Vindicat has broken all ties with one of its student houses in the city centre and suspended its residents, who are members of the association.
The club took action after Sikkom published an article about an inverted swastika and a Star of David painted on the walls in the student house. There were also two neglected geese living in the house. A neighbour had sent a tip to the city blog.
The animal ambulance removed the birds from the house on Saturday. ‘They’re terrified, their feathers are broken, and they were hiding in a corner’, one of the ambulance employees told Sikkom.
‘I’ve been swearing up a storm. It’s ridiculous and awful.’ According to her, the students in the house had no idea how bizarre the situation was and ‘their reaction was pretty stupid’.
Shameful and disconcerting
Vindicat’s chair Adriaan Zoetmulder says the matter is ‘shameful and disconcerting’. ‘Vindicat is distancing itself from this house immediately. We’re breaking all ties. The members are also suspended.’
That means they can no longer participate in club activities as a house, according to the chair’s official statement on the Vindicat website. ‘We’ll determine how long the suspension will last after a follow-up investigation, which will take place over the next few days. Depending on the results, we’ll take further action.’
Vindicat doesn’t own the house, but the board does feel responsible, says Zoetmulder. The board did not mention the mirrored swastika and the Star of David in its statement.
Throwing beer
The student association was embroiled in another kerfuffle last week, when students threw beer on passers-by from the balcony of their club house at the Grote Markt. The students also called them names when they complained. The board has closed down the balcony for the time being.