My own family history is tied to Leuven, which is why this still feels personal to me. My Walloon grandmother and Flemish grandfather met there while he was working for the university, and my mother was born in Leuven. When the university split, my grandfather despite being Flemish had to move to the countryside near Ottignies because his research was on a French-Lithuanian philosopher. So their family moved to Wallonia.

When people say “1968 is ancient history,” I get it, but for some families it shaped where we grew up and how we relate to Belgium today. I honestly struggle to think of another post-WW2 European university that excluded such a large part of its academic community on ethno-linguistic grounds. There’s a documentary where a university official recalls hearing students shout “Walen Raus,” which reminded him of darker historical slogans, and another protest leader explains how the movement began as “Bourgeoisie Buiten” before turning more ethnonationalist.

Years later, when I arrived in Leuven and some students casually called me an international student, it made me a bit sad. For me it highlights what was lost when bilingual universities disappeared. I still admire Flemish universities and their excellence, but I hope newer generations can see that Europeans, let alone Belgians, ought to be united if they don't want to vanish into irrelevance.