The Diverse University

After years of restraint, universities around the world have once again become prominent platforms for socio-political discourse. Have they turned into breeding grounds for extremism along the way? Or is it not precisely in this new role that they can act as guarantors of the common good—as open spaces where opinions have to assert themselves in the context of academic research and teaching?

The requirements placed on public universities in our democratic polity have shifted in recent years. Not only do they have to hold their own in the highly competitive world of cutting-edge global research, but they also have to prepare a highly diverse student body for the challenges ahead in the coming decades, using digital tools. They are expected to contribute to the growth of local startup ecosystems through strategic knowledge transfer, thus helping to ensure long-term prosperity and quality of life. And finally, against the backdrop of current political developments, they must address questions concerning freedom of speech and expression on campus. All of this while university budgets remain stagnant, whether they are funded almost exclusively by taxpayer money, as in Germany, or face thoroughly justified protests against exorbitant tuition fees, as in many other countries. The author—who has served as university president for many years—addresses these developments and offers tangible proposals for the evolution of the public university as an institution.