Julia Hermann, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at UT, has been interviewed by UToday about the November 14 protest in Utrecht against the Dutch government's austerity cuts to education funding:
"'The universities can expect a kind of perfect storm. WOinActie has been fighting against the structural underfunding of universities for years. That has improved in recent years under Minister Dijkgraaf, but now there is a threat of huge cuts again. From a financial point of view, most Dutch universities are not doing well anyway and I fear that a broader reorganisation at the UT is inevitable either. So jobs will disappear, which will put even more pressure on the people who can stay. In addition, students will have to deal with the long-term fine, and then there is the internationalisation legislation that will apparently be strictly enforced. If I look at our own department alone, I am one of the few who can teach in Dutch. I don't know how to proceed. All in all, we need to take action.’"
To read the interview: https://www.utoday.nl/news/74752/ut-employees-and-students-prepare-for-massive-austerity-protest
