A scoop of nostalgia after one decade

Mr. Bert Groenman was 24 years old when he was hired at the university, ticking out articles on an Underwood typewriter — still in mint condition and displayed on the top bookshelf in his Vrijhof office that is teeming with other artifacts, which all seem to tell the story of his four decades as a journalist and Editor in Chief for the UT-Nieuws.  

As the longtime editor enters retirement next week, closing an unforgettable chapter in his life, he sits down for an interview to reflect on the 10th anniversary of introducing English articles into the pages of the newspaper. Dineke van Aalst and Kristin Zimmerman also reflect on their own tenures as the first coordinators of the page.

How did it all really begin? Back in 2000, working within the yearly budget and without additional funding, the decision was made to hire writers and offer articles, which was a bit of a calculated risk and journalistic adventure at that juncture.

Taking the helm, Dineke van Aalst, who currently lives in Groningen and works as a student counselor, was the first coordinator of the English page until February 2004. ‘I knew Dineke was good in English. She held a degree in English language and literature,’ recalled Groenman. ‘We needed someone to translate Dutch articles — that was really the beginning of bringing articles to the international community.’

Van Aalst remembered the first few weeks, ‘The ‘English Edition’ (as the page was called then) was filled with translated articles, appearing a week after they had been published in the Dutch pages, until we hired international students and staff to write and interview people.’ Originally, she was asked to translate and adapt the guide for international students which led her eventually to Groenman’s office to discuss an English page.

In 2001, Kristin Zimmerman was hired as journalist and, in time, was hired as a coordinator, ‘With Bert’s support, we conducted an extensive survey of the international community to get a sense of what they wanted to read.’ Zimmerman now resides in Tarare, France, a small town outside of Lyon, with her husband, Arie Biesheuvel, a former professor at the university. By any measure, she was able to bring her own creative formats and concepts to enhance the quality of the page.

Her perspective as an American living abroad herself found voice in her series ‘Postcards from Abroad’ and coverage of the 9/11 events after the bombing of the World Trade Center. ‘I recall covering the tsunami in 2004 - that was spine-chilling. I found three students whose families were directly affected, one who rode his motorbike away from a wave in panic.’ In the years they worked together, Van Aalst and Zimmerman introduced useful expressions in Dutch and ‘mind-boggling’ Dutch acronyms to help readers better integrate in Dutch culture and life.

Now ten years later, the demand for increased news in English shows no signs of relenting with adopted policies to gradually internationalize the UT. But the real changes came with the merger of a sixth faculty, namely the ITC, which added another dimension to the composition of foreign students, and increasing the readership.

A transition came again in October 2007, when the author of this article came on with Zimmerman’s decision to move to France. In the last three years, the page introduced a new template in the print edition, giving its layout more structure and allowing space for more articles. On occasion, the page has been allowed to stretch over into page seven with spreads on various topics.

‘Overall I think it has gone well through the years, but not necessarily fast enough,’ said Groenman, ‘we’ve heard the requests for more English articles, but it’s an unrealistic expectation without sufficient funding.’

Bert Groenman, 64, traveled to Golem Heights in Syria to conduct an interview with former alumni Ard Venema about his two year provisional post as Chief Procurement Officer for the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNOF) in the context of a freedom mission. The article was published 28 May 2009 in the UT Nieuws print and online editions, and also in the Alumni Magazine.

Dineke van Aalst: ‘It was interesting and fun to work with Bert Groenman every week. We had our weekly meetings on Thursdays, looking at the print edition of the Dutch newspaper that would have just come in to determine which articles to translate and who to interview.’

Kristin Zimmerman: ‘He is honest, modest—but not too modest, natural, real; there is no pretense or superficiality about Bert. What you see is what you get.’

Robbin Engels: ‘Bert is certain of his point of view and a social character. I will always remember him offering a cup of coffee before we’d get started with our weekly meeting—really, a Dutch gentleman.’