Removes State Secretary, as declared by Stark-Watzinger.
College educators voice displeasure over the management of a pro-Palestinian demonstration hub in an open missive, causing the Education Minister to be taken aback. The minister is looking into potential repercussions for the letter's signatories–an alleged breach of academic autonomy. It appears a prominent official is set to step down.
Germany's Education Minister, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, plans to retire her State Secretary, Sabine Döring. This move was proposed by the FDP representative and Federal Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, according to a statement from the ministry, released at dusk. The catalyst for this action involves scrutiny over the prospective consequences for academics who signed a public letter addressing the handling of a pro-Palestinian rally at Berlin universities.
Döring had suggested her departure earlier in the day. On Y, she tweeted, "This part of my professional journey is now drawing to a sudden close. Stay tuned." Shortly afterward, she shared her earlier post and added, "I've just received a call, I must remove this tweet." Both posts have since been erased from her account, but screenshots of her messages are circulating online.
Minister left "dumbfounded"
Döring's departure seems linked to the sequence of events following the dismantling of a pro-Palestinian protest camp at the Free University in early May. Roughly five hundred educators from various Berlin universities penned an open letter defending the rights of students to peacefully protest on campus–"irrespective of whether we align with the specific demands of the protest camp." They urged the university administrations to eschew police intervention and prosecution.
The Education Minister accused the content of the letter of leaving her "dumbfounded." She emphasized that teachers should "uphold the principles of the German Constitution." Just under a month later, the NDR reported that the head of Stark-Watzinger's ministry had ordered the specialist departments to assess whether the letter's signatories could be implicated in criminal offenses related to funding and whether already disbursed funds could be revoked.
These actions would, however, encroach upon academic and free speech rights, according to critics within the federal government and the opposition. The education and research policy spokesperson for the Union faction in the Bundestag, Thomas Jarzombek, agreed with the signatories' viewpoint but highlighted that it was protected by free speech. However, linking funding to this issue rendered him speechless. "With this treatment of academic freedom, one must question whether the Minister herself is still adhering to the principles of the German Constitution," Jarzombek told “Spiegel”. The universities were also generating considerable distress due to the investigations. Calls for Stark-Watzinger's removal were rampant.
Initially, the ministry refrained from commenting on the allegations. However, Döring admitted culpability for the matter in an email to the house personnel on Friday. "I ordered a legal review of the open letter during a phone call with the responsible department head," the email stated, according to the "Spiegel", but it did not entail legal measures. She apparently "apparently expressed herself misinterpreted."
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Bettina Stark-Watzinger, the German Education Minister, is considering investigating potential repercussions for university professors who signed a letter defending the rights of students to peacefully protest, as she found the content of the letter "dumbfounding" and argued that educators should uphold the principles of the German Constitution. This situation has drawn criticism from within the federal government and the opposition, with some questioning whether Stark-Watzinger is still adhering to the principles of the German Constitution.
Following the criticism, Research facilities under the jurisdiction of the Federal Ministry of Education, led by Bettina Stark-Watzinger, have been under scrutiny for potential breaches of academic autonomy and freedom of expression, as some believe the investigations into the professors who signed the letter could infringe on these fundamental rights.
