Groninger Studentencorps Vindicat atque Polit

The Groninger Studenten Corps Vindicat atque Polit (Latin for Uphold and Refine (lit. (The sword) avenges and (the file) scrapes)) is the second oldest Dutch student association and was founded on February 4, 1815, as a reaction to attacks on students from local citizens. The first rector of the senate was B.J. Winter. With nearly 2500 members Vindicat is the second largest student organization in Groningen, a city in the north of The Netherlands. Vindicat's society building has a prominent place at the central square of Groningen and is called Mutua Fides (Mutual Trust or Confidence). Its current building is relatively new and was completed in 2014 as part of a large redevelopment in the city centre. The old building was demolished in the same year. In 2005, a copy of the old Mutua Fides has been built in the miniature city Madurodam. Notable (former) members include princess Christina of the Netherlands, prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven, prince Bernhard of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven, and Wim Duisenberg. Controversy Vindicat has been involved in numerous incidents which have reached national news broadcasts. Most notably, in 1997 a hazing incident caused the death of 18-year-old Reinout Pfeiffer. The organisation had been warned to take measures, but in 2001, 2005 and 2016 hazing rituals caused further injuries, in addition to incidents of sexism in 2016 and 2017. It was also discovered Vindicat forced members to sign contracts that banned them from talking to the media. This led to new rules and guidelines with respect to hazing-related alcohol usage and reporting of incidents.