The Committee on Ceremonial Texts has evaluated the opening and closing words used at academic ceremonies at VU Amsterdam and has advised the implementation of two rewordings in the texts.
Following extensive consultation, the Executive Board has decided to introduce a more inclusive wording for the texts at academic ceremonies from January 2023. For a long time, these texts reflected a shared Christian identity within the university community. The Board believes that this tradition no longer aligns with the diverse VU community today.
The Committee on Ceremonial Texts was asked to evaluate the inclusive wording after one year. In its research, the committee carefully considered various factors, such as the space for personal interpretation in the texts and the temporal relevance of words.
Rewordings
Ultimately, this evaluation led to the recommendation to rephrase the opening sentence as: “I open this academic ceremony by stating that, from our Christian origins to the present day, we practice science with a sense of wonder and inspired by fundamental values.”
The closing sentence is rephrased as follows: “I close this academic ceremony with the hope that our scientific quest for truth and wisdom may be beneficial to humanity and the world.”
The committee has submitted the final version of its advice, including the rewordings, to the College of Deans. This new version will be pronounced at academic ceremonies from this point forward.