Introducing: LOKO International

Anytime during the year this might happen to you: you're walking along the Naamsestraat and spot a puzzled person with a map and maybe some print-out directions. He or she politely tries to draw your attention and finally manages to utter a shy "excuse me..." followed by: "maybe you could help me? I'm looking for the university...". You smile knowingly and say "Look around you, you're walking through it right now". It’s the first thing you learn: here in Leuven, the university is everywhere you look.

But introductions are in order! You are one of the hundreds of international students who've just arrived in the wonderful town of Leuven (although, depending on where you're from, you may think of it as a village, or a city). You've arrived by train with the most important bits of luggage, you've bought a map and bravely fought your way through university and city administration to become a full-fledged foreign student at one of the oldest universities of Europe. If you have gotten a sense of Belgian bureaucracy, you'll have realised that this is no mean feat. And now you are a student here and part of a community you have yet to explore.

We are LOKO, the student body council of Leuven. Students of Leuven are represented in our council through the student faculty associations. This student body council contains about 70 representatives from all the faculties. They meet every two weeks and discuss events and issues concerning the university as well as social issues of students. What does this council do? Well, we have a beautiful thing here called "the participation decree", which means that Students are involved in running and guiding university policy. Students get to participate in quality monitoring of education, in the direction of the Alma restaurants, they even get a voice in who the new Rector of our university should be.

What does this have to do with YOU? Maybe you're only here for a semester to savour a different culture and immerse yourself in a party-like lifestyle before it's time to start your thesis or study for your exams. Maybe you're a doctoral student and your stay in Leuven will be the crown on your intellectual achievements. The reasons why people come to Leuven is so diverse, but there's one thing that's shure! You are learning in Leuven, people have to have their rights defended and so do YOU. We are YOUR voice at the university. Do you have difficulties in meeting other people? Was it hard to find housing in Leuven? Do you have trouble with your landlord? How does examination works in Leuven? For all those questions, you have come to the right address.
WE ARE HERE FOR YOU!

LOKO for foreign students

Currently, about ten percent of the students are international students. Ten percent is a lot! It occured to LOKO a long time ago that this group of students also needed representation, also needed a voice. And so LOKO created a department called Portulaca, which has now been renamed to LOKO International, because international students are part of our community as much as the rest of us are.

LOKO also has other departments, one dealing with SPORTS, one with CULTURE, and two newspapers, the flemish 'Veto' and the English 'The Voice'. You'll meet these groups when you go down to our sports center, visit the culture center 'T Stuk, or pick up a newspaper in any faculty in town.

What does LOKO International? We are member of university meetings about foreign policy and internationalisation of the KULeuven and the association. We try to monitor the quality of the international programs. We are present as much as possible and try to fight any misconception of international students as 'cash cows' or 'inconveniencies'. We call attention to diversity and respect for differences in cultures, and stress the importance of an open, tolerant and diverse university. We think that creating such a place takes a lot work and dedication, and that the university should never abandon this task under motives of 'efficiency', 'normalising', or 'standardisation'.

LOKO also serves as an intermediary or problem-solving service for students. When you have any problems during your stay here in Leuven: problems with the university, the city, your landlord or anything else, don't hesitate to contact LOKO International! We can intermediate on your behalve, cause we're here for you!

So we do whatever we can. We are lucky enough to have a number of wonderful International Student Associations here, run by very dedicated people. So if you're lucky, you'll find yourself welcomed by a whole group of people from your own country, and your first weeks in Leuven will be far more familiar than you'd have expected. Feel free to get in touch with them at any time. And if you don't have an association of your own country, why not consider creating one and making others feel welcome! Ask us for more information!

If you want to discuss a problem or a proposal or just enjoy us, you can contact the International officer or International Co-ordinator at our office in Pangaea.

To receive regularly an e-mail with all the information about the activities for the international students of Leuven organized by LOKO international just send an e-mail with the words "INTERNATIONAL STUDENT" in the subject heading to international@loko.be