Friday November 26th, 2012 Dear Ms Kroese, Dear Ms van Rosmalen, The Haagse Studentenvakbond has been contacted

by several students of the Haagse Hogeschool who expressed their concerns regarding the cancellation of an event where former prime minister Dries van Agt is the key note speaker. As the executive board of the Haagse Studentenvakbond we try our utmost to safeguard the rights of students in The Hague. We express our support for all student initiatives that stimulate students to converse, think/analyze and interact on an intellectual level. However, as non-political, non-religious, independent and neutral advocates of the interests of students in The Hague it is never our place, duty nor responsibility to support any initiative on political, religious or biased grounds. We also distance ourselves from initiatives that discriminate, exclude students or contain racist motives. In our opinion, serious allegations have been made by the students towards the Haagse Hogeschool. We take these matters extremely serious. We have decided to investigate the rectitude of the allegations and trust that the staff of the Haagse Hogeschool will cooperate for the sake of sincerity and openness towards its students. We do not, in any way, take the content of the event into consideration. We do not express an opinion about that, as that is not in any way relevant to the research we are doing. We only focus on the cancellation of a public, student-led initiative. The most important question we would like to be answered by the Haagse Hogeschool, is why the event has been cancelled. We have received communication from the organization Critical Collective who organizes the event (hereafter: C.C.) that the cancellation of the event was due to the worries from the Haagse Hogeschool that the event, or the speaker, is allegedly not neutral. In the past, there have been more speakers on the Haagse Hogeschool whom were not neutral, and were permitted to speak on a stage individually. [Question 1] Please provide us with supported arguments (quotes from and references to policy products) why this is a valid reason to cancel a whole event.

The letters towards C.C. from the Haagse Hogeschool state that policies and guidelines were cited (inter alia: letter Jan Geerts to C.C.) to support the cancellation. [Question 2] Please provides us with the exact quotes from and references to the sources where students can find these policies and guidelines (Mr. Geerts or Ms Rosmalen). The letters towards C.C. from the Haagse Hogeschool state that C.C. had to find a speaker within 24 hours from the same caliber as Mr. van Agt to ensure neutrality of the debate. This was according to Miep Kroese. [Question 3] Please provide us with the quotes from and references to the guidelines where it is stated that every debate should consist of two or more opposing speakers, that the speakers should be of the same stature and caliber as each other and the event should be neutral. All this within 24 hours. Please also provide us with the rules

and guidelines where it is stated that the Haagse Hogeschool has the right to cancel such an event (Miep Kroese).

Impairment of Academic Freedom Article 1.6 of the Wet Hoger en Wetenschappelijk onderwijs (law on higher and scientific education) states: Aan de instellingen wordt de academische vrijheid in acht genomen, meaning that the institution has to keep in mind the academic freedom. The Haagse Studentenvakbond believes that this concept does not only refer to the institution, but also to the students paying tuition and being part of the institution. We describe it as the freedom for every student to study and research, to see society in different scopes and from different angles to be able to form an opinion in a way that a student seems most comfortable with; the freedom for staff members and students to teach in such a manner that the students feel safe and secure enough to develop believes and opinions. Academic freedom is also the freedom of the methods one uses to teach or study, and the freedom to choose a topic one wants to discuss or raise the attention for. This believe of the Haagse Studentenvakbond is partially derived from Article 1.3 section 4 of the WHW: schenken mede aandacht aan de persoonlijke ontplooiing en aan de bevordering van maatschappelijk verantwoordelijkheidsbesef which states that the Haagse Hogeschool has to make sure that students develop themselves on a personal level and that the Haagse Hogeschool has to encourage students to social responsibility and awareness. [Question 4] Please provide us with an explanation how cancellation of the event organized by Critical Collective ties in with these articles in Dutch Law.

Consequences As independent student union we are concerned with the ramifications the cancellation of the event will have on the reputation of the Haagse Hogeschool, the staff of the Haagse Hogeschool, the students who have put efforts in organizing this event and the students who were interested in attending this event. 1. The reputation of the Haagse Hogeschool as outstanding independent, public and neutral organization will be damaged if the outside world will get notice from the cancellation of a student initiative. Offering one speaker a podium (Dyab Abou Jahjah, Uri Rosenthal), while refusing another speaker (Dries van Agt) one is not in any way practicing neutrality and independence. We are worried that the grounds for this refusal are not legit and that the Haagse Hogeschool will be discredited in any way. The Haagse Studentenvakbond would rather not see that happen. 2. The staff of the Haagse Hogeschool is creating precedence by cancelling the event on unclear grounds. If the Haagse Studentenvakbond does not act and investigate this case, the staff of the Haagse Hogeschool will be permitted to cancel any event without clear reasoning and argumentation. This particularly worries the Haagse Studentenvakbond as the core business and main focus of every public educational institution in The Netherlands should be to teach students about their social responsibility. The institution should not limit any student in personally developing him/herself and especially organizing public events to raise awareness on a certain social issue, as long as the event does not discriminate and promote violence and racism. The student pays tuition fee thus gaining rights according to article 7.34 section c and d of the WHW to: c) toegang tot de gebouwen van de instelling, tenzij

naar het oordeel van het College van Bestuur de aard of het belang van het onderwijs of het onderzoek zich daartegen verzet; d) gebruik van onderwijsvoorzieningen zoals bibliotheek, laboratoria e.d. Het College van Bestuur regelt de voorwaarden voor het gebruik van deze voorzieningen. To paraphrase: Section C states that if the student has paid tuition fee, the student has the right to access the building, unless, according to the Board of Directors, the interest of the education or research does not allow it. Section D states that the student has the right to use educational facilities like the library, laboratorium, but also other classrooms and auditoriums. The Board of Directors of the Haagse Hogeschool sets the conditions. [Question 5] If any, please provide us with references to these conditions or guidelines that state the conditions to refuse a student event from taking place at the Haagse Hogeschool. 3. It is clear that in the initial communication between the organizers and the Haagse Hogeschool (BRV department), that the event was approved of. This decision was then retracted by Student Affairs and the Marketing department of the Haagse Hogeschool. Mr. van Agt was arranged, and promotion had already started. The students putting effort in this event were therefore gravely disappointed and shocked by the lack of argumentation and explanation why it was cancelled. This indirectly damages the quality of the education delivered by the Haagse Hogeschool because the right to being informed, the right to public debate and the ability to perform research are impaired when this event is cancelled. Dear Ms Kroese and Ms van Rosmalen: for the sake of our research weve asked you five questions/argumentations. Please provide us with as much information as possible so we can come to a well-funded conclusion. We urge you to answer all five questions with the proper citations. We really want to see this conflict resolved and offer ourselves to act as mediators between the parties. As mentioned before, the Haagse Studentenvakbond is neutral and independent in this case. We do not choose sides, let alone engage or commit ourselves to political statements and standpoints. We hope you will accept, respect and value our position and treat it accordingly. Sincerely, The Board of Executives of the Haagse Studentenvakbond.