On Thursday, March 12, the university was taken by surprise by an anti-abortion protest on campus organized by TFP Student Action Europe, also known as Civitas Christiana. The demonstration was quickly overshadowed by a spontaneous counterprotest. The counterprotesters did not stop there and published an open letter to the Executive Board the following day. 

In just over a week, the letter was signed 673 times. According to the authors, the goal of publishing it online was to show how much support there was for their demands. Cursor still has a copy of the letter, and the authors will share the list of signatories with the Executive Board.

“This letter serves as a formal record of our shared experience and as a request for follow-up action from the university,” the authors write. According to them, the protest was not peaceful, but appeared aimed at radicalizing people and spreading misinformation. The demonstrators are also said to have used physical violence against counterprotesters.

Safe and inclusive

The authors of the letter acknowledge that TU/e had no means to prevent the protest, but argue that the university should do more to ensure a safe and inclusive working environment. Among other things, they call for specialized de-escalation training for campus security, the development of a solidarity training for students and staff, and the creation of a plan to inform the university community at least 24 hours in advance about planned demonstrations on campus.

There has been contact between the authors and the Executive Board, which discussed the letter last week, according to a spokesperson. The authors can expect a response soon.

This article was translated using AI-assisted toold and reviewed by an editor.