Koninklijk Vlaams Rechtsgenootschap (VRG) - Leuven
The Koninklijk Vlaams Rechtsgenootschap (VRG) is the oldest faculty circle in Leuven and represents the students of the Faculty of Law at the KU Leuven.
Contents
History
The Vlaams Rechtsgenootschap (VRG) was founded in 1885 at the instigation of Professor Joseph Van Biervliet. It is the oldest faculty circle in Leuven.
At that time it was a society which not only consisted of students, but also included professors and assistants. The VRG was at that time rather a Study Circle and organised mainly discussions of legal literature and pleading exercises, in contrast to its present interpretation as faculty circle, which organises rather relaxing activities. At that time they organised a forerunner of the present working lectures, as it were.
The original aim of the VRG was closely linked to the Flemish emancipation struggle. They strived to familiarise students with their own Flemish legal language, at a university where only French was spoken at the time. It is therefore not surprising that VRG was part of the Flemish Movement, and put the use of Dutch in court cases on the political agenda. It also fought for a stronger position of Dutch in Flemish universities.
When Ghent University became Dutch-speaking in the 1930s, this zeal gained momentum. Stimulated by the VRG, the KU Leuven followed to some extent the example of Ghent and allowed a partial Dutchification. Thus, the law faculty was allowed to organise a number of Dutch-language lectures in addition to the French-language lectures. This partial Dutchification and the introduction of education in the people's own language resulted in what is now called the democratisation of education. Thus, university was no longer the elitist bastion of the past, and the more modest social classes also gained access to higher education.
When in the 1960s the language struggle in Leuven erupted, VRG took up a united position on the issue of the split of the Leuven university and the reform of law studies. The VRG regularly held demonstrations and openly expressed its support for Professor Zeger Van Hee when he went radically against the university regulations by organising faculty councils in Dutch for the first time. Professor Van Hee was the first Dutch-speaking dean of the faculty from 1963 and would also be the first dean of the faculty after the split of KU Leuven.
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With the language struggle as a backdrop, the VRG expanded its operation professionally. In 1963 they organised the first edition of the "Revue der Recht" and in 1964 the Course Service opened its doors. This course service offered books and course material to its students at democratic prices. The course service was set up because the praesidium under Marc Huybrechts was striving to grow from a mere social club into a "circle that wants to look after the general faculty welfare". Also in 1964 the first "Balanske" was printed, a biweekly information paper, and the Huis der Rechten (HdR) was founded, as an independent non-profit organisation of the VRG. The café functioned as a meeting place for everyone connected to the faculty of law and is still the Fakbar of the law students.
The VRG did not stop its struggle, however; in 1967 they occupied the Law Library with 300 students to denounce the faculty's inadequate facilities. According to them, the situation at that time could not possibly guarantee a responsible academic education.
In 1968, Leuven Vlaams raged in full force. The students finally got a voice in the decision-making bodies of both the faculty and the university. Luc Van den Brande, who was to become Minister-President of Flanders in the 1990s, was at the helm of the VRG during this turbulent period as Praeses. When the split of the University was a fact in 1970, and the de-doubling of the courses in Dutch and French curricula was realised, the VRG focused more and more on activities for the students. The VRG became a faculty circle in the true sense of the word.
In 1977, VRG participated for the first time in the 24 Urenloop. One year later, in 1978, the first edition of the Valkfeesten took place, the closing party of the annual election week. Throughout the years, some big names passed, such as Wim Soutaer, Clouseau, 2 Fabiola, Get Ready, De Kreuners and Bart Kaëll.
In 1984, the Algemene Studentenraad (ASR), the coordinating organization of the Leuven student associations, was in disarray. According to a number of circles the ASR pushed through an all too one-sided opinion, against the will of the circles. VRG and Ekonomika therefore decided to secede from the ASR. This separation from VRG was approved in a vote by 83.59% of the law students. Ekonomika and Romania (Leuven) followed their example and founded the Kring Unie Leuven (KrUL), a new coordinating organization, parallel to the ASR. Since Veto, as a magazine of the ASR, pushed the same too one-sided political agenda, they founded Faze, an independent student magazine.
In 1986 Steven Vanackere, as praeses of the VRG, was the pioneer in the establishment of the Leuvense Overkoepelende Kringorganisatie (LOKO). In this way they tried to unite all circles in Leuven under one coordinating body. Veto's editorial line was also changed, but the name was eventually retained. The magazine Faze disappeared later that same year.
