Dies Natalis Festival for Alumni: a birthday party for 700 guests
Workshops, tours, talks, music, an AI photobooth, interviews, a special poem and the launch of the LUF Children’s Fund. Alumni celebrated their alma mater’s 450th birthday in style on Saturday at the massively oversubscribed Dies Natalis Festival.
Alumni from across the land trickle into the three festival locations on Saturday afternoon: Oude UB, the Academy Building and the Kamerlingh Onnes Building (KOG). Over 700 party-goers, ready to celebrate their university’s 450th anniversary.
Lars van Dorsselaer (Public Administration and CSM, graduated in 2017)
‘I’ve come on my own, mainly because the programme looks so interesting. I’ve just been to Wouter van Noort’s lecture on the symbiotic city. My degree programme was in The Hague but I often came to study in the library here (KOG, ed.). It’s great to be back again.’
Poem for the celebration
Zoë van de Kerkhof, Leiden’s city poet, has written a poem about her student days for the occasion. ‘It’s fantastic to be back again and an honour to have written this poem.’ She performs it at the opening of the festival in the Academy Building.
Als Dante het zegt….
Ik schreef mijn naam langzaam en nauwkeurig volgde ik de lijnen
iedere letter stond bol van de herinneringen
iedere letter bracht mij terug in de tijd
bij de eerste letter voelde ik het ongemak van het eerste jaar
het nieuw zijn de zoektocht naar de ander naar jezelf
het was een mix van braafheid en wekenlange euforie
(As Dante puts it ...
I wrote my name slowly and carefully followed the lines
each letter was full of memories
each letter took me back in time
at the first letter I felt the discomfort of the first year
being new, finding others and yourself
it was a mix of meekness and weeks of euphoria)
University historian Pieter Slaman is also pleased to celebrate his alma mater and talk about the university’s rich 450-year history. ‘We aren’t going to sit in a circle and there aren’t any blocks of cheese, but apart from that we’re doing what we always do on birthdays: reminiscing.’
Tour from William of Orange
Beadle Erick van Zuijlen has dressed up as William of Orange for the occasion (which was organised by the Leiden Universiteity Fund). For a group of inquisitive alumni, he opens doors that usually remain closed. The Academy Building holds no secrets for him – and today visitors can benefit from this. ‘The gown room is still a bit of a mess after yesterday’s procession’, he smiles, while shoving things to one side.
The room is full of racks of countless black gown covers, numbered and bearing the names of the professors. ‘Around 700 gowns are hanging here and yesterday’s Dies Natalis was obviously the highlight of the year.’
Louise Pont (Biologie, graduated in 1988)
‘I’ve come with my husband and a friend. I stayed in Leiden after graduating and we still live and work here. I’ve been following alumni activities for some time and we didn’t want to miss this special day. It’s great to be here, meet people and reminisce.’
Signing the wall 54 years later
Through the beadle’s office and the Senate Room, and the Sweat Room comes in view. The room where every graduate once signed their name – or nearly every graduate at least. Mr Te Kolstee and Ms Taets van Amerongen are seizing the opportunity now. ‘How great was that, to be able to sign my name 54 years later?’ Te Kolstee laughs as he poses for the photographer.
‘He graduated in 1971 and I did in 1975’, Taets van Amerongen explains. ‘We are both doctors and never had the chance to do this. Until today, which is wonderful.’
Egbert Wientjes (History and Economics, graduated in 1985) & Fee Wientjes (wants to study Medicine or Psychology)
Egbert: ‘I had an amazing time as a student here and want to show my daughter where I spent part of my life. She is the next family member to study here in Leiden.’
Fee: ‘We’ve just been on the beadle’s tour. It’s fascinating to hear the stories and see the buildings.’
Egbert: ‘My history stories can’t compete. She gets to see the history with her own eyes here.’
Launch of Children’s Fund
After the break, it’s time for the second round of the festival at KOG. A special moment for Anouk Goemans. The research by this Professor by Special Appointment of Youth Services and Juvenile Law is one of the three projects at the heart of the LUF Children’s Fund, which launches at the festival.
For a whole year, this fund will centre studies by Leiden researchers that help make a better future for vulnerable children. ‘It is an honour and a fantastic opportunity that this research is now in the limelight. It is about children’s voices within child protection services. Children must be listened to and trusted.’
Goemans is going to investigate whether a mentor can help vulnerable children have their say. ‘Support figures could help get children’s opinions across.’ Her lecture impresses the visitors: it is really time for drinks and a chat, but Goemans is still talking animatedly to the audience. ‘Shall we grab a drink and carry on the conversation there?’
Exactly how a birthday party should be.