Takeover of Vanha

The takeover of Vanha (Finnish: Vanhan valtaus) was an uprising by a number of students on November 25, 1968, at the Old Student House (Vanha) of the University of Helsinki in Finland. It occurred on the night of the 100th birthday of the university's student union. The rioters took over Vanha during the celebrations, demanding changes to the university's administration and the curriculum.

The group entered by breaking in through a French window at 17:13^[1] local time. The event immediately made nationwide headlines. The action was seen as inspired by the May 1968 unrest in France, as well as other political movements around Europe during the same year, including the Prague Spring. In 2008, Laura Kolbe, a professor of European history at the University of Helsinki and also a member of the centrist Centre Party, described the protest as "the ripples of the European student movement in Finland".^[2]