PvdA chair banned from university department over inappropriate behavior: report

Radboud University in Nijmegen banned the well-known professor Esther-Mirjam Sent, almost national chairman of the PvdA, from her department at the university due to accusations of intimidation and inappropriate behavior. She was later transferred to another off-site department, De Gelderlander reports.

The unrest around Sent, a professor of economic theory and economic policy, arose in the autumn of 2021. Signals of a “disturbed working relationship” prompted Radboud University to order an independent investigation into a conflict between her, four other professors, and an associate professor. The investigators determined that the relationships in the faculty were so disrupted that Sent would not be able to stay, insiders told De Gelderlander.

“She was a troublemaker and radiated a lot of aggression,” an insider told the newspaper. Another said: “I wouldn’t call it unsafe, but there was intimidation and undesirable behavior.” According to the newspaper’s sources, Sent was often manipulative, and some employees were so afraid of getting into personal problems that they didn’t dare make proposals that would affect Sent’s department. “Several of these colleagues depended on Ms. Sent for assessments and promotions,” an involved faculty member said.

A months-long dispute followed the results of the investigation. Sent and dean Tom Elfring and their lawyers fought behind the scenes about her future at the economics department, according to the newspaper. In the meantime, employees were known to quickly duck into rooms if they saw Sent in the hallway, afraid of encountering her.

On 20 October 2022, dean Elfring finally banned Sent from the economics department, physically and online. A few weeks later, the university transferred her to its Honors Academy, a department where talented students can take extra courses. Sent retained her chair in “Economics and Policy.” According to a professor at the university, that was done to “conceal all problems and try to keep the image good.”

Sent told the newspaper that she decided to decrease her work at the university because of her position as chair of the PvdA. That is why she moved to the Honors Academy, she said. “I still enjoy working with a large number of colleagues in the department.”

Radboud University told De Gelderlander that it does not comment on individual cases. In a statement, the university only said that investigations are sometimes conducted into the state of affairs within a department. "In the investigation to which De Gelderlander refers, the information was also shared with those directly involved, and the board is in contact with those involved."