ABSTRACT
The Flemish Movement had, since the nineteenth century, aimed to put Dutch-speakers and French-speakers on an equal footing. From the last quarter of the nineteenth century onwards, Flemish students in Leuven believed that it was their mission to support this idea, as a collective. In the academic year 1966–1967 some student leaders tried to elaborate a new ideological blueprint and set up an alternative organisational model for student activism. Inspired by the Dutch provo movement, they introduced a new anti-bourgeois attitude, questioning the authorities and revealing their hypocrisy. For the Flemish student community in Leuven, the January revolt meant a new start. Supported by the self-assured attitude that they were called to build up a new society as "the times were changing", they believed that traditional truths were no longer valid and that new values, based upon freedom, democracy, and authenticity should provide the leading principles of the community.
