After the war, the University of Groningen quickly reopened its doors so that students could resume their studies. After a period of total isolation, the need for international contact was so great that the unbridled wanderlust of some professors caused a number of rectors to express their concern. It soon became clear that the close-knit, small-scale, prewar academic community was a thing of the past. The university grew – gradually at first, but starting from the late 1950s at a surprisingly fast pace. The almighty professors were taken down from their pedestals by emancipated students who demanded full participation. The University of Groningen took a unique stance in this process of democratization.

The renewal of the university

On 16 April 1945, Canadian troops evicted the German occupiers from Groningen, and on 5 May all of the Netherlands was free after a long struggle and a hard winter of hunger. Groningen was one of the first universities in the Netherlands to reopen its doors. This was no problem, because the university buildings were largely unscathed. Rector Magnificus Van der Pot, appointed at last after having been passed over in 1940 in favour of the pro-German Kapteyn, immediately called on students to resume their studies and in this way contribute to the country's restoration. As early as June, the first students reported for ‘duty’, and within a few months their number reached a record and the lecture halls were filled to capacity. Soon the call for purges had died down.

Should universities carry on as they had before the war? In a brochure entitled De vernieuwing der universiteit (1945) (The Renewal of the University), six professors, led by the professor of comparative religion Van der Leeuw and by Rector Magnificus Van der Pot, argued that they shouldn’t. Students had shown them- selves to be resilient under the occupation, but the lack of moral responsibility among the staff was strongly criticized: ‘most saw themselves more as administrators in a difficult situation than as spiritual leaders and responsible educators of the youth.’ The professors felt that the universities had hidden for too long behind their position of neutrality. They called on the new university to represent clear spiritual values grounded in Christian humanism.