Next Friday, April 8, a thousand Minerva members would travel to the French Alps. “After discussions with various student associations, including the Utrechtsch Studenten Corps and the female student association UVSV, who canceled their trip last week, we decided as an association to put an end to this ski trip. It’s about the health of our members,” says Van Betten.
Students from various associations from the country told De Telegraaf on Monday that the après-ski hut bar is the scene of ‘drugs with GHB’ and that there is an ‘unsafe threatening atmosphere of staff and security guards’.
Van Betten: “There is a lot of fuss and it plays a big role among our members. It is not clear what exactly happened. But we couldn’t guarantee that what happened to the other students wouldn’t happen to us. Bottom line for us is that the safety of the members comes first.”
The financial consequences of the cancellation are not yet entirely clear. According to the president, the travel organization Totally Snow thinks along with them and they understand the concerns. “We have a relationship with each other, also in the long term.” Van Betten emphasizes once again that it is above all a ‘wise decision’.