For me, the Cleveringa meetings in the month of November are one of the highlights of the Leiden University academic year. In all sorts of places – from Leiden to Jakarta – Leiden alumni commemorate Professor Cleveringa’s courageous resistance and impassioned speech on November 26 1940, against the dismissal of his Jewish colleagues, Professors Meijers and David. Academics speak at the many meetings held by local alumni committees around 26 November about freedom, democracy and the rule of law from the perspective of current issues. It is a moment to come together and appreciate that we cannot take peace and security for granted. And that we have to keep on talking to each other.