At home in Tilburg

Another summer holiday is over, for me at least, and the new academic year is about to start. A new group of first year students are on their way and Monday 17 August is the start of ‘TIK-week’ (Tilburg Freshers’ Week). This is a general introductory week for students. TIK Week will allow students to get to know each other, the city, the student associations and sport associations (please see the website: http://www.introductie-tilburg.nl/).
Around 1,600 students will be taking part, both from our university and from the Fontys and Avans Universities of Applied Sciences.
Last week I attended the start of the TIK committee’s preparations with the student mentors (of which there are over 200 in total!) They are responsible for making sure that the introductory week runs smoothly. I wished them the best of luck, of course, but I also told them how important it is that our new students are familiarized with their new life as rapidly and as thoroughly as possible. We can be very proud that our students work so hard to integrate the new arrivals.
On Wednesday I was at the launch of the ‘Tilburg is your home’ campaign. The Municipality of Tilburg, Tilburg University and the Fontys and Avans Universities of Applied Sciences initiated this campaign to promote Tilburg as a student city. The campaign centres on four students from Tilburg. They show what Tilburg has to offer through films, photos and blogs on http://www.tilburgisthuis.nl/ and on social network sites. School pupils can also experience student life in Tilburg for themselves. In the ‘T-House’ student house (at 105 Noordstraat), they can get a taste of what student life is like for a day and a night.
At the launch yesterday, I expressed Tilburg University’s wholehearted support for the campaign. Tilburg has ever more to offer as a student city. We should make sure that people can see and experience this.