There is always something going on in TU Delft’s Aula. Around 3,000 meetings take place every year in its more than 20 rooms, including the large auditorium with over a thousand seats. From major scientific conferences to lectures and business meetings. “Managing it all is a fantastic challenge. We have to make sure that staff, students and visitors can use all the facilities and that the events are of the highest possible quality,” says Lennart van Popta. He’s in charge of the 14 permanent and 13 on-call staff who work behind the scenes to make this happen.

Four-leaf clover

One of these permanent staff members is Victor Dekker. As a host, he is there to welcome people at an important and exciting moment in their careers: doctoral candidates preparing to defend their theses. He greets them, hands them a four-leaf clover to wish them success on behalf of the Aula team, and escorts them to the right room, where he hands them over to the beadle who makes sure the academic protocol is adhered to during the ceremony. Victor stays in touch with the technicians by walkie-talkie, and also receives the other guests. “It's a lot of fun, and I get to meet a lot of people from different countries”, he says.

With his big smile and outgoing manner, Victor is a natural at putting people at ease. But it hasn't always come naturally. “These people are here to do something you probably only do once in a lifetime. That's when you don't want to make mistakes, so I felt the pressure to get it right,” he says. When Victor is under pressure, he tends to stammer sometimes, although this happens less and less these days. “At first, I found it difficult to approach people. Not everyone takes the time to listen to you properly and sometimes they would just walk on. I found that difficult. But the longer I’ve been doing this job, the more skilful I’ve become.”

When he’s not working in the Aula, Victor can often be found at the gym. He lives on his own and has had a new girlfriend for a couple of months now. Life’s good, but he has had to overcome a lot to get this far. Victor became seriously ill as a baby and the heavy medication he was given, caused him to become developmentally delayed. Not one to sit still, however, Victor has worked as a kitchen helper and caretaker, among others. And after completion of a catering assistant course at Parc Spelderholt in 2018, he was able to get a job at TU Delft under the Dutch Participation Act.

The Act aims to get more people with an occupational impairment into work (see box below). For Victor, this means he gets extra support in the form of a buddy. The buddy is his colleague Anita Kortland. Anita has been working in the Aula for six years, mostly behind the counter in the shop with TU Delft merchandise. What does being a buddy involve? “Mainly listening and giving advice if there is anything,” Anita explains. Every Friday morning, Anita and Victor set aside a regular time to catch up with each other. “Our talks can be about work or colleagues, but also be about personal matters. Victor is very good at indicating when something's bothering him, so it goes quite naturally.”

Enthusiastic colleague

Lennart feels that Victor is an asset to the team. “He is a very nice and enthusiastic colleague,” he says. As a manager, he also believes it is important to be able to contribute to the participation programme. “Offering people a safe space to thrive gives them a positive role in society. This is also in line with our mission as a university: impact for a better society.”

Victor has certainly come a long way in recent years. Going up to people is no longer a problem. “The other day he went after someone who had not yet gone on the ‘throne’ for a photo after the ceremony,” says Anita. After taking a course, Victor now also addresses the many international guests in English. “It helps that I can often use the same phrases and words,” he says. All in all, he is having a great time at the Aula.:“My work is going very well and I really get on with my colleagues.” In this respect, he has also developed. “Of course you want to fit in,” he says, but things like conversations about politics or current affairs sometimes pass him by. “At first, I struggled with that, but now I am more accepting that it is the way it is.”