Utrecht University: Reflections on Its Past, Present, and Future

Introduction

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the Utrecht University alumni dinner in Singapore. It was most enjoyable, and well attended. Interestingly, only a few of the alumni had grown up in the Netherlands, and those who had, had a family history of migration, including myself. Many had spent a semester or more, or still live and work in the Netherlands, and all cherished the memories of good and formative times.

Utrecht University is the largest university in the Netherlands in terms of student numbers, and arguably one of the best. Both my parents were lecturers at this esteemed institution, but the invitation for the alumni dinner came as a bit of a surprise since I never contributed anything to the Utrecht University Fund. In fact, after three years of studying in Utrecht, I transferred to the Leyden University due to the political turmoil in the Faculty of Humanities in Utrecht in the 1980s, which made continuing my studies there impossible. Although the situation resolved after a year, it was a scenario that seems unimaginable today. Therefore, I can say that I know "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of Utrecht University from the inside.

Will the English logo disappear now?

Utrecht University's Recent Achievements

Let us focus on the good. For a small country like the Netherlands, the Dutch university system as a whole punches well above its weight with a dozen or so world-class universities, depending on the ranking you consult. In the Shanghai ranking, the Utrecht University is ranked first, mainly because of two recent Nobel Prize winners in theoretical physics, Gerard 't Hooft and Martinus Veltman, both colleagues of my father. These two emerged thanks to investments in the 1950s in attracting talent from other universities in the Netherlands and abroad. The University counts a total of 10 Nobel Prize winners among its ranks.

The decision in the 1960s to open De Uithof, a spacious campus just outside the city, allowed the university to provide research facilities for world-class scientists in disciplines that require modern laboratories. Uithof literally means "the garden beyond." As Voltaire wrote: "Il faut cultiver notre jardin" (we must cultivate our garden, meaning develop our individual qualities), and Utrecht University certainly did. Voltaire had profound appreciation for the country's values of tolerance and freedom, and apparently today's alumni still have, but for how long?

Next, the university's decision in the 1980s to concentrate all earth sciences, veterinary sciences, and dentistry schools in the Netherlands in Utrecht has provided a critical mass of researchers needed for academic excellence and to be a player in the global competition for talent.

Regrettably, the power of the government in The Hague over Dutch universities has always been great, too great, especially when it comes to the limited financial autonomy of the universities. Moreover, it is the only advanced country where the rector is appointed by the government and not by the university board or elected. Fortunately, so far universities have found clever ways to keep out recycled politicians proposed by the government, in most cases.

Challenges Facing Dutch Universities

Today, there are two more fundamental threats to Dutch universities that attack the very essence of their being. The previous minister for higher education decided to put back in use a language requirement, thus restricting internationalization. The insanity of such a measure for a country that over half a century or more has made internationalization its distinguishing characteristic is beyond words to describe.

This government, has made deep cuts to university budgets, that will compromise educational quality and research capabilities. Universities are grappling with the challenge of maintaining their standards while facing reduced funding, which could impact faculty retention, student services, and innovative research projects. Since in the Dutch system their revenue does not depend on tuition, these cuts hit them hard. The long-term benefits of investing in higher education for the country's intellectual and economic growth are apparently not understood or perceived by the most recent governments.

Personal Reflections and Well Wishes

Let me end on a happy and more personal note. First, I want to congratulate the current dean of earth sciences, Dr. Wilco Hazeleger, on his appointment as Rector effective March 25, 2025. It is not under the most auspicious circumstances that he takes over, but I am confident he will rise to the occasion. As an emeritus rector myself, I can only wish him the best of luck with this challenge, which is greater than you can initially imagine. In the Netherlands, this challenge is even greater due to the limited autonomy of the universities.

Secondly, I want to thank the Utrecht University, where I graduated in 1988 in history, for providing a platform to gain a deep understanding of the humanities and social sciences. I look back on my university career with happy bewilderment. Despite an inauspicious beginning as a cleaner and later sous-chef in the Veritas university canteen, my studies in Utrecht led to winning one of the two PhD scholarships for the European University Institute, becoming a professor at the age of 30 at ULACIT, the Latin American University of Science and Technology in Costa Rica, and then in 2012 being appointed as the Vice-Chancellor (Rector) of UNITECH, the Papua New Guinea University of Technology. Of course, I had carefully planned and fully anticipated this career path.

On a more serious note, it was only as rector in Papua New Guinea, with its more than 800 different languages and cultures, that I understood the true value of a genuine and broad education in the humanities and social sciences for which my studies at the Utrecht University laid the foundation. If I had followed my father's wish to study geophysics in the faculty of earth sciences, I would certainly have had a more straightforward career, but also a less interesting life.

Good luck to the new rector, Dr. Wilco Hazeleger!

Disclosure: the Mistral LLM was used to polish the language. Here is the prompt: "Act as an experience editor and social media expert. Write a clear, cohesive and concise blog post, without changing the content or omitting any detail, based on this draft:" As a result, my draft was slightly modified, grammatical errors and typos were removed.