According to the NSV! LOKO withdrew its recognition on March 4, but the student association itself appealed. The matter will be discussed further at LOKO’s next general meeting, on Friday, March 29.
The NSV responds in a press release on X! now for the first time. They believe the decision is not justified and believe that they were not given a fair opportunity to respond. “Before the decision was made, we were not heard and we were not able to defend ourselves against the accusations that were not even clearly expressed.”
According to the NSV! Moreover, the withdrawal of recognition appears to be motivated by ‘a misperception of Dries Van Langenhove’s interview’. The student association is accused of not having respected the four pillars of inclusion, namely respect, accessibility, safety and representation. They dispute that. According to them, the interview took place in a respectful manner, without arguing or swearing. “We would like to emphasize that we cannot be held liable in any way for the words of anyone else, be it a speaker or a spectator,” it said.
Dries Van Langenhove’s lecture was announced on Facebook at the time as a lecture about regenerative agriculture, but it was hardly about that. However, a long tirade against the left and diversity followed, during which several stigmatizing statements were made. After the lecture, equal opportunities organization Unia opened an investigation into Van Langenhove and KU Leuven decided to organize NSV! to be banned from its premises.
Tags: NSV loses subsidies controversial lecture Dries Van Langenhove
