José Sanders has been named the new rector of Radboud University. But how should she approach this task? Vox columnists give some unsolicited advise in letter form. Student Antonia Leise hopes that international students continue to be welcome on campus.

Dear prof. Sanders,

My initial thought when writing this letter was that it is a funny position to be in – giving input to someone a few decades ahead of me in experience. At 25, I am the youngest person writing one of these letters to you. But I am also the only student doing so. So, perhaps, I thought eventually, not a bad position to be in after all.

I can’t tell you how to be a rector – and I won’t try doing that. But I can say a few things about being in your twenties in the 2020s. It’s a confusing time. You have turmoil in the East of Europe, right-wing parties in Germany, and fascists in Italy. And while you watch those dividing narratives of history replaying in front of you, you can’t even find permanent housing.

Likewise, there has been a recent air of division and defeatism regarding internationalisation in the Netherlands – and that’s concerning. The Ministry of Education wanting fewer international students and more Dutch education is concerning. As is Radboud stopping their support of international bachelor and premaster students looking for housing from 2024 onwards.

Why? Because those measures will not solve infrastructural issues of overrun lecture halls and lack of housing. They will, however, contribute to a story of disintegration, reducing internationalisation to a buzzword you can put on an Open Day flyer – and, eventually, one you can scratch altogether.

For years, we have been committed to building a more international, diverse, and open society and education. It’s how I got to know the Netherlands and Radboud when I moved here seven years ago. And I hope that those were never just buzzwords. I hope they will show to be, through the decisions you will be making, something considered worthy of protection for a future that my generation will eventually have to live in.

Yours sincerely,

Antonia Leise,
Student Comparative European History, originally from Germany