In 1989, the VRG, which until then had been a de facto association, decided to continue as a non-profit organisation and moved into its current premises in the Tiensestraat. That there was sufficient commitment among the students became clear when that same year no fewer than three serious teams stood up for election as praesidium. The last time two serious teams competed against each other was in 2013.
In 1991 VRG achieved its best result to date at the 24 Urenloop with third place. The prize for the most beautiful stand has been won several times over the years.
In 1996, De Valk was in an uproar during the run-up to the election week. The candidate praeses of both upcoming teams received a substantial offer for sponsoring from a Brussels travel agency. Since the agency wanted to sponsor only one team, both praeses were asked to send the secret calendar of activities of their electoral teams so that the agency could choose a team. However, candidate-praeses Bruno Lambrecht noticed that the address given by the travel agency was very strange: a PO box in a post office at Brussels North Station. After making a few phone calls, it turned out that the travel agency did not exist and had been opened in the name of his opponent, R.A. The Electoral Committee took action and immediately informed the Dean and the faculty. The facts showed an attempt to commit fraud and forgery. The dean drove with the two candidate praeses from the rectorate to the mailbox in question in Brussels, to establish that the mailbox was in fact in the name of R.A. The latter, however, declared that someone wanted to frame him. In consultation with the dean, the electoral committee suspended R.A., who then instituted summary proceedings in which the judge ruled that R.A.'s guilt had not been proven. In the following elections, the decision was made in favour of Bruno Lambrechts' team.
As a result of the integration of academic college programmes into the universities, the Studentenraad KU Leuven (Stura) was established in 2013. The four sections of the law faculty (VRG-education, Crimen-education, campus KULAK and campus Brussels) united in the Facultair Overlegorgaan van de RechtsgeleerdheidStudenten (FORS).
Colours
The colours of the VRG are red-white-red.
Members of the VRG do not wear Couleur, but the colours do appear on t-shirts, jumpers, stickers and other utensils.
Song
The song was composed in 1987 by Kristof Macours and Georges Martyn and selected as a faculty song after a contest held by then-dean Roger Blanpain. Below you will find the student version of that song, which differs on some minor points from the official faculty version.
- Te Leuven die Vlaamse studentenstad
tussen Ladeuze en de Tiensestraat
staat ons college, die schone Valk
Oud en nieuw staan er zij aan zij
’t is het centrum van de faculteit
van wet en recht, maar ook van jolijt
- Chorus:
- Chorus:
- Want ius is eeuwig, ius is goed
- Collegium Falconis
- de valk m’n bron, gedachtegoed
- Collegium Falconis
- Want ius is eeuwig, ius is goed
- Advokaat notaris of docent
recht is er nodig voor elke mens
en daarom zijn wij dus hier student
Hoe men een wet interpreteert
het boni en het aequi met elkaar afweegt
met hart en ziel wordt dat geleerd
- Van Justinianus tot heel modern
van dikke boeken tot de kleinste term
we leren ’t recht, lot in z’n kern
Zeger Van Hee was de eerste decaan
wijd en zijd verspreidt de valk zijn faam
uit fiere borst, zingen wij dus saam
- En wat we ook worden op ons levenspad
we hebben de beste studies gehad
