Occupation (bezetting) of university building Drift 21

This morning students from the Studenten Actie Commite Utrecht (Student Action Committee Utrecht, SACU) woke up early, and occupied Drift 21 before any students or teachers were in the building. The occupation went down peacefully and the students are now in control of the building.

I stopped by Drift 21 this morning to check out what was happening. There was a small group of students gathered outside the building, curious about what was going on. Inside there was a calm, gezellig (chill) atmosphere. One man was playing a guitar, there was bread, peanut butter and coffee and tea available for everyone and a room was being set up for a documentary screening. The display cases that hold what look like antique musical instruments were roped off with signs around them saying "be careful" and "voorzichtig." When I got there a meeting was going on between delegates from SACU and the university board of directors. SACU explained to me that the group did not have any 'demands' but that its goal was simply to stay in the building until Friday night so that it could go through with the program of activities and debates it has planned. In this way the group wants to raise awareness for the budget cuts and for the necessity of education.

If you have time, consider joining the students at Drift 21 today, tomorrow or Friday! They have an impressive set of activities planned that will definitely be worth your time.

See the SACU's website for more information.