Groningen university students stage new protest over professor’s dismissal

Dozens of students occupied the Academy Building of the University of Groningen (RUG) on Tuesday afternoon in another protest against the dismissal of lecturer Susanne Tauber. The police cleared out the building on Tuesday evening after the students ignored the university’s requests that they leave, NOS reports.

University lecturer Donya Ahmadi told Dagblad van Het Noorden that the police hit her with a baton during the evacuation. The police told the newspaper that demonstrators who did not want to leave were taken by the arm and carried outside. No one was arrested. “In our opinion,” it all went smoothly,” a police spokesperson told the newspaper.

Tauber clashed with the RUG after she missed out on a promotion and wrote a critical article about social safety - her specialism - at the university. She argued that female scientists and researchers are hindered in their careers at the university.

The university’s board concluded that their working relationship had become disrupted and dismissed her. In March, the court ruled in the university’s favor on the dismissal. Since then, students have protested fiercely for Tauber to be reinstated.

After a previous discussion about social safety at the RUG, the students and Executive Board met again on Tuesday. When it became clear that the Executive Board wouldn’t meet the students’ demand to reverse Tauber’s resignation, the students broke off the meeting and occupied the Academy Building.

"We are open to conversation on the condition that the board agrees to reinstate Susanne," the students said in a statement to NL Times. "Her case is not an individual one but represents a structural issue at the RUG. Her reinstatement is the basis of any credibility for efforts to improve the social safety within the university."

"Social safety can only be achieved if the people who speak out are not punished for it," the students said.

The RUG Executive Board said it regretted the course of events and is still open to continuing the conversation. The board said it had taken measures to improve social security.