Our universities do not only store knowledge but actively produce and disseminate it, and this is key for dismantling the deeply entrenched structures of colonialism which are unfolding in Palestine as well as the rest of the colonized world. In Brussels, like the rest of the world, campus uprisings and student and staff protestors have played a critical role in contextualizing the unfolding extermination in Gaza within the broader entrenched system of global extraction built on top of colonial foundations. The intensifying attacks on Lebanon, ongoing atrocities in Sudan, and seemingly ceaseless extractive conflicts in Congo have been also centralized by the student movements in Belgium, constantly asserting and highlighting the intersectional and inseparable nature of our struggles.

Where decentralized projects, like the student encampment, are the front line of this student protest movement, and their informality is a core characteristic of their strength, it also means that they require structural support from centralized actors like student organizations. WDVUB’s mission this semester, beyond the overarching vision of a decolonized campus, is to lend structural support to the flurry of decentralized activism and grassroots protest and dissent across campus and beyond.

With a new round of board members, bringing a rich diversity of academic expertise and cultural backgrounds, WeDecolonizeVUB is ambitious to kick off a new school year and to take on the added challenges and responsibilities this year!