The Student’s Column
The chicken or the egg? I believe in both!
Science has established that the egg came first. But at SDU, both have responsibility and must meet somewhere in the middle.
The purpose of universities is to provide higher education based on research. But at SDU, the students risk being left behind in the pursuit of groundbreaking research. Students have become so de-prioritised that in SDU’s most recent strategy research is mentioned three times more often. The money is in research, and we students are not actively involved enough to be prioritised any higher.
The University has long sought students who wish to get involved and to work to make SDU a better place. Unfortunately, the students often end up drowning in the University’s endless bureaucracy. Personally, I am one of the engaged students and I fight for my fellow students, but the conditions I experience are confusing and exhausting. There is a paradox between the University’s search for students who wish to get involved and the students not wishing to get involved under the current conditions. Truly the chicken and the egg.
Whether it is the University, the chicken, that needs to improve conditions for students, or whether it is the students, the egg, who must get involved and change the conditions for themselves is a question I have thought long and hard about. I think both parties need to meet somewhere in the middle and find the solution together. The problem is that it requires an egg for the chicken to meet and a chicken that is ready for change.
At the moment, there is a lack of engaged students and the University is going round in circles searching for them. We students may not, unfortunately, be able to control the University, but we can make sure that there are students who can and will present their demands to the University. We as students can protect our peers and can help secure the rights and conditions we deserve. But for that to succeed, the University needs to change its practices. The University should start with transparency in student involvement so that we students can clearly see how our input is used. In addition, it is important that the University ensures transparency in its support for student organisations so that everyone has equal access to the resources that make our involvement possible.
I love the diversity of having all faculties on one campus and the opportunity to be a part of it. That is why I volunteer and choose to take part in the bureaucratic and political work. I do it because I love the difference I can make, and honestly, I enjoy the work. I cannot change the University on my own, and to echo several previous columns written by students, I call on my fellow students: Use your voice!
If we stand together in unity, we can create real change. It is not difficult, it just requires the will to do it.
Victoria P. Jørgensen
Victoria is a 7th semester Business, Language and Culture – Business Language, German student. Chair of the Student Council, student representative in the University Council and in the General Occupational Health and Safety Committee.