Commitment to the prevention of abuse of power
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In October 2024, the Executive Board and University Senate of the Hamburg University of Music and Drama (HfMT) unanimously adopted a commitment to the prevention of abuse of power in the classroom adopted.
Background: In March 2024, a survey by a student initiative against the abuse of power became known, in which anonymized cases of abuse of power at universities of music in Germany, Austria and Switzerland were reported over a period of months. The student initiative was then invited to the Rectors' Conference of German Universities of Music (RKM) from May 6-8, 2024 in Hamburg. There, the rectors exchanged views with the initiative on necessary preventative measures and subsequently adopted a position paper on dealing with abuse of power at German conservatoires and related recommendations for action.
The HfMT attaches great importance to ensuring that students, teachers and staff treat each other with respect in order to enable everyone to participate in university life and develop their artistic and academic potential free from experiences of abuse of power or discrimination. For this reason, the management of the HfMT has intensified its internal engagement with the topic and discussed with the members of the University Senate, students and other groups the question of which structures at the HfMT could encourage abuse of power. The voluntary commitment developed from this process provides all members, and students in particular, with a written basis to which they can refer should they experience any form of abuse of power.
In addition Prof. Dr. Jan Philipp SprickPresident of the HfMT: "This voluntary commitment provides an important impetus for the necessary cultural change and also serves as a clear position for the university management. It is very important to us to continue the dialog with teaching staff and students in order to take preventative action against the abuse of power. The voluntary commitment forms a crucial basis for this."
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