Rik Van de Walle
Dear UGent community,
Soon, the rectoral duo for the 2025–2029 term will be elected, and as you know, I am once again a candidate for the rector mandate. During the 2017-2021 and 2021-2025 terms, I had the privilege – together with vice rector Mieke Van Herreweghe and many others – of helping to shape the future of our university. I have done this with great pleasure, doing my very best and dedicating all my energy. The same goes for Mieke.
During a third and final term as rector (period 2025–2029), I would be happy to serve again. Over the past years, Mieke and I have been able to count on the support of many people at UGent, in both good and difficult times, as the saying goes. I hope that, together with the current candidate for vice rector, Ilse Derluyn, I can once more count on your support – support that I would like to explicitly and unequivocally request here.
I understand that there are different opinions about a possible third term as rector. The absence of precedents at UGent can raise questions, which is entirely normal. Nevertheless, I am convinced that a third term offers significant opportunities and added value. Below, I will try to explain why.
Governing is about making choices. Especially in times of budgetary difficulties, this sometimes leads to intense discussions. But it is essential to ensure that future generations of students and staff are not saddled with financial problems. As rector, together with the vice rector, I have always taken my responsibilities. I have done so through dialogue, always with a financially sound future for our university in mind. I would like to continue doing so in the coming years, if given the chance.
From day one, I can immediately work closely with candidate vice rector Ilse Derluyn. In our team, experience, renewal, and a full-time commitment to UGent will come together. A third term provides the certainty that important projects will continue to be developed rather than falling by the wayside. Concrete examples of initiatives that have been launched include UGent Verbeeldt 2050, the Master Plan for Student Housing (which focuses on increasing the availability of affordable student rooms), the student center, and the reorganization of the university services. It is crucial to ensure strong leadership in the early years of implementation, and I believe that we are well-suited for this task.
Over the past years as rector, I have become thoroughly familiar with the Flemish, federal, and European bodies that manage funding for education and research. We can leverage the networks I have built, both at home and abroad, to advocate for our university’s interests in the strongest possible way. In today’s competitive academic landscape, this knowledge of the terrain is a real advantage. It will allow us to further enhance UGent’s international reputation and thereby create additional opportunities in research, education, valorization, and societal engagement.
I want to continue to serve as a dedicated ambassador for UGent. This role will be particularly important for the ongoing development of our science parks (where significant steps have already been taken) and the further expansion of the Ghent University Global Campus in South Korea (for which we have recently developed a vision statement and action plan for the coming decade, which we intend to implement in the next few years).
Moreover, I find it important to highlight the comprehensive character of our university. The fact that our institution conducts research and provides education in all possible academic disciplines is a major asset. This is something I always emphasize when speaking about UGent – both in Belgium and abroad – and that I would like to keep promoting.
In the past eight years, vice rector Mieke Van Herreweghe and I have made it a priority to create an attractive academic environment. This has been based on a foundation of trust (as seen, for example, in the complete overhaul of the ZAP career model during our first term) and on efforts to ensure the best possible framework for high-quality research and teaching (such as the thorough reworking of research funding and the reform of the university’s administrative services during our second term).
As a new rectoral team, candidate vice rector Ilse Derluyn and I want to keep academic freedom – and the inseparable link between academic teaching, research, and societal engagement – high on the agenda, expanding and safeguarding these core values over the next four years. We will, of course, do so with our feet firmly on the ground, working together with as many UGent experts and UGent students as possible who contribute to public debate.
We do not want to exacerbate societal polarization, which is already significant. However, we firmly advocate for more scientific insight and expertise to inform numerous debates – within a pluralistic framework, and free from any political ties. We consider institutional autonomy to be crucial.
Candidate vice rector Ilse Derluyn and I each bring our own experience, knowledge, and capacities. Ilse has extensive experience in contributing to policy processes, and from various roles, she has also gained a great deal of expertise in teaching and research. In many ways, she embodies the very core of what a university ought to be. Additionally, drawing on her outstanding scientific work, she has extensive knowledge and an excellent vision for welfare and diversity policies.
Ilse and I are, of course, two different but complementary personalities. We believe that as a duo, we are highly suited to realize our human- and future-oriented program, provided we receive your support.
In short, together with candidate vice rector Ilse Derluyn, I believe that a third term as rector at Ghent University, especially in the current context, offers significant advantages. We therefore invite you to review our program, and we hope we can count on your vote in the upcoming elections.
Rik Van de Walle