According to Kruisman, this account has two main goals: firstly, to host events or meetings that help create conversations between students with similar [mental health] issues; and try to propose actual policy changes at the UvA.
“We are not only there as an organization to create these events and create a safe space, but we also really want to push for a policy change and stand up for the people,” said Kruisman. “By promoting [proposals] through our social media, we hope to… show the UvA that there are a lot of students who care about [mental health issues], and really pressure the UvA in actually taking steps.”
On March 18, a group of student representatives had a meeting with UvA’s board of directors to propose six policy ideas. Zep van de Visse, another second-year Political Science student, talks about one of the policies that asks UvA to hire more psychologists.
“The UvA is doing exactly what is legally required to do, and that is not much. Officially in the Dutch law, it’s said that the government should provide [mental health] care. International students are not Dutch citizens and many Dutch citizens don’t have the funds to afford the mostly free [mental] healthcare.,” said van de Visse. “Now the UvA has some psychologists, who are, as far as I know, not qualified to deal with long-term therapy… We are hoping that UvA gives better and more mental health care to give students more resources.”
“… We feel like the roles of the mentors, the roles of your tutors can also be a lot more focused on your mental health, where right now it is very focused, completely on your academic health…,” adds Kruisman about another policy. “The UvA seems to agree with it, but the step to implementation is the toughest battle.”