Heavy sanctions for student association after violations

Maastricht University (UM) is imposing heavy sanctions on student association M.S.V. Tragos due to incidents that took place during the association's introduction period. Funding for the association’s board and the subsidy provided by UM will be withdrawn. The association is also excluded from activities surrounding the annual INKOM (the general introduction week for new students in Maastricht) until further notice. Following a report to the university, discussions with the association’s board revealed that during the introductory period incidents occurred that are completely unacceptable to the university and that violated rules from the Code of Conduct for the Introduction Period. 

Maastricht University and the Maastricht student associations jointly drew up the Code of Conduct for the Introduction Period, which contains agreements on matters such as personal integrity, health, hygiene and nutrition.

Conversations with the Tragos Board have led the university to conclude that during the 2022 introduction period several rules, especially concerning personal integrity and hygiene, were violated. These included the use of discriminatory terms and activities in which the use of sanitary facilities was far below standard.

UM maintains very regular contact with the student associations in Maastricht, partly to prevent such violations from occurring. The university is therefore deeply disappointed that in spite of this things went wrong at Tragos. The sanctions imposed will remain in place until further notice. UM does, however, invite the association to come up with an improvement plan. In due course and on the basis of actual improvements, UM may reconsider the imposed sanctions.

The university calls for complaints and violations to be reported and for the UM community, within and with the student associations, to remain alert for unacceptable behaviour.

  Watch the short interview (in Dutch) with UM president Rianne Letschert.
(credits: Track 88 and What is Loos in Mestreech)

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