Flemish Union of Students
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The Flemish Union of Students (Dutch: Vlaamse Vereniging van Studenten; VVS) is an organisation that represents the students of Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium.
VVS can only represent the students in the Flemish community of Belgium due to the historically grown federalisation of the country. For the French Community of Belgium there is a separate student union (FEF). VVS is a member of the European Students' Union.
History
VVS was founded in 1938 as an Association of Flemish Students (Vereniging der Vlaamse Studenten), later the Flemish Student Association (Vereniging van Vlaamse Studenten). This organization automatically had as members all Belgian students who spoke Dutch (Flemish). Membership was automatic, although students could unsubscribe. In its early years, VVS was particularly active at the universities of Leuven and Ghent. Conflicts between left- and right-wing students within the VVS called automatic membership into question from the 1970s onwards. This principle of membership evolved at the VVS in 1977 to one of choice. During the 1970s and 1980s, the VVS was mainly driven by the organization's left wing, which used the subtitle VVS-Studentenvakbeweging or VVS-SVB, i.e. VVS-Student Unionism, from 1974 to 1990.
See also
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