Reply to Broad shoulders bear the heaviest load – while we have them.

As Pro-Rector, I participate in many meetings every day – but one that I most look forward to is the biannual meeting with the student volunteers in Dialogue Forum. This is where I can feel the energy, community and commitment that the students bring to volunteering. It is inspiring, and it reassures me that SDU is not just a place where you go to study – it is also a place where you develop.

And for this reason it is very important to me that we continuously work to strengthen the framework for engaging in voluntary activities. And I agree with the message in your column that we must have a central focus on how we best support ‘the broad shoulders’ and local organisers – and at the same time ensure that new resources have the desire and opportunity to take over.

At the upcoming Annual University Celebration, we will pay tribute to precisely these dedicated individuals with a new study environment award, with which we recognise the enormous effort that you students put into volunteering in student associations and the like. But as you also point out, it is a fragile balance when so much depends on so few people. This is a challenge that we as a university must take seriously.

This year, I had the great pleasure and honour of giving the welcome address at this year’s Semester Start Party at SDU, which is a powerful and inspiring example of what student commitment and hard work can make happen. It was a celebration that created life, energy and community for more than 8,000 fellow students and which clearly shows how important voluntary engagement is for student life.

With the launch of the Student Activity Support Pool, we have given financial support to the University’s associations, who can use it to launch new initiatives that strengthen student life at SDU. But as you also highlight in your column, financial assistance cannot stand alone. There is also a need for us as a university to take responsibility for creating the best framework to reinforce the supporting shoulders.

We know we can do better, and we listen carefully to the specific needs and suggestions that come from those of you who are in the middle of it all. At the upcoming meeting of Dialogue Forum, we will discuss how the University can best support the driving forces behind the associations and how we can create a sustainable culture for association life at SDU in which even more people want to get involved.

Thank you for speaking out – and for your great contribution.

Helle Waagepetersen, Pro-Rector

On behalf of the Rectorate