From 4 April 2022 to 1 May and from late June till 15 September 2022 the exhibition ‘The bedel as master of academic ceremonies’ will be on view in the museum of the main administrative building of Maastricht University at Minderbroedersberg 4. 

Bedel and bedel sceptre

The bedel (pedel in Dutch) plays a central role in public academic ceremonies at Dutch universities, such as PhD examinations, inaugural lectures, farewell addresses, the opening of the academic year and the university’s Dies Natalis. The bedel, wearing a robe and carrying a bedel sceptre, is the first to enter the auditorium to announce to the audience the arrival of the cortege, composed of the rector, who always wears the chain of office, and the procession of professors and other key players in the ceremony at hand. In all academic ceremonies, bedel and sceptre are inseparable. Of old, the sceptre is a symbol of academic autonomy. 

Different views circulate about the origin of the word ‘bedel’, but it can probably be linked to the Latin word bidellus, meaning sceptre bearer or usher. By adopting the function of the bedel and the bedel sceptre, Maastricht University (UM), as of its establishment in 1976, followed in a long tradition of academic symbolism harking back to the Middle Ages. This also implies, for instance, that professors and the bedel wear a robe or gown during formal occasions. As a newly established university, the UM opted for a red gown, a strikingly coloured one among the black gowns worn at most Dutch universities. This slightly daring colour expressed that the UM highly valued university decorum, as well as the inherent playfulness of academic rituals.  

The tasks of a bedel

It is a bedel’s main task to act as master of ceremonies during formal academic occasions. Having a feeling for style and dignity, for decorum and drama, is absolutely indispensable. The bedel must see to it that academic protocols are adhered to. To ensure that an academic ceremony will have style or flair, all participants have to know what their role is. The audience, for instance, is expected to rise from their seat when the cortege enters, thus showing their respect. And the bedel will formally announce the end of a PhD ceremony by shouting the words ‘HORA EST’, to announce that the allotted time for the examination has expired, thereby also using the sceptre to tap the floor. It is evident that in performing these acts the bedel should not stumble or accidentally let the sceptre slip from their hand.

By now, Maastricht University has employed quite a few bedels. Jean Stockbroekx worked at the provincial government and acted as the UM’s first bedel at the university’s inaugural ceremony on 9 January 1976. Soon Bèr Nypels was in the picture to hold this special office, however. That he became bedel mainly had to do, in his view, with his imposing figure and his more than impressive cheeks. By his leaving in 1997, he had overseen some 500 PhD examination ceremonies. Nypels was exceptionally proud of his Maastricht bedel sceptre, the heaviest in the Netherlands. Crafted by silversmith Dick Roymans, it was a gift from the Foundation for Higher Education Limburg (Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs Limburg) at the time of the university’s founding. 

Len Cuppens as the face of Maastricht University

While the UM grew and its international profile got stronger, Len Cuppens, bedel as of the mid 1990s, soon became regarded as the face of Maastricht University. Just like her predecessors, she learned ‘to bedel’ simply by doing it. After all, there was – and is – no formal training for bedels. The bedel’s job also became gradually more demanding and complex. If in the early part of Cuppens’ career, the university boasted some 100 PhD examinations each year, this number would grow to some 400 today, while also some 50 inaugural lectures are delivered each year. Initially, Cuppens was formally employed by the rector’s office. Later on, the UM bedels got their own Ceremonies office (Bureau Academische Zittingen), with Len Cuppens serving as its driving force. In time the UM would employ more bedels, including Willy Stijns, Jos Bien, Emilie Riemann, Sylvia Nelk, Simone Lemmerlijn, Fabienne Dingena and, most recently, Evelien in de Braek. Some of them participated only in the ceremonial part of the function, but today’s bedels will perform both administrative and ceremonial duties.

While in office, Len Cuppens worked with as many as six rectors: Job Cohen, Hans Philipsen, Arie Nieuwenhuijzen Kruseman, Gerard Mols, Luc Soete and Rianne Letschert. In those years she was involved in organizing all sorts of academic occasions, but she derived most satisfaction from providing support to the 5000 PhD candidates whose defence ceremony she oversaw. It continued to please her that she could help and comfort the usually quite nervous soon-to-be-doctors during the final stretch of their PhD trajectory. Another dear memory of Cuppens is her wonderful experience in Kenia in 2004. Together with rector Mols, several professors and staff from the Maastricht University Centre for International Cooperation in Academic Development (MUNDO), she visited Moi University in Eldoret. MUNDO collaborated with this university for several years already. At Moi University a PhD examination ceremony was held, which was presided by Mols, with Len Cuppens proudly carrying Moi University’s bedel sceptre. 

‘Bedeling’ and its challenges 

The work of bedels grew more complex as the UM kept expanding and also became more internationally oriented. The pressure on the Ceremonies office went up. A new phenomenon, for instance, was the double PhD graduation ceremony, whereby the PhD candidate receives two diplomas based on one dissertation: one diploma from the UM and one from another university abroad. This requires close collaboration between the two universities of course. For some ten years now, a so-called joint doctorate has also been an option. This means that the UM and another Dutch or foreign university confer a single diploma to a PhD candidate, signed by representatives from both institutions. In this context, too, close collaboration is needed between the universities, which usually involves quite some bureaucracy. 

Bedel days

As of 1991, bedels from all universities in the country meet each other once a year. The first ‘bedel day’ was held in Rotterdam and the second one in Maastricht, when a visit of the local culinary event, the Preuvenement, was a highlight. Ber Nypels was among the initiators of the first annual bedel days. The other universities would follow suit in organizing a bedel day in their city, whereby at one point Hasselt and KU Leuven would join in as well. 

Colophon

Exhibition organization: Annemieke Klijn - Art and Heritage Committee, Maastricht University

Photography (as far as known): Joey Roberts, Jos Nelissen, Mike Robertson, Hans van Dijk, Jules Kruijtzer en Lorraine Bodewes

With special thanks to: Len Cuppens-Walder, Parisa Kamali Sadeghian, Kei Long Cheung, Bernice Doove, Tessa Quanjel en Maria Teresa Ferreira Sequeda.