The campus has recently acquired an amphitheatre, a belated gift from alumni of the Faculty of Law in honour of the University's centenary. The gift does come at a price: the University had to pay a contribution of €250,000.

‘A lively meeting place for students, staff and visitors to the University that contributes to dynamism and creativity on campus,’ that is how the recently completed amphitheatre next to the Grotius Building is described on the Radboud University website.

The amphitheatre is a gift from the Nijmegen Law Alumni Foundation on the occasion of Radboud University’s centenary in 2023.

But the gift did require the University to make a hefty contribution. The amphitheatre cost in total some €500,000, half of which was paid for by the foundation, as we were informed by a university spokesperson. Radboud University paid the other half.

No singing bowls

That is striking, in these times of austerity. The University recently announced its intention to discontinue the realisation of another gift from the centenary year. Too little money had been raised for the two singing bowls that were supposed to adorn the Spiegelwaal. The Executive Board did not wish to contribute financially to the project, but instead expressed its intention to reserve its funds ‘for education and research,’ project manager Pim van Zanen informed us.

The fact that as much as a quarter of a million was invested in an amphitheatre has to do with the funds coming from another source, namely from functional management, which is used to maintain and improve university property and grounds, says the spokesperson.

In addition, the gift was handed over well before the centenary, when the extent of the budget cuts for the University were not yet clear. As a result, the University had already incurred these expenses in 2022. The fact that the amphitheatre is only being completed now has to do with the time required to obtain the permits needed for construction.