I*ESN banned from Talent Square after cantus escalates

Student association I*ESN is no longer welcome at Talent Square after yesterday’s International Cantus. Building owner SSH no longer wants the student association on its premises.

In an e-mail to the residents of Talent Square, SSH states that the studio complex will no longer be the location of the International Cantus. The reason is the excessive disturbance that the event has caused for the residents. On top of this, SSH states that Tilburg has ample locations that are better suited for the event.

“Each year people use the field outside as their personal toilet”

Sociology student Tess North is pleased with the decision. North has been living in Talent Square for two years and has witnessed the event several times. “Previous editions always caused some disturbance, but this time things really escalated”, she says. “Each year people already use the field outside as their personal toilet, but this time, the inside of the building got involved as well. On top of that, I’ve had to call an ambulance for an unconscious student for the first time.”

In the Facebook group for residents of Talent Square, similar complaints are piling up. Residents complain about drunk students urinating in and around the building. One eye-witness posted a particularly striking complaint in the group:

“’Here’s my dick!’, a wonderfully polite young man, that was pissing in the corner of the staircase, yelled at me. This was right after I had decided to climb the stairs to the eleventh floor, since the elevator was constantly filled with drunk kids that were smoking. Right before that, I entered Talent Square through the back entrance, where dozens of girls were pissing against the building. “OMG they are filming us from the room nextdoor, how pathetic is that?” Pathetic? Dumb twat, you’re peeing onto my house with your cootchie out in the open, who’s the pathetic one here? – The beer cantus has never really bothered me and it still wouldn’t if everything, aside from the cantus itself, was also organized well. I mean, seriously, c’mon guys.”

I*ESN-chairman Rens Lauwers does not recognize the complaints. “During the cantus everything was under control.” Lauwers has not yet received an official message from SSH, but is aware of the e-mail that the residents have received.

Chairman: “Everything looked just fine”

Lauwers says he has checked the premises around midnight and that everything looked ‘just fine’ then. According to him, the organization has done everything to keep the building locked for visitors of the event: “We have two keycards of the building ourselves, but they are only meant to access the galleries and prevent anything from being thrown down.” Lauwers confirms that many visitors of the event are also residents of the building. “We put people near the entrance to stop any unauthorized people from coming in, but we can’t stop residents from going into their own buildings. If they want to take people with them, I can’t stop them.”

Tess North is happy that the SSH has finally listened to the complaints of the residents after four years. She’s also relieved to know that the student that went with the ambulance is fine: “I heard she’s already home again.”

Bekijk meer recent nieuws

Schrijf je in voor onze nieuwsbrief

Blijf op de hoogte. Meld je aan voor de nieuwsbrief van Univers.