been addressing these topics for quite a while. Although the PPE board has been trying to improve social safety these past few years, the students find that things are moving way too slowly.

PPE is a selective, small-scale Bachelor's programme taking in 75 freshers each year. It's a close-knit and international community, with approximately half of its 220 students coming from abroad. PPE has its own building, Descartes Hall, which is located on the International Campus, which PPE shares with the University College (UCU). In addition to classes, the building hosts a number of extracurricular activities, including those of the PPE study association, Metis, thanks to which the social and academic lives of PPE students are interwoven.

Break the silence
The protest came as a surprise. One of the students had asked to give a speech during the ceremony, but the text submitted was completely different from the one read out loud. Once it was her turn to speak, more students joined her onstage, in front of their peers, parents and university employees. They denounced the behaviour of their counterparts, but also Metis members, teachers, and the PPE board.

Student Ide talked about her struggle to combine study and work and how she didn't feel supported by teachers. "I was explicitly advised to cry during a meeting to show that I was really having a hard time. I was also asked several times to quit my job, even though I need the money."

Students were also allegedly drugged during activities of Metis last year and the year before. The current president of the study association, Arianna Moro, also took the stage to denounce its toxic atmosphere and the "misogyny" she's "seen, heard, and experienced personally" within the association.

Arianna: "In the committees, women are often belittled and excluded from the decision-making process. Older, male students have also abused their power over younger students." 

After the protest, their message spread like wildfire. "More and more students from other faculties and programmes have been approaching us to share similar experiences, which shows that we are not alone," says Lune de Rijck, one of the speakers and a member of the University Council.

Strong emotions
The reactions to the protest varied. A video obtained by DUB shows that the students sitting in the front row were clapping but, by the middle of the demonstration, someone in the audience shouts that the protesters should be ashamed of themselves. Others criticised their choice of setting, saying that a graduation ceremony should be a festive occasion.

The PPE board, which consists of four members, reacted in a written statement by saying that they are "deeply saddened" by the "painful experiences shared by the students." According to them, the protest evoked "strong and diverse emotions" in the PPE community, "from students, parents and staff members."

"We see this protest as an important point of our collective learning process towards a respectful community in which all students and employees feel seen and heard," writes the board. "PPE is not isolated from oppressive social dynamics visible elsewhere in society, including the university." It is within this context that the PPE board strives to form an inclusive community that enables all students and employees to flourish and where there is no room for sexual violence."

The day after the protest, the PPE board held a meeting with students and teachers so that they could share their emotions. In addition, all students were reminded that they can turn to the student counsellor for sexual abuse working on the International Campus, which PPE shares with UCU. On Monday, July 3, the board met with some of the protesters, in the presence of an independent moderator. Lastly, the administration aims to organise a meeting with all students and staff, as well as develop dedicated courses for tutors.

Addressing problems
The demonstration during the graduation ceremony was not an isolated incident. There is a history of efforts to improve social safety in the programme but "students wanted to make themselves heard out of frustration about the slow institutional response, combined with a sense of urgency," explains Lune.

About three years ago, dozens of PPE students decided to join forces following a number of "terrible events" among students. The group's main goal is to support each other but they also aim to promote a "cultural change". Over the past few years, they have held several talks with the PPE board to make sure that the programme becomes safer. Some of the people in the group joined the protest at the graduation ceremony.

Raising awareness
The group has made it so that PPE students talk more openly about these issues, which raises awareness, but, according to the students, it is not clear what the PPE board is actually doing to address the problems.

Lune: "A group of students and employees has been working really hard but things often stay with them and no collective responsibility is taken. The PPE board said that they would take the problems seriously but this issue is so complicated and ingrained that we haven't been able to see the cultural change that we need. It seems as though nothing really happened but it is a long process."

"It is important to keep communicating and showing what is going on. The students would like to work closely with the board to engender change but the responsibility shouldn't lie solely on students' shoulders."

Activities
Following the complaints, the PPE board has been working on improving social safety within the programme. In writing, the administration informs that topics related to diversity, inclusion and social safety have been addressed in the classroom, tutor meetings, educational gatherings, and employee meetings. They also organised a special outing for some of the teaching staff and created a Diversity & Inclusion Council. Additionally, all PPE students are required to follow an online course on sexual consent, which will be rolled out university-wide in the next academic year.

There were also student-led initiatives, such as lectures about transphobia, homophobia and sexual abuse. Each of these activities was followed by a discussion.

According to Maurits de Jongh, who is closely involved with social safety efforts in the programme and will take on the role of programme coordinator in September, the PPE board was not aware of what kind of "tangible" steps the protesters were referring to. They weren't aware of the stories about drugged students in the study association, either. Normally, study associations are obliged to report this kind of incident to the programme. According to Education Director Janneke van Dis, an investigation should be conducted on whether or not Metis has failed to do so.

Talking to each other
De Jongh adds: “Many of the complaints did not reach us. The question is: how can we make sure that they do in the future? And how can we elucidate what kind of matters it is our responsibility to follow up on? How can we make sure that communication and information are clearer and that students and employees know where to turn to and who to talk to?"

The students also claim to have complained about homophobic and transphobic attitudes in the classroom. De Jongh acknowledges that "there have been complaints about courses and work groups in which the discussion didn't proceed a respectful manner. That was actually our prompt to organise a staff outing for key teachers. Some of the cases have led to direct interventions, such as switching the tutor of a work assignment."

"Whenever we get complaints, we talk to the coordinating teacher about how the situation can be addressed. In the standard course manual, teachers are asked to include a section on how to behave towards each other, so that they can start a big conversation right at the beginning of the block about how to go about debating things. But the question remains whether or not that has landed across the organisation."

"We need to make sure that all PPE teachers are equipped to handle matters when someone makes disrespectful remarks of a sexist, homophobic, or transphobic nature, to name but a few. That's clearly our role and responsibility. Things that happen at parties and bars are not in our sight but they can have a significant impact on the way students function and participate in our activities. It would be easy for us to wash our hands like 'we're only responsible for teachers' contact hours and nothing else'. This is a rather complex issue and we're in the middle of a quest."