Study associations

In the eighties, they shot up like mushrooms: study associations. Not everyone was interested in joining the traditional student associations, such as Olof, Plato and Vidar, which mainly had socializing goals, and students’ interest in left-wing clubs with political goals was on the wane. And so the number of associations with a more professional orientation was on the up on the Tilburg campus; and with the spirit of the time calling for more business-like approaches, study associations catered for the need for joint organization, travel and merrymaking at the same time. The first study association (TEV) was founded in 1979 for Econometry students, and the second (VITE) in 1981 fory International Economy and Law students.

The Esplanade building, where study associations are to be found, containing a grand café as well

Mergers and alliances

In 2017, each faculty had its study associations, some small, others large, often after mergers or alliances. Together, they produced not only a host of conferences, symposiums, company discovery days and study trips, but also get-togethers, parties and gala balls. It is estimated that some 7,500 students were members of one study association or another. These numbers went up when the big faculty associations started to take care of joint textbook purchasing. It took a while for the importance of these study associations to be recognized, but the demolition of the temporary accommodation where they were lodged, kickstarted a political lobby to have them properly established in a Student Center. This lobby was successful, and when the Esplanade Building was opened in 1998, the study associations moved into office spaces on its first and second floors.

International associations

Another kind of recognition was achieved by rewarding active membership with a monthly 300 euro board grant. Student interest in this type of thing was overwhelming, also because management experience on an association board looked good on their CVs. When the number of applications went through the roof in the early 21st century, numbers were capped for each faculty. The study associations of the two major faculties merged into big faculty-wide associations: Asset (previously Efact) at the Tilburg School of Economics and Management, and Magister JFT at the Tilburg Law School. Within this structure, there are so-called Chambers to represent different degree programs. The associations at the Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Tilburg School of Humanities remained allied to various degree programs in 2017.

Some study associations support students in gaining practical experience by mediating in gaining traineeships, student jobs or business experience: AIESEC, Integrand, Unipartners and the Academic Business Club (ABC). The first study association operating fully in English, Extra Muros, became a fact after the Liberal Arts and Sciences program had been founded.