What’s your name? When did you graduate?
“My name is Ray Polman, and I am from the Netherlands. A fun fact to start off is that I am actually not an alumnus yet… I still need to pass statistics, so I have not formally finished PPE yet. But I can tell you what I do now.”
So, what’s your main occupation right now?
“I’m the chair of the largest student renters’ association in the Netherlands. It’s a pretty official institution; we have a lot of mandated decision-making. For big housing decisions, three parties have to agree: the government (the city), the private party (the housing corporation, like SSH in Amsterdam), and us, the public party (the renters’ association). We’re a necessary part of the negotiations that happen every year, affecting how much housing gets built and its quality. November was really busy because we finalise those agreements, what we call prestatieafspraken, basically housing goals.”
Can you give an example of a recent negotiation?
“In most cities, like Rotterdam and Tilburg, everyone wants the same thing: more affordable housing. But in Utrecht, the city and the housing corporation wanted to stop the hospita system, you know, where you pick your own housemate. There are good reasons to stop it, like implicit discrimination and safety issues, but we had to put on the brakes. We represent 20,000 renters, and many were worried about losing all control over who they live with. We ended up getting them to agree to conduct proper research first, interviewing people in both types of housing before making any decision.”
What does your day-to-day look like?
“Besides those big annual negotiations, we handle a lot of individual complaints. We also try to visit all the buildings we represent across the country. Personally, I’ve also become really active in my own neighbourhood; it’s called De Uithof in Utrecht. It’s a unique place: originally built as university faculty buildings, with housing added in the ’90s. But it wasn’t designed for living. There are wide streets, no greenery, no benches, no third spaces. About 3,000 people live here, but everyone just passes each other by. I didn’t understand why I never met my neighbours until I looked into the urban planning.”
So you decided to try to change it?
“Yes, about two years ago, together with other residents from the different apartment blocks, each has its own bewonerscommissie (residents’ board), we started lobbying the university and the municipality. We held a big evening with executives from the university, the hogeschool, the housing corporation, and city council members. We presented the problem, including how the neighbourhood has the worst mental health statistics in Utrecht. And it worked. We now have a council with all those parties, and in the past two years, we’ve had streets renovated to be greener, benches installed, barbecues placed, sports fields added… I can literally see the barbecues I proposed outside my window now.”
That experience inspired you to run for city council?
“Exactly. I’m a PPE student after all, and I’ve always been interested in politics, but I never saw myself as a politician. This showed me I could actually improve people’s lives by changing the urban fabric. So now I’m running for the gemeenteraad in Utrecht for GroenLinks-PvdA (Green Labour). I’m number 18 on the list, which is pretty good since I wasn’t active in the party before. But I’m campaigning hard, especially in my neighbourhood. I need about 900 preference votes, and I’ve been going door to door, I’ve already done about 300. Everyone’s been positive so far.”
Speaking of PPE, what track did you do, and what was your thesis about?
“I did the Politics and Philosophy track. For my thesis, I researched the impact Angela Merkel had on women in politics. Interestingly, I found she had no significant effect, largely because she downplayed being a woman. She presented herself as the chancellor who happened to be a woman, not as the first woman chancellor. Because of implicit sexism, she had to, but it meant she didn’t really break the glass ceiling.”
How did PPE influence where you are now?
“In a meta way, it taught me it’s okay to take a leap and do something you enjoy, even if the career path isn’t obvious. Before PPE, I studied dentistry because it was ‘the best’ option. During COVID, I read a lot about philosophy, politics, and economics and realised I could actually study that. PPE gave me the courage to pursue what energises me, like the unpaid volunteer work I’m doing now.”
Any advice for current PPE students?
“Join activities earlier. I didn’t get involved much in the first year, but in the second and third years, I did and met so many great people. Also, study for statistics, I still haven’t passed it; that’s why I haven’t officially graduated yet. But hey, I’m not the first.”
Is there something fun or exciting you would like to share with the newsletter?
“I’m handing out apples, red and green (PVDA-Groenlinks’s colours). I ordered 3,300 apples for my neighbourhood. The funny thing is, I’m allergic to apples. I can touch them, but I can’t eat them. So my house is full of apples I can’t enjoy. But it’s a nice way to offer something positive, even if people don’t want to talk politics.”
