One rule for them, another for us, it seems
The notorious Vindicat student association in Groningen is likely to have faces as red as their trousers after the publication of a photo of students partying on the association’s roof terrace last night. The photo was published on the Groningen city outlet Sikkom, and showes (perhaps unsurprisingly) the assembled Vindicats tightly packed onto the terrace, with little regard for social distancing. In the Groningen city council, the SP (Socialist Party) is calling on sanctions against the association. As reported by the GIC.
The SP municipal council wants Mayor Schuiling (VVD) to come up with sanctions for student association.
On Monday evening, a photo of a full roof terrace at the Vindicat society on the Grote Markt appeared on Sikkom during the Dutch cabinet’s press conference on new Coronavirus measures. Witnesses say there was plenty of hugging and members did not keep their distance.
Vindicat’s rector Wessel Giezen, says on Sikkom that the organisation cannot control everyone in the huge, 7-storey clubhouse that has prime position on Groningen’s Grote Markt. “We have walk-in slots for houses, that goes per house and everything is strictly regulated inside. But this group went on their own initiative to the roof terrace, where there was no supervision. Unfortunately, we cannot keep an eye on all seven floors at the same time, otherwise this would not have happened. The group has been there for about 15 minutes and has since been sent home. We are considering further steps. In any case, this is not the intention. ”
Vindicat is one of the best-known organisations in the city, and it should be noted that in the association has been in the media quite a lot recently, with an ill-fated ski trip at the beginning of the outbreak, a party that led to police imposing social distancing measures upon members; and several high-profile stories of ‘hazing’ rituals. The student association has also come under fire following some of its members creating a ‘bang list’ of female members, and an article in the members magazine ‘De Ster’ that named a ‘slut of the summer’.
A full history of Vindicats’ misdeeds can be read (in Dutch) on nu.nl, however the actions of the society as a collection were deemed so bad that the University of Groningen and Hanzehogeschool pulled funding from the organisation in 2018. The last incident is now a photo of a full roof terrace with partying club members, just in the moment when Prime Minister Rutte announced new strict corona measures in his press conference.
Image via WikiMedia user Papoise. License here.
