According to board member Bart Draaijer, the association does not have the minimum required number of 150 students that they need in order to apply for a committee grant. As a result, Bernlef has decided not to apply for a grant at all. ‘We’re missing out on almost 11,000 euros because of this, which is quite a lot a money’, he says.

The society has no fewer members than before, says Draaijer. ‘But a lot of members have since graduated, which means we don’t have enough members who are current students to apply for a committee grant.’

New blood

According to Draaijer, the loss of a committee grant will not affect the current board members. ‘We’re part-time board members, so we do this in addition to our studies. It’s worth the experience, but it makes things less appealing for future board members.’

That is why the association wants to recruit new members to ensure that they will be eligible during the next round in three years. Draaijer: ‘We’re going to reassert our Frisian identity in order to get more members. We haven’t done this enough over the past few years. We’ll also make sure that Frisian high school students get to know us again by throwing them a party, among other things. We figure that will get us enough new members.’

Drop-outs

A report by CUOS, the RUG organisation that checks whether student organisations are eligible for committee grants on the basis of the graduation fund, shows that Stukafest, Lijst Sterk, and the Red Cross Student Desk, among others, will also not get a committee grant. They do not organise enough events, are not specifically aimed at students, or have not been around for long enough to be eligible.

Thumbnail photo: Bernlef

Read more about committee grants and study and student associations’ financial positions.