This year all of AEGEE’s antennae from Helsinki to Las Palmas and from Madeira to Tyumen will celebrate AEGEE’s 30th birthday, even though none of the before mentioned locals nor most of those lying in between have existed for so long. In the last 30 years AEGEE has seen an incredible expansion of its members and its accomplishments throughout all the four corners of Europe. However,  AEGEE did not start out as the multitude of students with supranational hopes, dreams, and ambitions as it is today; in fact it started out much smaller. With AEGEE’s sixth lustrum coming up it is time to check up on the six original locals of AEGEE and see how they are doing.

AEGEE-Leiden

One of the oldest locals of AEGEE is located in the Netherlands’ oldest university city, which has canals that very likely predate the iconic ones in Amsterdam. Nowadays AEGEE-Leiden is still going strong with its 270 members, original committees, such as the PaparaCie (a committee solely occupied with attending each activity, party or event of AEGEE-Leiden in order to take a multitude of pictures of the attendees to put on their website); and feats of fortitude, such as the Travel Trophy, a price that is annually awarded to a single member who in that year has traversed the most kilometres in order reach and attend AEGEE activities throughout the Netherlands and Europe.

AEGEE-London

There might not be a local that is more internationally orientated than AEGEE-London. Not only does this antenna provide a list of activities that are hosted by other AEGEE locals from all over Europe, it also provides information for students who visit London, among which is a list of hostels that have been recommended by other members of AEGEE who have visited the city. Even though the original AEGEE-London no longer exists, it is remarkable to see it back again since 2013 and especially to have it back just in time for AEGEE’s thirtieth birthday.  This way  in each of the cities of all of the original six locals members of AEGEE are able to celebrate this event once again

AEGEE-Madrid

Another example of a local that is extremely internationally orientated would be AEGEE-Madrid. For a country that is as diverse as all the colours on a painter’s pallet it comes to no surprise that a local such as AEGEE-Madrid would be heavily invested in creating a sense of unity within such a diverse community as is Europe. One of the highlights of the year for this founding father of AEGEE would be the Pesadilla antes de Navidad (the Nightmare before Christmas), a Local Training Course that consists of workshops and activities that help people to get to know AEGEE (better). All of these take place in a hotel in downtown Madrid amidst the Christmas celebrations and this year the Pesadilla will return for its eighth edition.

AEGEE-Milano

Just like their fellow original locals, AEGEE-München, -Leiden, and –Paris, AEGEE-Milano has followed a coincidental tradition of hosting a Spring Agora. Also, when the honour of hosting an Agora fell onto Cagliari, AEGEE-Milano stepped-up to the plate by inviting visitors to the Agora to stop by on their way to Sardinia and visit their city during the Agora pre-event, ‘discover Me (lano)!’. AEGEE-Milano was the first of many AEGEE-locals in Italy and it organises events in a city that is so rich in history and culture, it has housed people from Constantine the Great to Leonardo da Vinci. However, AEGEE-Milano also ventures deep into the 21^st century, since of all the original six locals, it arguably is the one that most intensively makes use of social media such as Facebook.

AEGEE-München

Most members of AEGEE will know that the European Student’s Forum organises a great number of exchanges between different AEGEE antennae. However, for those that thought it was only between students from different European countries AEGEE-München might have a few surprises left. With initiatives such as the EuroArab Youth Exchange AEGEE-München proved that it is possible to expand AEGEE’s contacts outside the confines of this continent as this German local hosted an exchange between themselves, AEGEE-Debrecen (Hungary), AEGEE-Alicante (Spain), Leaders of Tomorrow (Amman, Jordan), Action Positive (Sfax Tunisia) and Abbar Youth Initiative (Alexandria, Egypt). Furthermore, if you have ever been on an exchange and secretly wished you could speak the native language of the locals (better), AEGEE-München will also help you out with their monthly ‘Sprach Duo’ event.

