The science discussion platform of the University of Amsterdam FNWI

Dear visitor,

We would like to express the following given the information that has been spread around in the media about us and given all the hate messages we have received. It is important to mention that BetaBreak is a science-divulgation committee completely ran by students, for students, and that UvA management does not have direct influence on the editions we make and the guests we host.

During the now-cancelled edition's organization we exclusively communicated with the speakers through a third party. A message sent about our reasons for cancelling the event was sent by a member of our board to a third party through an unofficial channel. Unfortunately, the message was written independently by a single member and was not clear on the exact reasons for cancelling the event. This message was forwarded by the third party to the speakers and we believe there were some major miscommunications. Statements were released by both the third party and speakers, as well as a press release, none of which had input from the BetaBreak. We want to make it clear that the current statement is the first official statement released by us:

“The BetaBreak could not guarantee the safety during the planned event, given the current situation on campus. The event that was meant to take place on Friday the 17th of May at Science Park 904, had to be cancelled. We had to stop the planning of the event keeping in mind the well-being of everyone - both the students and the speakers. Furthermore, we want to mention that we were warned by a third party, our point of contact with the speakers, to hire extra security for the event, as one of the speakers requested so. That being an indicator that the event could get violent, regardless of whether the event was related to the topic. Some of the speakers had very public views which were incongruent with the protesters. We were also informed one of the speakers was unable to previously enter the campus due to protests. Which made us worry for the safety. As BetaBreak we want to maintain everyone's well being and show solidarity to our fellow students given the recent events.

In addition, giving a platform to those who hold a conflicting stance to a lot of UvA students would add to the already hostile and unsafe environment on campus. We want to add that the event was never announced by BetaBreak in any official channel, it was not confirmed, there was no promotion, therefore it was just in the planning stage. However, confidential event information was made public in the mentioned press release. We still want to apologize for the misunderstanding that the message sent by a BetaBreak member in unofficial channels to a third party generated, and the miscommunication that was propagated.”

Sincerely,

The BetaBreak team

15th of May 2024, Amsterdam