<http://www.petitiononline.com/alsgent/petition.html>
Michael Sims wrote:
> Please support our solidarity campaign against the expulsion of the
> Active Left Students (ALS) at Ghent University for organising anti-
> fascist demonstrations. Details are in the article below + adress to
> send protestmails.
>
> GC
>
>
> http://www.socialistworld.net/eng/2005/04/25belgium.html
>
> Active Left Students (ALS) under attack by university authorities
> Relentless campaign sponsored by university Rector to ban ALS
>
> cwi online, Monday 25 April 2005
>
> Active Left Students (ALS) is the most successful student
> organisation in Belgium. In four out of six universities it is the
> biggest, politically active group. This academic year alone, ALS has
> organised an anti-fascist march in Ghent with 1500 students,
> participated in protests against the visit of the American president
> Bush to Belgium and supported the national campaign for a youth march
> against unemployment and racism.
>
> ALS has also campaigned relentlessly against the neo-liberal agenda
> of commercialisation and privatisation at the universities. It was
> involved in joint action with the trade unions at the French-speaking
> university in Brussels to protest against the appalling work
> conditions of temporary, mostly technical, staff. Our most successful
> meetings have attracted 120 students in Ghent, 350 in Antwerp and 250
> in Leuven.
>
> In Ghent, at a recent meeting of the `Social Council' - an advisory
> body to the University's Board of Directors - a motion was voted
> through that recommended excluding ALS from the university. This
> would mean that ALS loses its official recognition as a student
> society, and therefore also the right to use the facilities of the
> university. This motion will now be presented to the Board of
> Directors which will take a decision on the 12 May.
>
> Banned for reinforcing the ban?
> This threatened exclusion is the result of a campaign waged for
> almost two years by the official student administrator, in collusion
> with the university authorities, against ALS. The judicial argument
> against ALS is that it is in breach of the university's code of
> conduct (and of the universal declaration of human rights!) because
> it has physically prevented meetings of other student organisations.
>
> The accusation relates to an action on the 16 November last year when
> the KVHV, a Flemish nationalist student organisation, organised a
> debate with Frank Van Hecke, president of the Vlaams Blok. But
> although ALS campaigned against this meeting and announced a protest
> against the Vlaams Blok, we did not threaten to disrupt their
> activity. The debate could not take place because of a ban by the
> university authorities who claimed that they could not guarantee the
> security. ALS anyway organised a protest against the debate to oppose
> the promotion of racist and fascist ideas at the university.
>
> Even the judicial argument does not make sense. Preventing meetings
> of other student organisations is against the code of conduct of the
> university, which ALS is not guilty of. But so is promoting racist
> and fascist ideas which the Vlaams Blok and its representatives are
> clearly guilty of. Several of the organisations connected to the
> Vlaams Blok have recently been convicted of racism by the Belgian
> courts. As a result, the Vlaams Blok decided to change its name to
> Vlaams Belang and also adopt new structures and a new programme.
>
> The essence of the matter is that this campaign against ALS is an
> attempt by the university authorities to get rid of what they see as
> potential "trouble makers" before they kick the programme of
> privatisations and cuts into a higher gear. Belgian universities are
> starting to put the EU `Bologna Agreement' for higher education into
> practice.
>
> The structure of the degrees has been changed to the US standard of
> Bachelors and Masters and soon it will be time to implement the
> financial implications of this. Last month's decision by the
> University of Leuven to drastically raise the tuition fees for
> foreign students is not a coincidence. Foreign students will have to
> pay 5,000 euros or 10 times more than the year before, to enter
> Leuven University in line with the new guidelines.
>
> Active Left Students have been extremely successful in fighting
> racist and fascist ideas at the university in Ghent. Although the
> universities are legally obliged to have representatives of all the
> political parties on its bodies, the Vlaams Blok has not taken up its
> seat in Ghent. This is the result of the magnificent campaign lead by
> ALS in 2001. Ghent University is one of the only universities where
> students have been able to stop the fascist youth organisations from
> organising officially. Now it seems that the university authorities
> want to get rid of the main opposition first before welcoming the
> Vlaams Belang and implementing further privatisations and cuts.
>
> Send protest letters to the Rector and Vice-Rector of Ghent
> University:
> The Rector
>
> Andreas De Leenheer
>
> rector at UGent.be
>
> Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 25
>
> 9000 Gent
>
> Tel: ++32 9 264 30 01
>
>
>
> The Vice-Rector
>
> Marc De Clercq
>
> Marc.DeClercq at UGent.be
>
> Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 25
>
> 9000 Gent
>
> Tel: ++32 9 264 30 14
>
> Fax: ++32 9 264 79 98
>
>
>
> Copies to ALS at:
>
> ALS UG
>
> Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 45
>
> 9000 Gent
>
> Tel ++32 9 232 13 94
>
> alsgent at pandora.be
>
> als at student.rug.ac.be
>
>