One of the largest Dutch student unions in Amsterdam, L.A.N.X., has suspended one of its branches indefinitely after it came to light that "serious abuses" took place during a student hazing.
Amsterdam Debating Society Ares has been suspended by L.A.N.X., of which it is a subdivision or so-called "dispute" because of an initiation ritual that took place in Bucharest, Romania, and reportedly got out of hand. The large student union announced in a statement on its website on Sunday that De Groene Amsterdammer magazine had presented them with evidence of serious abuses that took place in November 2022 during a hazing ritual.
"We were presented with a very inappropriate letter containing degrading assignments to be carried out abroad. We were extremely shocked by this. The letter and the assignments go against everything we stand for as a society," the statement read.
Strip club stealing and alley-way sex
First-year students, as well as former members, were given a letter containing a list of some 80 assignments they had to complete in Bucharest during the hazing, earning points for each task.
"The assignments were divided into categories ranging from General, such as steal an item from The Buddhist Striptease Club to Ladies and Sex-related such as rule a refugee and have sex with a bucket in an alley, with bucket meaning woman," the statement from L.A.N.X. read.
Each day, the first-year students had to upload footage of the completed tasks as evidence. The letter mentioned that at the end of the trip, a ranking would be drawn up. "The last five on the list could expect a sanction with the last three receiving an even heavier sanction on top of that."
The prospective members were not allowed any contact with the outside world during the trip and their social media accounts were monitored. L.A.N.X. argues that it was sent a different letter in advance, adding that it never approved the assignments included in the final letter. "We feel defeated and fooled."
Further investigation needed
In response to this incident, L.A.N.X. stated that it is still investigating the matter, but that the entire dispute has been suspended indefinitely and excluded from the "Introductory Period," meaning that Ares cannot take on any prospective members.
The student union put the first-year students who participated in the trip in touch with a confidential counsellor. On Monday, the VU, University of Amsterdam and Hogeschool van Amsterdam will meet to discuss how to tackle this "persistent behaviour," which could result in it no longer receiving funding from the educational institutions.
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In Belgium too, there has been major controversy around student unions and their hazing practices, which followed the death of Sanda Dia, a 20-year-old engineering student at KU Leuven in 2018 during a hazing ritual.
In the years following his death, students, politicians, universities and other groups argued that tougher rules were needed, but in practice, this is difficult to implement as these groups often operate outside campuses.
