We,

PhDs, Employees, Students and Alumni at Wageningen UR,

observing that

the Academic Board of Wageningen University (WU) has restricted the content of the acknowledgements section (dankwoord) of a WU PhD thesis, such that it may no longer contain any religious expression,

considering that

- the content of the acknowledgements section is by nature completely separate from the scientific content of the thesis

- according to the new policy, a PhD candidate is still allowed to acknowledge relatives, friends, pets or any other creature, but not God

- the new, rigid policy unwantedly prevents PhD candidates to express their deepest motivations, of which religion may be an intrinsic ingredient, and may make them feel discriminated against

- Wageningen University is extreme in applying this restriction compared with other Dutch universities

kindly ask the Rector, as chairman of the ‘Academic Board’ of WU,

- to withdraw the current restriction and consider a different policy.

Signature

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