Associate Professor Susanne Täuber may be dismissed by the University of Groningen. She told this on Wednesday during a demonstration in front of the Academy Building, which was attended by hundreds of students and employees.
The protest during International Women’s Day was aimed, among other things, against sexually transgressive behavior and social insecurity at the university. The demonstrators – students, staff and lecturers – believe that the RUG is failing to tackle abuses. And precisely during this demonstration, Täuber, an expert on social insecurity, was told that she was fired.
Support for dismissed teacher with #AmINext?
According to Täuber, who works at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, a critical publication from 2019 about women’s opportunities at universities, including the RUG, is the basis for the dismissal. During the court case, which took place a few weeks ago, the university announced that there had been troubled relations long before the publication in question. The judge’s verdict was announced on Wednesday.
She was given the floor during the demonstration. “One of the most sinister ideas in academic institutions is that if they make the reporter of a problem disappear, the problem will disappear. Instead of actually making the institution safer, more equal and more inclusive, people who feel unsafe, treated unequally or excluded are portrayed as hysterical troublemakers, as people who have no sense of humor or who do not understand Dutch culture.’
‘During maternity leave I was still giving lectures’
She received support and acclaim from many students and colleagues who protested – including on Twitter – with ‘ #AmINext?’ A former teacher at the Campus Fryslân in Leeuwarden, who wishes to remain anonymous, says she was fired after she became pregnant with her daughter two years ago. ,,I was given the same amount of teaching duties as male colleagues over a period of twelve months, while I was on leave for four months during that period. I still gave lectures during my maternity leave and the first day after my maternity leave I was immediately in front of the students and had to prepare for this during the leave. Due to relatively more teaching duties, I was unable to develop further in career areas that are necessary for a PhD.”
International Relations student Kick van der Lei (22) supported the protest. “If I have daughters later, I am sure that they will also have to deal with this. I want to prevent that.”
Chinese student Alice also got the floor. She unsuccessfully reported rape against a guest lecturer from the university. There is now a libel case against Alice in her home country, started by that teacher. With far-reaching consequences. She is forced to give up her studies.’
Alice: RUG more interested in image protection
,,Even though I was still recovering in the hospital after this trauma, the faculty stopped my studies”, she said in English. “It was something I never expected them to do, but they did. The Faculty of Law brought in this offender because of its cooperation with Fudan University and Jiangsu Normal University. Volunteers once called for the termination of cooperation with both institutions, but so far the faculty has not taken any steps to end this cooperation. I didn’t even get an apology from the faculty. (…) It seems that the university is more interested in protecting their image than in its students.”
One of the demonstrators’ demands is that the RUG must acknowledge that Alice has failed. Other requirements are clear sexual harassment protocols and training people to enforce them. Provide psychosocial, interpreting and legal assistance to people who are victims of sexual harassment, and include in all employment contracts that victims of sexual harassment within the institution are entitled to extended leave to recover.
RUG announces major campaign against social insecurity
A spokesperson for the RUG has announced that a large-scale campaign will be launched next month to learn how to recognize and prevent undesirable behaviour. “And you can deal with that too. We have also taken all kinds of actions in the past to ensure a safe climate. We also do this based on the knowledge that unfortunately you can never do enough to eradicate undesirable behaviour.”