60 years of Univers: thorn in the side of the university

As university magazine, we keep a finger on the pulse of the university. At Univers, we have been doing that for sixty years. Much has changed since the first issue rolled off the press, but much has also remained the same.

Universities are democratic strongholds. Students, lecturers, support staff, and administrators together make the decisions. Many discussions and issues are of all times. Again and again, choices must be made about the budget. Who gets more, who gets less and how much more or less? The language of communication and writing are constantly under discussion, as is the question of how the university should relate to the government, citizens, and the business community, in short, society.

Who keeps the overview and makes connections, who holds a mirror up to administrators, where can scientists, support staff, and students go for critical voices and personal stories, how do you stay informed? University magazines were created for this purpose. At Univers, we have been keeping the finger on the pulse of Tilburg University for sixty years. We conduct journalism within the academy. Independently, because no democratic institution can do without a thorn in the side.

Bulletin

It started a lot simpler, sixty years ago. On January 16, 1964, the first issue of the Tilburgse Hogeschoolblad, or THB, saw the light of day. In the early years of the university, then still a hogeschool (university of applied sciences), students were kept informed of schedule changes and other announcements in the lecture halls and corridors. Because student numbers were also growing rapidly at that time, and not every student was in the lecture hall every week, a bulletin was created. So that everyone could stay informed.

That was not a moment too soon. Five years later, in April 1969, student protests broke out in Tilburg. Students occupied the hogeschool, demanded a say and got it. It underlined the importance of a magazine reporting on developments at the knowledge institution. The editorial board became independent and was no longer formed by scientists but by journalists.

There were more background stories, personal interviews, and big and small campus news. Although deep into the 1990s, before systems such as Blackboard and Canvas took hold, students also continued to stay abreast of schedule changes and announcements from study and student associations via Univers.

University Journal

Developments continued to follow one another. When the hogeschool became a real university in 1986, the Katholieke Universiteit Brabant (KUB), the hogeschool magazine became a full-fledged university magazine. With a new name as well: Univers. Year after year, much remained to report on. The KUB became the University of Tilburg and later Tilburg University. Univers remained Univers, although in 2018 the ‘magazine’ was discontinued: since then we have been publishing entirely online, in line with the digital zeitgeist.

We are going to reflect more frequently on our first sixty years this year. We will report on that later. For now, we want to say in advance: we will continue, on to the next sixty. Keep following us and know where to find us.

Translated by Language Center, Riet Bettonviel

_Advertentie.