Politics on Campus: Boring, scary, or necessary?

Still at the start of a new year, having just said goodbye to 2023, I catch myself reflecting on endings and thinking about new beginnings quite often. What did I learn last year, and what is my future going to look like? Life seems so pretty now that the sun is starting to shine again, but let’s face it: The world is not always such a pretty place to live. Especially with everything going on right now. Gaza, Ukraine’s battle with Russia, or the political situation in the Netherlands dividing Dutch nationals more than ever. How does it affect our university life as students? I asked around on campus a little while ago how we look at politics and the various political situations happening in the world today. How is politics alive on Campus?

Us students, especially in such an international environment, are wired to hold a constructive debate. It’s all we do, what our personal relationships are built upon. In the private sphere, with friends from uni, students don’t shy away from a discussion or two. Whether it’s about politics or the weather… But that can be different when we’re on campus.

“On campus or in class, I don’t know if it would be a good time or place to start a conversation about political situations.”

Politics hits so close to home, that it can be scary talking about it. It refers to your beliefs, your frame of reference, which can be deeply rooted in some cases. It doesn’t mean that we’re not open to differing opinions - on the contrary. Students build their identity on being open-minded. You kind of have to be in an international environment like our campus. But especially when we’re talking about contemporary issues, when we’re around new people, politics feels like a sensitive topic. So often, students don’t get into it as much as they could - finding it easier to steer away from it by cracking a joke or dropping a silence. 

Still, when it’s brought up as a central topic in class, after a while students find ground to open the conversation.
 

“When a professor or teacher brings up current political situations as a case example, I do eventually participate in the discussion.”

The students are all aware of the impact and necessity of politics, that’s a fact. So it makes sense that it’s brought up in class often, as it’s central to society and our personal lives in extension. And even though the topics are sensitive often-times, the classroom at EUR is a place for discussion and intellectual insight anyway. Which luckily, is clearly felt when the professor provides clear ground to open conversation - without judgment. There might be an uncomfortable silence and some hesitant gazes at first, but when one takes the courage to kick off the start, others cannot help but jump in with their own questions or narratives. Because haven’t we all learnt as a child, no questions or opinions are wrong?

There is one exception in which students jump to the opportunity of a deep political discussion. One topic that students never avoid.

“When it’s about people personally, that’s when I stand up.”

In the case of humanitarian issues, problems that affect people and their lives directly, we are not afraid to stand up. Our campus can then be a place where you can almost literally feel the safety net us students are weaving. Whether it is through WhatsApp group chat messages about protesting together for justice, strong communities open and welcome to everyone, Ukrainian flags waving through the wind or taped behind windows… Students at EUR feel empathy and a strong urge to help others. Look around on campus: We as students are always together, and take care of one another when we need to.

“It may not affect me, but it could affect a friend. Or a friend of a friend. That’s already enough for me to offer support the best I can.”

Standing together is what makes the EUR student network so strong. Our campus is defined through its countless communities and groundbreaking ideas. Even when we’re from different parts of the world, all with unique personalities and backgrounds, the common ground students find on political issues that matter is truly admirable. So even if you’re scared to open the conversation at first, do it anyway! We are meant to learn from each other on campus. At the end of the day, Desiderius Erasmus built our uni because he had faith in our potential for self-improvement.