Babylon
Babylon is the Faculty circle for students of Language and Literature at the Faculty of Arts of the KU Leuven.
Contents
History
Babylon was founded in 2004 by Sara Vermeylen and was the result of the merger of Romania (Leuven), Germania (Leuven) and the Classical Languages Department of Klio.
It is the direct result of the restructuring of university programmes (the so-called BaMa restructuring). As of the 2004-2005 academic year, students were able to study language combinations with a Germanic and a non-Germanic language. This reform ensured that the original separation between Germanic and non-Germanic languages no longer existed; and thus the reason for the existence of separate circles disappeared.
Shield
On the left-hand side of the shield is a tower referring to the Tower of Babel and the Babylonian confusion of tongues which, according to Genesis, is the origin of the diversity of human languages and, of course, of the fields of study of languages and literatures. The white of the tower and the blue of the background refer to the colours of the alma mater.
The yellow on the right is the colour of the Faculty of Arts. The eight stars refer to the eight languages taught in the programme. The fountain pen and the feather on the pennant refer to literature, which the students of language and literature naturally study.
The monogram in the yellow circle in the middle is composed of the letters G, R, and K and symbolises the continuity with the past: the three faculty circles Germania (Leuven), Romania (Leuven) and Klio, which united to form Babylon in 2004.
Song
Text: Dries De Crom
- De hele dag wordt ons geleerd
hoe men met grote stijl oreert;
maar als de proffen huiswaarts gaan,
is -t babbelen nog niet gedaan.
We blijven gaan met liters bier,
wij, babbelaars in hart en nier!
- Chorus:
- Chorus:
- Bij Babylon ligt ons herte,
- voor Babylon klinkt ons lied!
- Schalt Babylon in de verte:
- versagen en zullen wij nooit niet!
- Bij Babylon ligt ons herte,
- Wij drinken met veel sympathie
en bedrijven de filologie.
Spaans, Italiaans, Latijn en Frans,
Grieks, Engels, Duits of Nederlands:
pas op als tussen pot en pint
ons polyglot gelal begint!
- Te Leuven ligt ons paradijs,
ter hoogte van Marie-Thérèse;
van Fakbar naar Erasmushuis,
want daar ligt onze échte thuis!
En gaan de and’ren al op stal,
dan hoort men ons nog overal:
List of Praesides
| Year | Praeses |
|---|---|
| 2004 - 2005 | Sara Vermeylen |
| 2005 - 2006 | Inge Van de Plas |
| 2006 - 2007 | Wannes Deleu |
| 2007 - 2008 | Lander Kennis |
| 2008 - 2009 | Raf Njotea |
| 2009 - 2010 | Jelle Mampaey |
| 2010 - 2011 | Laura Geerts |
| 2011 - 2012 | Niels Vanacker |
| 2012 - 2013 | Tine Van Calster |
| 2013 - 2014 | Kathleen Lewyllie |
| 2014 - 2015 | Michael Bauwens |
| 2015 - 2016 | Heleen Devlieger |
| 2016 - 2017 | Liza Cretskens |
| 2017 - 2018 | Adinda Vandereyken |
| 2018 - 2019 | Anneleen Laeremans |
| 2019 - 2020 | Lander Mertens |
| 2020 - 2021 | Joni Kruijsbergen |
| 2021 - 2022 | Vincent Laevers |
| 2022 - 2023 | Riet Belmans |
| 2023 - 2024 | Birte Recour |
