The split .281962.E2.80.931970.29 Catholic University of Leuven (1835–1968)

from beginning in 1834, catholic university of louvain provided lectures in french. latin used in theology faculty, french-language institution. lectures in dutch, other official language of belgium , language spoken in leuven, began provided in 1930.

in 1962, in line constitutional reforms governing official language use, french , dutch sections of university became autonomous within common governing structure. flemish nationalists continued demand division of university, , dutch speakers expressed resentment @ privileges given french-speaking academic staff , perceived disdain local french-speaking community dutch-speaking neighbours. @ time, brussels , leuven both part of officially bilingual , defunct province of brabant; unlike brussels, leuven had retained dutch-speaking character. tensions rose when french-speaking social geographer suggested in televised lecture city of leuven should incorporated enlarged bilingual greater-brussels region. mainstream flemish politicians , students began demonstrating under slogan leuven vlaams - walen buiten ( leuven [is] flemish - walloons out ). student demonstrations escalated violence throughout mid-60s. student unrest fueled history of discrimination against flemings brought down belgian government in february 1968.

the dispute resolved in june 1968 turning dutch-language section of university independent katholieke universiteit leuven, remained in leuven. french-speaking university, called université catholique de louvain, moved greenfield campus called louvain-la-neuve ( new leuven ), farther south in french-speaking part of province of brabant. acrimony split long-lasting. nowadays, however, research collaborations , student exchanges between 2 sister universities take place increasing frequency.