University of Geneva in the headlines – Cakes are flying in Geneva and there is no successor – News
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The Geneva government and the university disagree about the future management. Freedom of speech and opinion are also of concern. What’s the atmosphere like there?
It’s exam time right now, so it’s relatively quiet at the University of Geneva. The students present have something else on their minds than the question of who will soon lead this institution. Not so the French-speaking Swiss media. “The University of Geneva is falling into crisis,” headlined “Le Temps” after the Geneva government council had rejected 62-year-old Eric Bauce from Canada as the next university director.
The reason: the man is too old, has no network here and does not speak German. The acting director, Yves Flückiger, finds the arguments comprehensible. In addition, there is the fact that the local university landscape has great challenges to overcome because Switzerland no longer has any particular access to the EU research program Horizon.
Attempted pie throw at SVP National Councilor
The search for a successor is also back on square one. But there is a second topic that has brought negative headlines to the university: shortly before Christmas, masked people stormed an event at the University of Geneva. Their intention: to throw a cake in the face of Geneva’s SVP National Councilor Céline Amaudruz.
An attack that caused a lack of understanding among most of the students addressed. “How did we get here?” asks a young woman. But there are also sympathizers. A student says that Amaudruz is not exactly squeamish when it comes to conveying her positions.
Can you speak your mind at the University of Geneva?
The Geneva SVP national councilor has filed a complaint against unknown persons. A young law student followed the event in the live stream and shows understanding: Amaudruz was shocked when the hooded stormed into the hall.
As a liberal thinker, he no longer always dares to express his opinion freely, says the young man. He weighs carefully with whom he speaks openly. For him, this is a direct result of the Woke movement, which fights against racism, sexism and social inequality.
Red lines crossed: Uni reports
The University of Geneva must find a way of dealing with this phenomenon. Because last spring, two events in quick succession were disrupted so massively that they had to be cancelled.
Director Flückiger and his team have therefore drawn up red lines: the university does not accept violence, demands respect for others and respect for freedom of expression. The university believes that these lines have been exceeded and has also filed a complaint against persons unknown.
Negative headlines with a positive effect?
Yves Flückiger is convinced that the best remedy against such incidents is education. He advises his successor, who has yet to be appointed, to ensure that everything can be discussed in a civilized manner.
After the great media attention that the University of Geneva has involuntarily enjoyed in recent weeks, Yves Flückiger is confident that a suitable successor will be found. The Geneva Minister of Education has expressly appealed to women to apply. It would be the first female director in the more than 400-year history of the University of Geneva.