When the present is harsh, we dream of better days while listening A Change Is Gonna Come. Written by American soul singer Sam Cooke shortly before his assassination in 1964 in a racially segregated America, the song became an anthem of the civil rights struggle. On June 21, it resonated in the Concertgebouw in Bruges. The Belgian international center for music and performing arts hosted the closing ceremony of the academic year at the College of Europe. This “European ENA” has been training future executives for the European Union (EU) since 1949.
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In 2024, the end-of-term festivities, which took place a few days after European elections marked by the rise of the far right, had a special flavour.
Anton Sauder, 25, German, and Zelda Rosental, Franco-Italian, 23, both students at the College of Europe, perform Sam Cooke’s piece as a tribute to the fight against discrimination and exclusion.. “We are in a unique position to change things, to work for a Europe of solidarity, not a fortress entrenched in hatred”explains Anton Sauder on stage. The young man represents the students of the outgoing class. A generation that is preparing to join the civil service in a historically difficult period, marked by Russia’s war against Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and the rise of populism.
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“Every generation feels the call of history. Every generation faces challenges that define it. But when you take a quick look at the world around you, it’s fair to say that more is asked of your generation than of many generations before it.”, stressed the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, invited to the closing ceremony. The institution has a tradition of inviting statesmen to share their vision of Europe.
Dialogues polyglottes
Located in the geographical heart of the Old Continent, the College of Europe lives to the rhythm of European news. On the evenings of Eurovision, the European Football Championship or elections, the cobbled streets of the historic centre of Bruges, usually animated by the dialogues in several languages of the young people of the College, are silent. The 339 students are gathered in the student residences, in front of the television.
The dissolution of the National Assembly in France, following the European elections of June 9, has been widely commented on. “We are following the crisis at Les Républicains as if it were a soap opera, we are being teased by other nationalities. We are wondering about the evolution of the French position within the EU: will France block common initiatives? Will the EU be weakened in its support for Ukraine?”says Aurélien Boronat, 23, a master’s student in European legal studies at the College of Europe.
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