ja onze valk, blijft in ons hart
List of Praesides
| Year | Praeses |
|---|---|
| 1885 - 1886 | Jozef van Biervliet |
| 1886 - 1887 | Jozef van Biervliet |
| 1887 - 1888 | Jozef van Biervliet |
| 1888 - 1889 | Jozef van Biervliet |
| 1889 - 1890 | Jozef van Biervliet |
| 1890 - 1891 | Jozef van Biervliet |
| 1891 - 1892 | Jozef van Biervliet |
| 1892 - 1893 | Jozef van Biervliet |
| 1893 - 1894 | Jozef van Biervliet |
| 1894 - 1895 | Jozef van Biervliet |
| 1895 - 1896 | Jozef van Biervliet |
| 1896 - 1897 | Jozef van Biervliet |
| 1897 - 1898 | Alfred Schiks |
| 1898 - 1899 | Alfred Schiks |
| 1899 - 1900 | ? |
| 1900 - 1901 | ? |
| 1901 - 1902 | ? |
| 1902 - 1903 | ? |
| 1903 - 1904 | ? |
| 1904 - 1905 | ? |
| 1905 - 1906 | ? |
| 1906 - 1907 | ? |
| 1907 - 1908 | ? |
| 1908 - 1909 | ? |
| 1909 - 1910 | ? |
| 1910 - 1911 | ? |
| 1911 - 1912 | ? |
| 1912 - 1913 | ? |
| 1913 - 1914 | ? |
| 1914 - 1915 | Not active (WWI) |
| 1915 - 1916 | Not active (WWI) |
| 1916 - 1917 | Not active (WWI) |
| 1917 - 1918 | Not active (WWI) |
| 1918 - 1919 | ? |
| 1919 - 1920 | ? |
| 1920 - 1921 | ? |
| 1921 - 1922 | ? |
| 1922 - 1923 | ? |
| 1923 - 1924 | ? |
| 1924 - 1925 | ? |
| 1925 - 1926 | ? |
| 1926 - 1927 | ? |
| 1927 - 1928 | ? |
| 1928 - 1929 | ? |
| 1929 - 1930 | ? |
| 1930 - 1931 | ? |
| 1931 - 1932 | ? |
| 1932 - 1933 | ? |
| 1933 - 1934 | ? |
| 1934 - 1935 | ? |
| 1935 - 1936 | ? |
| 1936 - 1937 | ? |
| 1937 - 1938 | ? |
| 1938 - 1939 | ? |
| 1939 - 1940 | ? |
| 1940 - 1941 | ? |
| 1941 - 1942 | ? |
| 1942 - 1943 | ? |
| 1943 - 1944 | ? |
| 1944 - 1945 | ? |
| 1945 - 1946 | ? |
| 1946 - 1947 | ? |
| 1947 - 1948 | ? |
| 1948 - 1949 | ? |
| 1949 - 1950 | ? |
| 1950 - 1951 | ? |
| 1951 - 1952 | Mark Eysken |
| 1952 - 1953 | ? |
| 1953 - 1954 | ? |
| 1954 - 1955 | ? |
| 1955 - 1956 | ? |
| 1956 - 1957 | ? |
| 1957 - 1958 | ? |
| 1958 - 1959 | ? |
| 1959 - 1960 | ? |
| 1960 - 1961 | ? |
| 1961 - 1962 | ? |
| 1962 - 1963 | ? |
| 1963 - 1964 | ? |
| 1964 - 1965 | ? |
| 1965 - 1966 | ? |
| 1966 - 1967 | ? |
| 1967 - 1968 | ? |
| 1968 - 1969 | Luc Van den Brande |
| 1969 - 1970 | ? |
| 1970 - 1971 | ? |
| 1971 - 1972 | ? |
| 1972 - 1973 | ? |
| 1973 - 1974 | ? |
| 1974 - 1975 | ? |
| 1975 - 1976 | Carl Devlies |
| 1976 - 1977 | ? |
| 1977 - 1978 | ? |
| 1978 - 1979 | ? |
| 1979 - 1980 | ? |
| 1980 - 1981 | ? |
| 1981 - 1982 | ? |
| 1982 - 1983 | ? |
| 1983 - 1984 | Geert Glas |
| 1984 - 1985 | Ann Elias |
| 1985 - 1986 | ? |
| 1986 - 1987 | Steven Vanackere |
| 1987 - 1988 | Jan Clement |
| 1988 - 1989 | ? |
| 1989 - 1990 | ? |
| 1990 - 1991 | ? |
| 1991 - 1992 | ? |
| 1992 - 1993 | ? |
| 1993 - 1994 | ? |
| 1994 - 1995 | Bart Pinxten |
| 1995 - 1996 | Niels Janssen |
| 1996 - 1997 | Bruno Lambrecht |
| 1997 - 1998 | Thomas Mees |
| 1998 - 1999 | Stijn Verbist |
| 1999 - 2000 | Pieter Poissonnier |
| 2000 - 2001 | Dirk Lambrecht |
| 2001 - 2002 | Dieter Van Tendeloo |
| 2002 - 2003 | Jacques Vandeuren |
| 2003 - 2004 | Wim Bollen |
| 2004 - 2005 | Barbara Van Speybroeck |
| 2005 - 2006 | John-John Ackaert |
| 2006 - 2007 | Joris Raport |
| 2007 - 2008 | Bart Verbelen |
| 2008 - 2009 | Jochem Martens |
| 2009 - 2010 | Tom de Coster |
| 2010 - 2011 | Harry Ghillemyn |
| 2011 - 2012 | Alexander Hamels |
| 2012 - 2013 | Manu Bande |
| 2013 - 2014 | Gert-Jan Struye |
| 2014 - 2015 | Arthur Vermeire |
| 2015 - 2016 | Jonas Vernimmen |
| 2016 - 2017 | Karolien Haelterman |
| 2017 - 2018 | Seppe Pironnet |
| 2018 - 2019 | Elise Rooseleers |
| 2019 - 2020 | Michiel Hamels |
| 2020 - 2021 | Reinert Geukens |
