Law student Mienke de Wilde is so worried about the rise of president Trump, that she wants to come into action. She pays six hundred euros out of her own pocket to arrange a bus to drive from the Radboud campus to a protest at the American embassy in The Hague this Wednesday. 'It is time to get out on the streets.'

Students Mienke de Wilde (Law) and Berend Titulaer (History) were watching the rise and election of Donald Trump suspiciously for a long time. When the new American president decided to ban people from seven muslim countries from getting in America, enough was enough. ‘This is starting to get very dangerous’, says De Wilde. ‘I do not want to sit on my ass at a moment like this – we have to do something.’

‘It’s lot of money for a student.’

Wednesday afternoon, there is a demonstration in front of the American embassy in The Hague. De Wilde wants to be there with a big delegation from Nijmegen. She arranged a bus that can fit 65 people. This costs 600 euros, and she pays for it herself. ‘Well, it is a lot of money for a student’, she says. ‘But I want the threshold to be as low as possible, so that there is no excuse not to go. Students who want to protest, only have to get in the bus. I think this is so important that I want to pay for everything – but donations are always welcome of course.’

For De Wilde, who is also known for her pastafarianism, this is the first ‘normal’ demonstration. For Titulaer, who joined De Wilde’s initiative, it is the second time. ‘It had been a weird week, with all of Trump’s executive orders, but the ban is a decree that is solely based on religion and ethnicity’, says Titulaer. ‘That is very extreme and holds a bad promise for the future.’

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The bus leaves at 14.00 on Wednesday, you can get on in front of the Grotius building. It arrives at 16.00 at the embassy in The Hague and leaves again at 18.00. De Wilde hopes it will be full. ‘It is time to get out on the street, it is the only way I can go to sleep with a clear conscience.’

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