Alex de Vries , 08 december 2022
An event that challenged our thinking.
Together with the Amsterdamse Universiteits-Vereniging, we went to Amsterdam for Erasmus on Tour. The theme unifying our members: opportunity inequality in the Netherlands.
At 19:30, members of our club and of the Amsterdam association were present at the Waalse Kerk. They entered together and were welcomed by Lotte. Participants of the Erasmus Alumni Club received the green lanyard; those from Amsterdam received a black one.
Sander Schimmelpenninck began with a brief retelling of his time as a student at the Erasmus. Then with the practiced ease of a TV presenter, he switched over to the evening’s topic, speaking to us about his findings on this inequality. He’s made a documentary about it before, ‘Sander en de Kloof’ (Sander and the [opportunity] Gap). We also got a sneak peek at the contents of the book he’s currently writing, ‘Sander en de Brug’ (Sander and the Bridge). In it, he makes five recommendations for making the Netherlands a more equal country.
Bastian Ravesteijn and Louise Elffers were the scientific panel, and took part in the conversation after the keynote. They each dove into the topic from their area of expertise. Bastian being a professor of Applied Economics at the Erasmus, and Louise being a researcher for education at the University of Amsterdam as well as the director of the ‘Kenniscentrum Ongelijkheid’ (knowledge centre for inequality). There were questions from the audience too, as well as suggestions for battling equality through education.
Lastly, while enjoying the food, the conversation was continued between alumni from Amsterdam, alumni from Rotterdam, and the speakers themselves. It was a convivial and informative evening.
Click here to see the aftermovie