Non-Discrimination & Anti-Racism

  Statement against discimination Copyright: © Christine Steffens

In the current debate about racism in our society and beyond, the RWTH has officially positioned itself with a statement - adopted by the Rectorate, the Senate and the group representatives:

 

We firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind. As laid out in our Institutional Strategy, we are committed to academic freedom and scientific excellence, which is based on competence, relevance, diversity, the desire to succeed, dedication, integrity, transparency, and equal opportunities.

 
 

At RWTH Aachen University, we teach, learn, research, and work together in a responsible way. The Integrative Interdisciplinary University of Technology that we know today would be inconceivable without this spirit of cooperation that rejects prejudice, exclusion, and discrimination.

Our University takes pride in being an open, forward-looking community that embraces and promotes diversity. To achieve excellence in teaching and research, international and intercultural collaboration is indispensable.

At RWTH, we consistently implement equal opportunities policies and actions and provide protection against discrimination. In order to promote equal opportunities at the University, RWTH has signed the Diversity Charter, concluded an Inclusion Agreement, and formulated its Internationalization Strategy. The University has published Guidelines for Protection against Discrimination as well as Common Guidelines on Equal Opportunities, developed in collaboration with the University of Cologne, Cologne University of Applied Sciences, the German Aerospace Center DLR, and Forschungszentrum Jülich. RWTH has been repeatedly presented with the TOTAL E-QUALITY award, which recognizes institutions that implement gender equality in policies and structures at all organizational levels.

We are aware that RWTH Aachen University is not fully free of biased patterns of interpretation and everyday racism. RWTH is actively committed to a spirit of cooperation that is characterized by mutual appreciation and respect. We aim to give our staff the opportunity to develop their potential to the fullest. We defend the basic values of our liberal democratic society. These values provide the basis for academic freedom, which is essential to fulfilling our mission in teaching and research as well as to the advancement of scientific discourse. We take a determined stand against all forms of discrimination and exclusion.

 

The IGaD sees its task in keeping the critical discourse on racism and discrimination in the university context alive and in continuing the sensitization for the values of the university. In addition to its long-standing cooperation with the university's Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination Round Table, which was convened by the Equal Opportunities Office in 2010, it organized the online event "Hate Speech im Hochschulalltag - Über den Umgang mit aggressiven Reaktionen" ("Hate Speech in everyday university life - how to deal with aggressive reactions") in October 2020 with the author, journalist and blogger Ingrid Brodnig. Further events will follow in 2021. You can find current information about this on the website of the IGaD event series "University in Change - Perspectives on Gender and Diversity".

 

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