UT Oral History: seven-part podcast series now available in full online

Communication Science graduates Caitlin Bakker and Lisanne Blommers were tasked with turning the interviews into a podcast series. "This was my first podcast, and I quickly realised that making good choices starts with really listening. Not just to what people say, but also to what resonates with you. Whenever I found myself rewinding a fragment to hear it again, I knew it deserved a place in the podcast," says Lisanne.

"What stayed with me most was the story that students could rent a mattress from campus security for one guilder if they wanted to have an overnight guest. It would then be neatly delivered to their room. I still tell friends that story whenever the podcast comes up," says Caitlin.

Lisanne was particularly moved by the story of Carin, one of the eight women studying at the THT in its early years. Three of them shared the same first name, prompting Carin to change hers. "The fact that she still uses that name today says a lot about the impact of that time," Lisanne says.

The interviews also show that the UT's entrepreneurial spirit was present from the very beginning. According to Lisanne, that was partly born out of necessity. "They had to build everything from scratch. There was nothing yet, so if students felt something was missing — a student association, for example — they simply started one themselves. That entrepreneurial mindset has always remained. Studying at the UT was already about much more than academics alone."

Not everything from the THT era has survived. One thing Caitlin discovered in the interviews was the university's broad first-year programme, which allowed students to take courses from several degree programmes before deciding which one suited them best. "I would have loved something like that myself. I switched degree programmes four times. It could probably have saved me a few years — and quite a bit in tuition fees," she says.

The podcast series can be listened to via the UT website. For alumni attending the Lustrum Alumni Days on campus this weekend, on 8 and 9 May, the series offers the perfect way to get into the spirit of a weekend full of memories.