Brussels student celebration St V joins cultural heritage list

St V., the annual party held by students of Brussels’ two free universities, VUB and ULB, in honour of their founder has been recognised as intangible cultural heritage by the capital.The day, also known as Saint Verhaegen, is a celebration of Theodore Verhaegen, the Brussels lawyer and politician who created the Free University of Belgium in 1834. He had a vision of an establishment free from state and church control that was free to carry out independent research.The university soon became the Free University of Brussels, and split 50 years ago into two separate French- and Dutch-speaking institutions. The two universities marked their 185…