Next week, student association Carolus Magnus is celebrating its 95th anniversary with a banner parade and a holy mass, among other things. Traditions play an important role during the celebrations, but the association also looks towards the future. Towards the purchase of the association building, for example.

On Sunday afternoon, unknowing shoppers in the centre of Nijmegen could suddenly walk into a colourful parade of well-dressed students carrying banners. With their parade through the city, the students show that Carolus Magnus is celebrating their first anniversary week of the year. The association will have their 95^th anniversary on February 1.

The anniversary weeks – the second will commence in May – are celebrated enthusiastically every five years. On Friday, the beer will flow freely during the opening party at an external party location.

But the focus will not only be on the consumption of alcohol. The past will also be put in the spotlight. We value traditions connected to the past, explains the President of Carolus Magnus: ‘Out of respect for our alumni, the past members that have showed so much commitment and effort, we still keep certain traditions.’

The banner parade is a good example of that. The members depart from De Kroeg (the association’s residence) and they will walk to the Saint-Nicholas chapel located in the Valkhof park, where a student pastor will commence a holy mass. Even the members who are not religious, a very large group currently, will pay tribute in this way to the catholic origins of the association.

Their own facility

This anniversary is a fitting time for Magnus Carolus to look ahead towards the hundred-year anniversary. The most important development in the future? ‘The purchase of the association building that Carolus Magnus has been preparing for some time.’

The building situated at the Hertogstraat is currently rented from the Radboud University, but the student association wants to change that. With the slogan ‘Our own facility, our own future’, the board states that it’s an essential element of deciding one’s own path. ‘We’ll be at the notary’s office on March 31, 2023,’ says the President.

Translated by Willeke Roefs.