- Campus
- 04/03/2026
Auditorium vandalized, TU/e warns of radicalization
Nearly all entrances to the Auditorium were severely damaged around 3 a.m. on Wednesday night, allegedly by a protest group. Twenty-three windows were smashed and splattered with paint and red sauce. Security camera footage is available, but the perpetrators have not yet been identified. TU/e has filed a police report.
On the ground floor of the Auditorium, five of the six entrances were vandalized and covered with red paint and sauce. At six o’clock this morning, cleaning staff discovered broken windows—some smashed using fire extinguishers—as well as bottles of tomato sauce near the entrances. Staff from Safety & Security subsequently inspected the building, but no unauthorized individuals were found inside. Other campus buildings were not damaged. The Career Expo took place in the Auditorium yesterday and today.
Because the damaged entrances also serve as emergency exits that must remain accessible, glaziers from BanBouw, TU/e’s construction contractor, repaired the doors as quickly as possible on Wednesday morning. The large adjacent windows will be temporarily fitted with substitute glass until new panes are delivered. The paint and sauce are being removed with a high-pressure cleaner. The window frames were not damaged.
Action not claimed
No message was left behind by the perpetrators, and—according to the TU/e spokesperson—the action has not been claimed by any group. The Executive Board strongly condemns the organized vandalism and will file a police report, the board stated in a declaration released on the intranet at 4 p.m.
“Our university is and will remain a sanctuary for expression and debate, for diversity in all its forms, with respect for each other and each other's opinions. These are the cornerstones of our community. Protests are always given space with us, as long as it is safe and within the limits of the law and in line with our core values.”
“However, actions like last night's go far too far and do not bring anyone further. It clashes completely with the world of our students and staff. With this action, we see a radicalization in the form of protest, which does not fit at all with the core values we stand for as TU/e. It creates feelings of insecurity and fear in our community, among our staff and students, and that cannot be the intention. This kind of action has taken a wrong turn, which is strongly disapproved of by us and our community.”
Multiple protests
The second day of the Career Expo proceeded as scheduled. Yesterday, University Rebellion held a peaceful protest in the Senate Hall. Positioned between the stands of ExxonMobil and Shell, students displayed a banner and occasionally chanted slogans, calling on TU/e not to collaborate with companies involved in fossil fuels. On the roof of Matrix, demonstrators chained themselves with the message that TU/e should cut ties with companies cooperating with Israel.
University Rebellion also made its presence felt again today, this time outside on Koeveld. “It wasn’t us,” one of them said. “I don’t think ES4P did it either, because we would have heard about it.”
Discussion