Leuven student groups also demand strong signal from KU Leu … (Leuven)

Leuven –

Some Leuven student organizations demand KU Leuven to act decisively with regard to the members of the former student club Reuzegom who were involved in the death of student Sanda Dia during a baptism at the end of 2018. It concerns UNDIVIDED, in which students and staff members work together on a positive diversity culture within KU Leuven, Karibu African Circle Leuven and the Turkish Student Association Leuven.

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“We don’t understand how our university can claim to be there for students of color, for female students and for students from less fortunate backgrounds if they did not act firmly against this discriminatory behavior from the beginning of this fatal event. Many students will somehow recognize themselves in Sanda Dia. As students, we ask ourselves questions about the pedagogical project of KU Leuven. Which signal do you send to current and future students? Said the student organizations in an open letter to Rector Luc Sels. They refer not only to Dia’s death, but also to reports that Reuzegom members “sang colonial songs to a beggar, treated female college students inappropriately, and one member compared Hitler.”

ALSO READ. Friends of Sanda Dia speak for the first time: “Every time I saw the Giant Gummers, my day was wasted” (+)

A few months after the fatal baptism, in the spring of 2019 KU Leuven imposed a community service sentence of 30 hours on the 18 involved members of Reuzegom and writing a paper on baptismal rituals. Since the Mediahuis newspapers revealed gruesome facts that Dia had to undergo ten days ago, KU Leuven has been strongly criticized from various angles by critics who rated the sentences as far too light.

On Tuesday, 25 professors and researchers demanded that the university would immediately suspend the students involved and consider possible sanctions against those who have graduated. Former rector Rik Torfs also criticized the day before, as did Kenny Van Minsel, president of the LOKO student umbrella organization at the time of the facts, which he did earlier.

Rector Luc Sels defended himself in the matter on Tuesday evening by stating that at the time of the disciplinary procedure, KU Leuven did not have enough information to determine individual responsibilities. According to Sels, taking a decision now on the basis of newspaper articles would have a negative impact on the course of the legal proceedings and endanger the desired ‘justice for Sanda’. “The stocking is certainly not finished for KU Leuven,” says Sels. The university is waiting to take additional measures with regard to the members of Reuzegom until a decision is made in criminal proceedings. The procedure to request the necessary information from the courts is ongoing.

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