Student and staff activism has always been an integral part of our university. Just as the Academy Building was occupied in the 1960s in support of democratic university governance, the LAK building (now Lipsius) was occupied in the 1990s to protest cuts to universities and student funding. And so, in 2024 and 2025, actions continue at various locations. There has always been a fiery plea in the Praesidium Libertatis, the stronghold of freedom, about how we connect ethics, education, and research. The question is how our university will continue to navigate this tension in the future. Recently, I looked at photos of myself from the 1990s and saw a very young university staff member, passionate about education. Let’s continue to make space for that passion in the future.
Image: Students in Leiden during the kickoff of the relay strike by Dutch universities against government budget cuts (10 March 2025)
