The GAP issues a statement regarding the BILD campaign targeting academics who have spoken out against police deployments on campuses, and concerning statements by Science Minister Stark-Watzinger.
The BILD newspaper has defamed lecturers who, in an open letter, spoke out against police deployments on campus and for dialogue with protesting students, pillorying them as “UniversiTÄTER” (university perpetrators) with photos and names. Science Minister Stark-Watzinger (X account) questioned, in a statement to BILD, whether the signatories of the letter “stand on the ground of the Basic Law”.
Both the protests themselves and the open letter have been criticized, sometimes justifiably, and intensely discussed in the media and in politics.
However, the GAP Board considers the role and statements of the Science Minister in this context to be problematic. We strongly oppose the repulsive and demagogic media campaign by the BILD newspaper.
The GAP Board