HE leaders voice fears over far-right state poll victory

Alarmed by the victory of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in an east German state government election, major higher education organisations have made urgent pleas to uphold academic freedom, open-mindedness and other essential elements of the country’s higher education system.

The AfD came out as the clear winner of the elections in the east German state of Saxony-Anhalt, falling just short of an absolute majority at 44.5%.

Although the party, which is officially classified as far-right extremist in Saxony-Anhalt, has to reckon with difficulty in finding partners to form a coalition government, the result has roused fears in the higher education community that key values of the country’s higher education system could be in jeopardy.

Immediately after the elections, the presidents of the German Rectors’ Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz – HRK) and the State Rectors’ Conference (Landesrektorenkonferenz – LRK), Walter Rosenthal and Folker Roland, issued a joint statement calling for a reliable future state government and a clear higher education policy perspective in Saxony-Anhalt.

“Academic freedom, freedom of art and institutional autonomy must not be affected by day-to-day political squabbles,” the two presidents demand, and add that international students and researchers “have to be able to rely on their being welcome in Saxony-Anhalt and protected against discrimination in the future,” the statement noted.

The HRK already voiced fears over academic freedom and institutional autonomy in the run-up to the elections, when it became clear that the AfD would win a substantial amount of the votes.

Prompted by the party’s increasing popularity, the Centre for Higher Education (CHE), a leading think-tank in the higher education sector which is supported by the HRK and the Bertelsmann Foundation, performed what it refers to as a “scenario-based impact assessment” of AfD higher education policy, taking Saxony-Anhalt as a case study.

The results of the survey were published as “CHECK – AfD-geprägte Hochschulpolitik in Sachsen-Anhalt – Zurück zur ‘Herrlichkeit der alten deutschen Ordinarienuniversität’ (Shaping higher education policy in Saxony Halt: Back to the ‘glory of the Old German Ordinarien University’”) in May. CHE emphasises that the AfD does not pursue a uniform approach in higher education in all of its state associations.

CHE notes in its survey report that the AfD Saxony-Anhalt seeks to “take German higher education and research back to its former greatness”, indicating a clear rejection of reforms in the sixties and reinstate the “magnificence of the traditional German Ordinarien-Universität”.

In such an institution, power would be held by the chaired professors (“Ordinarien”), and non-professorial and non-academic staff as well as student councils would no longer have a say in running an institution’s affairs.

On the other hand, the CHE analysis shows that the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt also wants to see the state government have more control over universities and the contents they address.

It points out that the AfD maintains that certain arts and social science subjects – among them gender studies, postcolonial approaches, parts of sociology as well as Islamic studies and climate research – are of inferior academic value and do not treat topics in an open and unbiased manner but are shaped by “a left-liberal to extreme-left hegemony”, turning science into a “whore of politics”.

Postcolonialism is viewed as an approach which, while lacking a scientific base, is opposed to Europe’s cultural heritage and contributes to “destroying the European identity”.

The CHE analysis shows that the subject of gender studies receives a similar assessment by the AfD, which calls for terminating its funding. And the AfD would like to see areas like Islamic studies and climate research replaced by institutes engaging in “critical Islamic research” and assessing “climate policy impacts”.

The AfD in Saxony-Anhalt also seeks to do away with the bachelor and masters degree structures aligned in Europe in the course of the Bologna Reforms.

It calls for a return to traditional German degrees like the Diplom and Magister degrees, referring to the Bologna process as a whole as “madness” because, in its view, the process has led to a BA and MA “system which is organised along school lines”, more and more red tape, falling standards and a loss of academic freedom.

The Diplom (for science) and Magister (for humanities and social sciences) were degrees taken over a minimum of four or five years as the first degree but being roughly equivalent in level to today’s masters degree, whereas the Bologna system involves a two-tier system taking an undergraduate degree plus a masters degree.

According to the AfD, returning to the Diplom and Magister degrees could be performed throughout Germany and thus contribute to restoring what it views as the uniqueness of German higher education. It maintains that today, European accreditation is one of the factors restricting institutional autonomy.

CHE states that these and other issues addressed in its survey report demonstrate that the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt is seeking a fundamental change in the state’s higher education system, “even with radical restrictions of academic freedom and institutional autonomy”.

It warns that, given the threat of a different political framework, institutions ought to consider the resilience of the German higher education system.

Deep concerns about AfD victory

Joybrato Mukherjee, president of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), said DAAD is deeply concerned by the results of the state parliament elections in Saxony-Anhalt.

“In this situation, our attention focuses in particular on our member universities and student bodies as well as international undergraduates and doctoral students at [the] local level.”

Mukherjee emphasises that the universities in Saxony-Anhalt are attractive locations to work and study at for students and researchers from all over the world and that they always maintain an open-minded attitude and a lively welcome culture.

“We expect a future state government to respect the independence of these institutions and their academic freedom,” he said.

“Furthermore, in their efforts regarding worldwide academic exchange and international academic cooperation as well as attracting future specialists, the universities must be assured that they can continue to rely on the support of the state government.”

According to Mukherjee, the universities in Saxony-Anhalt are important drivers of innovation and scientific progress, and he stresses the contribution made by international undergraduates and doctoral students in this respect.

The state’s top universities include Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg and Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, according to uniRank.

Furthermore, Mukherjee notes that international graduates from the universities are indispensable when it comes to maintaining an adequate skilled labour force in several occupational areas.

“If we want to attract talented young people and see to it that they stay in Germany after graduating, we have to ensure that they feel welcome and appreciated,” Mukherjee said. “We expect the future state government of Saxony-Anhalt to support the engagement of the universities.”

Matthias Anbuhl, board chairman of the Deutsches Studierendenwerk (DSW – German National Association for Student Affairs), declares that the state of Saxony-Anhalt needs a democratic government which stands up for independent legal authorities, free media, academic freedom and the protection of minorities.

“The DSW student services centres provide for all students irrespective of their nationality, social status or political, religious or sexual identity,” Anbuhl notes.

“We are aware that many students, especially those from vulnerable groups, are very anxious at the moment. We want them to know that we are on their side.

“Education is a human right. The basic principle applies that human dignity is inviolable. We stand for equal opportunities, open-mindedness and inclusion. This continues to be our mission.”

Saxony-Anhalt is the second poorest of Germany’s 16 Federal states. It was formed through a merging of the old Weimar Republic’s Free State of Anhalt with the Prussian provinces of Halle and Merseburg in 1947.

In the state parliament elections of 1932, Alfred Freyberg of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP – National Socialist German Workers’ Party) was voted chief minister of Anhalt, becoming the first Nazi to head a German state. This was less than a year ahead of party leader Adolf Hitler seizing power in Germany.

* Michael Gardner, our correspondent in Germany, can be contacted by email: michael.gardner@uw-news.com