U.P.S.V. “Unitas Pharmaceuticorum”
“Men deelt ons uit Utrecht mede, dat aldaar door de studeerende pharmaceuten (civiele) eene Vereniging is opgericht onder den naam: Unitas Pharmaceuticorum met als praeses Dhr. A.N.J. Vos en secretaris Dhr. W.J. Schutte.”
Which roughly translates into: “Utrecht informs us, that the studying pharmacists have established an Association under the name of Unitas Pharmaceuticorum whose president and secretary are respectively Mr. A.N.J. Vos and Mr W.J. Schutte.
This was the introduction of the first Unitas Pharmaceuticorum, which was founded on the 4th of February 1875. The events, which expanded, were mainly scientific.
On the 11th of November 1887 the first Unitas Pharmaceuticorum was disestablished without obvious reasoning. Possibly, the disestablishment occurred by the rising discord between the Corps members and non-Corps members.
Related Associations in Utrecht
On the 6th of December 1887 the members of the Corps established the Utrecht Pharmaceutical corps Society “Dr. C.W. Scheele”. Only Corps members were allowed to join their ranks. After several failed approaches of non-Corps members to join the Corps, the student association “Libertas” was founded on the 7th of November 1889. The association was to rival the Corps.
Re-establishment of U.P.
At the fraternity house JJESA of Libertas (the universal student association for non-Corps members) on the Keistraat (Utrecht) there was a meeting of eight Pharmacy students. During this meeting the principles for a student association for pharmacy students were established. On the 16th of November 1894 a second meeting was conducted, wherein the approaching and joining of “Dr. C.W. Scheele” was rejected and was taken the name “Unitas Pharmaceuticorum”. During this meeting the minutes of establishment were drawn up and were signed by 22 students. “Unitas Pharmaceuticorum” was established.
At first there wasn’t much deviation in the events of “Unitas Pharmaceuticorum” with the events of the first U.P. On February the 8th 1895 the provisional board drew up the regulations of “Unitas Pharmaceuticorum”. In which the enhancement of the study Pharmaceutical Sciences was profound. Enhancement meant that one had to undertake scientific events, so scientific lectures and especially subject-related lectures were given. The members were obliged to present once a year, for which the board would gave exemption, only if you had a valid reason.
During the 30s U.P. began to organise more and more non-scientific events, like Bridge drives, tennis tournaments, Saint Nicolas celebrations, et cetera.
Women and U.P.
U.P. has always been a very open-minded association. Already from 1899 women were permitted to become a member of the association. Only the first woman would become a member on October the 30th 1900. The first female president was Ms. Kooiman in 1918.
Several venues of Pharmacy and U.P.
Over the years there were several relocations. In 1876 a law passed, which required every University to appoint a professor of Pharmacy. In Utrecht dr. Hendrik Wefers-Bettink was the appointed professor. Pharmacy class was then lectured at the Minrebroederstraat, but the students outgrew this venue and they had to relocate to the new laboratory at the Rijnkade on the Mariaplaats in 1884. The students were taught in this venue, when the second U.P. was established. In 1915 they had outgrown the laboratory at the Rijnkade and the Pharmceutical Laboratory on the Catharijnesingel became the new venue. For decades Pharmacy was taught at the Catharijnesingel, where the U.P.room was placed in the cellar. The room became quickly known as U.P.-hol. In 1992 the relocation to the Uithof took place. Pharmacy was relocated to the F.A.F.C. Went building (Went). U.P. was located at the 7th floor of the Went in a room without windows, so the naturalised name stayed. The U.P.-hol was relocated again to a bigger room with windows in 2003, but the name U.P.-hol had become characteristic.
In the Went building there was another movement, inside the U.P.-hol. The front chamber was the board’s office and the back chamber was the members room, these switched in 2004-2005.
In April 2011 the U.P.-hol relocated to room 0.37 in the David de Wied building (DdW). The name U.P.-hol remained to persist. During this relocation the stained-glass windows, which hang just outside the U.P.-hol in Went, were also relocated to DdW and were put on storage there. Also, the centenary block was moved to DdW, which is still displayed at the entrance of the building.
In 2016 U.P. had to move again. There weren’t enough workspaces for the new pharmaceutical research groups in DdW, U.P. had to move quicker than was expected. In January of 2016 the U.P.-hol relocated to the Buys Ballotbuilding (BBG) room 2.83, which is close to the new Victor J. Koningsbergergebouw (KBG). The KBG was opened in September of 2015 as a building for all Bèta studies, which ofcourse includes Pharmacy. The new U.P.-hol is almost twice as large as the former U.P.-hol at DDW and the U.P.-logo is painted on the wall. The painted-glass windows and the centenary block can still be found in DdW, which still houses the Departement of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
The beautiful door of the Pharmaceutical Laboratory on the Catahrijnesingel is kept as a memento for the education, which was conducted there. It is placed in the gardens of the University Museum. The door can be found in the garden of Regius, in this garden you can also find plants which were known as “cruyden als tot oefeninge van de pracktijck in de medicijnen allermeest nodig worden bevonden”( roughly translated to: The herbs, which are considered of utmost importance in the practical use of medicine.). The plants are not in order of species, but are ordered to which illness they are effective, fever, dental ache, liver herbs, et cetera. The garden of Regius is named after the botanist Prof. Henricus Regius.
U.P.-anthem
During the years of eduction at the Catharijnesingel the 8th lustrum of U.P. took place in 1934. During this lustrum a contest for composing an anthem was held. The winning song was composed by Dr. J.H. Ligterink. The melody of the anthem became forgotten throughout the years. During the 17thlustrum in 1979 the original composer was visited and the anthem was restored.
The U.P. -anthem was awarded the best student anthem.
In 1998 2 extra verses were added to the U.P. anthem. These verses were composed by the honorary members, Prof. D.J.A. Crommelin, Prof. L.H.M. Janssen and Mr. J.J. Hantelmann.
In 2015 the older verses were switched with the newer verses. We now sing the verses from 1998 first. The full anthem is only sung at special occasions.
Almanac
The first almanac was made in 1986 by the eponymous committee. Every year since has a beautiful edition.
U.P.-anthem
Wij zijn de dragers van de farmacie,
De keur der Utrechtse studenten.
Wij leven steeds in goede harmonie
En zijn zo nimmer malcontenten.
Des morgens koffie ’s middags thee
En werk al schijnt de zon ook buiten.
Wij zijn de dragers van de farmacie
En opgewekte farmaceuten.
Eens stichten wij een grote apotheek,
En doen in drop en medicijnen.
Of onderzoeken kindermeel of cake,
Dat is ons vak in grote lijnen.
Toch is dat vak ons mooi genoeg,
Laat anderen vrijelijk dus smalen.
Wij slaan de handen dapper aan de ploeg,
En willen naar niets anders talen.
Wij zijn de studenten van de farmacie,
De top van d’Utrechtse studenten.
Wij leren dapper farmacologie,
En adviseren straks patiënten.
Van chemie tot biofarmacie,
Steeds zoeken wij naar nieuwe medicijnen.
Wij streven naar de beste therapie,
Die ziekten sneller doen verdwijnen.
Wij volgen nu al onderwijs op maat,
En blijven levenslang studeren.
Wij werken hard tot ’s avonds laat,
Straks zullen wij goed functioneren.
Toch is studeren echt veel meer,
Dan examens doen en goed presteren.
U.P. biedt de juiste atmosfeer,
Om hersenwerk te compenseren.