VSP's journey in highlights

VSP was founded in March 2023 out of a simple but widely shared realisation: Dutch universities were governed by an increasingly one-sided ideological climate, while many students didn't recognise themselves in it at all. On holidays, flags, language, taboos, internationalisation, neutrality and academic freedom, only one view seemed allowed to be self-evident anymore. VSP gave those students a serious voice for the first time. In its very first election, the party immediately won two seats on the university council and two seats on the faculty council. Council members elected on other tickets soon joined VSP too. What began as a small counter-voice grew, in a short time, into the largest university counter-movement in the Netherlands.

In April 2024 came the major breakthrough: VSP became the largest party at the VU, winning fifteen council seats in total. From that point on, no one could ignore the movement any longer. For the first time, academic freedom was genuinely put on the table within the university. Conversations began about how the VU could better protect that freedom, and, perhaps even more importantly, it became visible to the outside world what was really going on at universities. VSP kept growing to hundreds of members, became active at five universities: the VU, UvA, Groningen, Leiden and Utrecht, and was on its way to expanding into Delft, Eindhoven, Maastricht and Nijmegen.

VSP was more than seats and election results. It became a community. With drinks, cultural outings, party days, group chats and international contacts, VSP built a place where students finally felt at home. Students sent messages to say they finally felt heard, regardless of background: religious, liberal, conservative, critical, or simply concerned. VSP found connections internationally too: from conferences in Sweden, Italy, America, Finland, Romania and Belgium, to partnerships with like-minded organisations such as La Concorde Étudiante and the College Republicans of America. Despite all the opposition, the movement kept growing. VSP gave students who had stayed silent for years not just a voice, but also recognition, courage and a community.