A former ESU alumni looks set to hit the heights of the European Parliament if results in the forthcoming elections go as expected. Dutch Green candidate, Judith Sargentini, is almost guaranteed to be taking up a new position as an MEP from June, marking a huge achievement for this former member of the European student movement.

Judith’s early career as a student activist began back in 1995 as a delegate to ESIB (as ESU was formerly known) from Dutch NUS LSVb before being elected as an Executive Committee member in 1997-1998.  Talking to Judith provides a fascinating insight into what it was like to be in the organisation a decade ago.  The focus then was on cooperation with Central European countries – the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia – countries that were still finding their new democratic feet and moving towards the goal of EU membership.  Europe was a very different place to be at that time, and she movingly recalls a conference in Budapest in 1995 where, just at a time when the Balkan conflicts were starting to wane, Bosnian, Croatian and Macedonian students came together and sang songs in a spirit of friendship along the banks of the Danube.

Hers was also the ‘pre-Bologna’ period, so she never got to experience the major emphasis on academic issues that has taken place over the last decade.  Instead, her work focused more on the social – fighting for greater rights for gays, women and ethnic minorities in higher education at that time.

The other key event during her time in ESIB was the first World Conference on Higher Education, organized by UNESCO in 1998.  As the article on ‘WCHE number 2’ in this edition of  ‘The Student Voice’ shows, students are now being given the opportunity to play an important role in this Conference, but Judith remembers it being rather different first time around.  Back then, it took an intensive campaign of lobbying for ESIB even to get students into the Conference, let alone to be allowed to have a speaker at the event.  But for all the hard work, it was an exciting time too – a unique and special occasion that brought together student platforms from all across the globe.

On election to the Parliament, Judith says her focus is going to be on foreign affairs and development cooperation.  But her commitment to higher education will still be reflected, she says, in support for greater mobility and a stronger social dimension.  In particular, she notes that most Dutch students still have difficulty getting their diplomas recognised abroad, a problem which she is keen to see addressed so that all students have the opportunity for an ‘international experience’ during their studies.
Above all, Judith cherishes the friendships that she made from her time in ESU – the connections across the globe which continue to serve her well ten years after they were first made.  And ESU is delighted that this is one connection that will give us, and students across Europe, a key ally at the heart of the European Union for the parliamentary term to come.