Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger wants to have her State Secretary Sabine Döring temporarily retired. She has asked Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to do this, the FDP politician announced on Sunday evening through her ministry. Döring’s actions have contributed to an impression that is likely to “permanently damage the trust of scientists in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research”.
The background is an open letter from university professors who supported pro-Palestinian protests at universities in May. Döring then ordered an examination of possible consequences within the Research Ministry. According to Stark-Watzinger, the “impression was created that the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) was considering examining the consequences under funding law on the basis of an open letter covered by freedom of expression.” However, this contradicts “the principles of academic freedom,” the minister stressed on Sunday evening.
“Academic freedom is a very valuable asset and is rightly protected under constitutional law,” explained Stark-Watzinger. Universities had strongly criticized the ministry’s actions, with reference to academic freedom.
Stark-Watzinger had publicly criticized the scientists’ letter at the time. The ARD magazine “Panorama” recently reported, citing internal emails, that the Ministry of Education had been asked to conduct an internal review to determine whether funding could be cut as a result of the letter. This had sparked criticism.
“I have arranged for the matter to be investigated thoroughly and transparently,” explained Stark-Watzinger. “It is clear that an examination of potential consequences under funding law was indeed requested from the relevant specialist departments.” State Secretary Döring, who is responsible for the university department, ordered the investigation.
“It also stated that it had apparently expressed itself in a misleading way when ordering the legal review. Nevertheless, the impression was created that the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) was considering examining the consequences of funding on the basis of an open letter covered by freedom of expression.”
This contradicts the principles of academic freedom. “There are no reviews of the consequences of funding law for statements covered by freedom of expression,” emphasized Stark-Watzinger.
In a “Statement by Teachers at Berlin Universities,” more than 100 lecturers from several Berlin universities criticized the clearing of a protest camp of pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the Free University of Berlin in May.
Stark-Watzinger had reacted with horror to the letter of support at the time. “It still amazes me to this day how one-sidedly the letter ignored the terror of Hamas,” she explained. “And how it made a blanket demand not to prosecute crimes at universities, while at the same time anti-Semitic incitement and violent attacks against Jewish citizens are being observed.”