the new identity: Enterprising with two cores
At the opening of the 1991—1992 academic year Professor dr. ir. J.H.A. (Jos) de Smit [82], Harry van den Kronenberg’s successor as rector, launched a new slogan for the university: Technology for society. In De Smit’s view, this slogan would clearly render the notion of a two-core university, doing justice to both. Here De Smit harked back to a strategic plan drafted in 1987, which emphasised the interrelated nature of the two cores. University of Twente was strong in a number of areas that belonged either to the technical or the social sciences core, but the rector’s view was that they were not very well integrated. The slogan technology for society would help bridge the gap. The integration of the two cores was also explicitly stated when new programmes were being set up, such as Civil Technology & Management, Business Information Technology and Applied Communications Science. It was only programmes like these, it was thought, which would help maintain student numbers above the 6,000 target figure. True, De Smit had stated that this figure was “rather arbitrary”, but nevertheless, “the university would lose its critical mass, thus imperilling its very existence, were numbers to drop very much below this figure.” Despite choosing the slogan technology for society, the university was still mainly known as the enterprising university, which was certainly not a misnomer as it increasingly began to display the characteristics of a commercial institution – certainly when compared to previous years. In 1988, for example, Twente for the first time earned an income from investing its financial reserves. Naturally, the university’s accountant emphasised in 1991, this did not in any way involve such a thing as making a profit. In the early 1990s, in fact, it was far from common for government institutions like universities to make a profit (or suffer a loss): either they had a surplus or a deficit, but there could be no question of a profit or a loss.
[81] T he two cores – people and technology – symbolised in 1991 by artist Nico Schulte, who had the technologist Richard Rasker portray Da Vinci’s human figure [82] Rector magnificus prof. dr. J.H.A. (Jos) de Smit
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