History

Student representation at KU Leuven has a rich tradition. In the 1960s, a variety of seperate councils emerged to deal with student representation. The Social Council, one of the best-known councils, represented students within student services as ‘co-government’. It also dealt with broader social issues, organised demonstrations and actions, and grew enormously in popularity as a result.

In addition to the Social Council as co-management, the ‘Kringraad’ was established. This council acquired a voice within the academic bodies of KU Leuven. Besides the Kringraad, numerous other councils were concerned with culture, sports and international students, among others. In May 1969 the umbrella student council ASR (General Student Council) was founded to unite all councils, without loosing their independency. In 1986, ASR dissolved and LOKO (Leuvense Overkoepelende KringOrganisatie) was established in its place. The councils continued to work independently until 2005, after which they were centralised within LOKO. 

With the emergence of the multi-campus model in 2013, student representation had to look for a new model. Thus, LOKO split up into an eponymous campus council and the university-wide  Student Council KU Leuven (Stura). Now, Stura represents all KU Leuven students at all kinds of meetings and councils.