‘Love each other like brothers’ is the motto of student fraternity Sint Jansbrug.
Founded in 1947, the fraternity has no religious or political agenda. “We’re all very different, and we don’t really have a specific style,” said president, Rosa Storm.
“Our objective is to bring everyone together, and for first years it’s to kick-start the year and friendships in Delft.” Based at Oude Delft 50-52, which back in 1600 functioned as a brewery, they were named after the nearby bridge. Their logo, a chicken, can be found throughout the building. Number 54 was recently added to their portfolio, and 16 members live there.
The fraternity is open on weekdays, and there are several activities open to non-members. Anyone is welcome to come and get a meal in the dining room for €4. “100-200 people eat here each evening. We have a chef that’s been here for 20 years, she’s part of the family. Every new member takes a turn in the kitchen to help her,” said Storm. “In the attic we have the Oele which is open for coffee and tea each evening, and this is open to everyone too.” The fraternity also organises a music and culture festival each March at Lijm & Cultuur, with tickets available to all; it’s called ‘Aangeschoten Wild’ which is a pun on words that translates to ‘tipsy wild animal’. For members, there are a number of sub clubs to suit a variety of interests. “We also organise study groups because some people find it hard to combine studying with fraternity life. The average grade last year when members graduated was 8/10, which is pretty good.”
Open to all students, Sint Jansbrug was the first fraternity in Delft to admit girls back in 1969, and similarly they were the first to admit HBO students in 1975. You can only join in OWEE. Currently there are around 750 members, divided into year groups. From year two you may be invited to join a gilde. “The gildes have different interests and characters. You can see how diverse members are best in the gildes. Some have their own tie or t-shirt to distinguish themselves,” said Storm. Shields for the different groups can be found hanging in the bar.
Their beer contract is with Jupiler, and a beer is €0.90 unless you buy 13 at once, a metre, then it’s €0.72 per beer! Sint Jansbrug is affiliated with two other fraternities: SSR Leiden and Rotterdamsch Studenten Gezelschap. See their website for more details.
In this series we’ll be meeting TU Delft’s student fraternities. These fraternities are called gezelligheidsverenigingen in Dutch, which translates as ‘social clubs’, but in fact they’re far more than that. If you’d like to suggest a fraternity for us to cover, please email us at deltainternational@tudelft.nl.
Comments are closed.