AEGEE-Paris

It is the only French speaking local of the six founding antennas and sadly only one of four French speaking antennas, in contrast with the 14 Spanish speaking, 21 German speaking and 27 Italian speaking antennas, of a forum that bears a French name. However, AEGEE-Paris is anything but out. With a plethora of activities, both locally and international, and some unique working groups such as the Environmental Working Group, the Visa Freedom Working Group and le Comité des Technologies de l’information or ‘ the IT board’, AEGEE-Paris still shows the world an impressive display of human spirit and like all locals, those original six and all of those that came after, it does it utmost best every day to keep Franck Biancheri’s dream of a more connected Europe alive and prosperous.

Written by Willem Laurentzen AEGEE-Nijmegen

In 2015,  AEGEE celebrates its thirtieth birthday; all over Europe, and in the interior of Russia, and in the Caucasus, and in Turkey, and at the Canary Islands, which are geographically part of Africa. Basically, along almost a quarter of the earth’s circumference over 200 AEGEE locals have popped up and are ready to celebrate. Should some enthusiastic students be able to found AEGEE-Reykjavik in time, 2015 would geographically see a celebration across three continents. Thinking about it, how does someone start a local and who are these people?

Creating a local is easy. That is to say that even a single person can found his own local, as long as he or she has a university to support the foundation. Having an entire team of Europe loving, culture appreciating and travel-hungry students helps of course and within two weeks AEGEE-Europe will most likely have recognised you. If all goes well; congratulations, you are now a Contact.

However, imagine that you want to move up in the hierarchy, not in the least to be able to make your own awesome artsy AEGEE stickers, you will have between a year and a year-and-a-half (before three Agorae have passed) to fill in all the necessary documents, gather enough members and attend all mandatory events. Then, there are a few more requirements along the road, but, imagining there was too much fun involved to experience these issues as obstacles, after a few years your Contact has become a Contact-Antenna and finally a full-fledged Antenna.
Nowadays, there are over 200 locals, but at the start in 1985 there were only six. The founders of which, in addition to have to found their own local, also had to set up the greater organisation, which is now known as AEGEE-Europe. These original founders were no superhumans, however, in the sense that they did something that present founders may also have been able to could have done. To found AEGEE basically all it needed, was to clearly envision a concept of the organisation you were trying to form, to show perseverance in order to reach that goal, but also to speak French.

Before AEGEE expanded further into Europe, French was the de facto language of the organisation. Imagine that, when the first Comité Directeur was assembled at the prestigious Sorbonne University in Paris in 1986, none of the representatives spoke nor did the Secretary make notes in English during the official meetings. In fact , this is also the reason why certain terms such as the Comité Directeur are named like this rather than for instance’ the Executive Board’.

One of the hallmarks of AEGEE has to be the interconnections the association creates between students from all over Europe during exchanges. Even in 1987, before the first Summer University Project was even launched, some of the first founders of AEGEE successfully lobbied with the then French president François Mitterrand and persuaded him to fund the then newly created Erasmus programme by the European Commission. Students from over 4000 institutions of higher education in 33 European countries still make use of this programme annually in order to study at least three months abroad, make new friends and learn to appreciate different European cultures.

That is not to say that founding an organisation comes without its problems. Within the first three years of its foundation, the organisation found itself into an existential crisis, preceded by some judicial trouble. Less than a year before Franck Biancheri came up with EGEE as the name for his new organisation, another association of the same name was founded by French elderly volunteers. The issue never came to a lawsuit, however,  because, after receiving a notification, the organisation quickly changed its name to become the ‘AEGEE’ we are all familiar with nowadays.

In the past, founders have come and founders have gone; Contacts have eventually become Antennas, while others have gone completely; 2015 will be a year of celebration, but in a certain way it remains remarkable that the raising of more than 200 glasses in 2015 could not have happened without the original raising of only six thirty years into the past.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen