LEIDEN – In the small kitchen of his hallway in Pelikaanhof, a 1970s student complex on Pelikaanstraat, things get cramped when two housemates cook at the same time. “Our kitchens are really tiny,” says Chris Noordzij. “If suddenly you have to share that small space with just anyone, or someone leaves the shower dirty, that’s pretty annoying—especially if you don’t really know that person or hardly ever see them.”
Noordzij (20), lead candidate of the ChristianUnion in Leiden, is closely following the debate about student housing provider DUWO. The corporation plans to change its roommate selection policy: residents will only be allowed to take part in choosing new housemates “within certain limits,” and membership in a student association may no longer be a consideration. “I’m somewhat surprised,” he says, “because a clear signal was sent—a petition from the tenants’ association BRES, supported by several parties including the ChristianUnion. We’ve made it clear that we have real concerns about this. But DUWO is simply going ahead with their plan.”
He lives with six housemates in a Christian household affiliated with the Christian student association Navigators. “We go to church together, pray before meals. That creates a warm and supportive environment.” He finds it difficult to understand that DUWO no longer wants to take that aspect into account. “We choose to live in a Christian house because it’s an important part of our lives. It’s incomprehensible that the faith aspect tied to our association is apparently no longer allowed to be a condition.”
He explains what that means in practice. “A society that strives for equality—as DUWO says it does with this policy—should also mean caring for one another. A house should truly be a home. If you can’t even be yourself at home anymore, that’s really strange.” According to Noordzij, this is not about exclusion but about shared values and norms. “Home is where you find peace. So it’s strange that a social housing corporation is contributing to that sense of home being undermined.” If DUWO goes ahead with the new policy, Noordzij believes “serious discussions and agreements will need to be made about the future of student housing and DUWO’s role in it.”
