Four students fainted after being put in a ‘stress position’, with dozens of others feeling ill after the barbaric ritual
Whilst Vindicat might usually steal the headlines for the awful behaviour of its members, Albertus Magnus can now join it in the annals of history for making four students faint after being forced to sit in a stress position for 20 minutes. Dozens of others felt unwell afterwards, de Volkskrant reports (via the GIC).
Albertus Magnus then tried to cover up the incident.
The incident occurred during the most recent hazing period. According to de Volkskrant, Vice President Ruben van Rossem initially denied that anything had occurred, suggesting instead that members could have passed out, due to a combination of heat and many people in a room. Sounds Corona-safe.
Only later did Van Rossem acknowledge that the four students had passed out after having to wait for each other ‘for a maximum of twenty minutes while sitting bent over. After the incident, the four went to the medical team for a check-up. After a night’s sleep, they felt well again and could participate in the programme again”, according to a board member.
The association apparently has decided not to repeat the exercise in coming years.
Code of Conduct
Albertus Magnus is the largest student association in Groningen after Vindicat. After a number of incidents at Vindicat, student associations in the city have to adhere to stricter rules during the introduction. A code of conduct was also drawn up in 2019, which was signed by the associations. The code states, among other things, that incidents must be reported to the Advisory Committee Introduction Times (ACI).
