Bungehuis and Maagdenhuis occupations

[3] University Dean Frank van Vree argued that the cuts were necessitated by falling student enrollment in recent years, calling for a "rigorous reorganization" of the Humanities faculty.

[5] The Humanities Rally group formed, composed of students and faculty members, and began a campaign of demonstrations and petitions to protest the announced changes.

[4][6] On 4 February 2015, Het Parool published the leaked contents of the university's outline of Profiel 2016,[2] the proposed roadmap to implement the austerity programs that had been discussed in the preceding months.

[8] The group's demands included:[9] The occupiers stated that their intention was not to disrupt education, but rather to send a message to the University Board of Directors (the College van Bestuur or CvB).

While making clear they supported the call for a democratic and autonomous university, they voiced their opposition to the occupation in a petition, citing the inhibiting of research due to it, caused by for example restricted access to the baby-lab.

[14] The occupation received significant support from within the UvA,[13] staff,[15] members of Parliament,[16] public figures such as Freek de Jonge, and trade unions.

[17] A petition in support of the occupiers on the social media website Change.org has garnered over 7000 signatures, with signatories including Noam Chomsky, Jacques Rancière, Judith Butler, Axel Honneth, Simon Critchley, Jean-Luc Nancy, Saskia Sassen, James Tully and Johan Galtung.

On 23 February, the protesters and the CvB, mediated by Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan, sat down to negotiate an end to the occupation.

[22] At the end of the demonstration, a group of protesters forced the door of the Maagdenhuis, the main administrative building of the UvA, and occupied it, raising once again the demands of The New University.

These concessions were as follows: Making available more funding for additional studies like a 'liberal arts college', postponing the planned defunding of the individual modern languages for two more years in order to give them the chance to prove that they are financially viable, and adding a student-member to the University Board of Directors (CvB).

[31] The following day de Volkskrant reported that the CvB had given concessions to students and staff involved in or supporting the aims of the Maagdenhuis occupiers: The New University, RethinkUvA and Humanities Rally.