Approximately 100 pro-Palestinian activists have blocked access to the UFO building at Ghent University (UGent), disrupting the opening ceremony for the new academic year.
Activists lay en masse on the ground in front of the building. The session, scheduled to include prominent politicians and academics, is preceded by a traditional toga parade that had to be rerouted due to the protest.
For safety reasons, the group of attendees, led by UGent Chancellor Rik Van de Walle and Vice-Chancellor Mieke Van Herreweghe, were redirected through a side alley to a back entrance. This procession included high-ranking academics and KU Leuven Rector Luc Sels. All guests were escorted by police.
Among the guests were federal ministers Vincent Van Peteghem and Petra De Sutter, MEP Geert Bourgeois, Ghent’s Mayor Mathias De Clercq, MPs like Anneleen Van Bossuyt, and East Flanders’ Deputy Governor Kurt Moens.
In recent years, the traditional ceremony has increasingly been overshadowed by loud student protests, often focused on climate issues, but more recently on violence in the Middle East.
While typically noisy, such protests rarely disrupt proceedings, even if it is unusual for the procession to be diverted for the academic year’s opening ceremony.
Shortly after 16:00, the traditional opening finally commenced in the University Forum’s auditorium, where pro-Palestinian activists had held a weeks-long occupation in May before being removed by a court order.
