We want to meet as students to talk about our experiences of and feedback for Rundgang 2022, especially the violence of the hired security firm and the UdK’s organisation of the event. This will be brought to a conversation with the administration and security team. 

Please join us online for this discussion!

Dear UdK Students,

Starting October 1st 2022, the General Student Comittee (AStA) will be unable to operate as normal. The AStA is in the process of being audited by the German Pension Insurance and the External Auditors of Wage Taxes (Deutsche Rentenversicherung und Lohnsteuer Außenprüfung), who very probably will expect an immediate payment from the AStA of about a quarter to a third of our total budget. 

The reason for the payment according to the Deutsche Rentenversicherung is that for the past years, the AStA and Student Parliament (StuPa) should have been paying social contributions for their members, and have not been. The StuPa elects AStA members and outlines our tasks, budget, and duties. Together with advice from the UdK, it was decided that AStA's members were not official employees of the StuPa, but volunteers, and therefore would not pay fees as an employer. Because of this, the AStA now has to pay a lot of money in back payments.  The university itself won't give or loan us this money, and the AStA is currently legally not allowed to receive official external funding for this payment.  

This fee is a large portion of the AStA's budget, and the AStA isn't able to continue its daily work without it. The AStA is currently unable to pay out any expenses, including project funding and emergency social funding. All AStA members will not receive monthly payments for an unkown amount of time, creating personal emergencies. 

Besides that, the StuPa no longer has Chairs, and therefore is not able to operate as usual either. According to university law (Berliner Hochschulgesetz), the AStA has to keep the representatives for Communication + eigenart Magazine, Student Political Engagement, Social and Cultural Work, and Finances. There is also still a university-funded representative for Student Employees.

However, some very important AStA representatives will have to work without pay from now on, namely the representatives for Anti-Discrimination, Diversity and Social Justice, and Climate Justice and Sustainability. The AStA will not have a representative for Student Networking and Interdisciplinarity or Digital Ethics and Transformation until further notice.

That means the AStA will suffer on these tasks:

•  Working towards social justice for all students within UdK structures

•  Providing consultation and support for students with experiences of discrimination

•  Guiding the university to fight against the climate crisis

•  Advising on the much-needed digitalisation of the university and the inclusion of digital ethics in different projects

•  Fostering interdisciplinary collaborations between departments and supporting the work of the Student Councils (Fachschaftsräte / FSR(K))

We as the current AStA members find losing the support for these important tasks unacceptable and are deeply worried some of these representatives may be cut permanently. We are sorry for the negative consequences this will have for the students we are elected to serve. In any case, the AStA is still here, even in a limited form. Our responses may be slow, but please reach out in case you have any questions or needs.  If anyone is confused or would like more information, the AStA's budgets and audits are public and the AStA can provide them to you. Right now we ask more than ever that our fellow students engage in university structures such as Student Parliament, student initiatves, and the Fachschaftsräte to help support all of us.

If anyone has creative ideas or energy to help the AStA and StuPa find new ways to support ourselves we're really grateful. You can email us (kommunikation@asta-udk-berlin.de) or reach out on Instagram (@asta_udk_berlin).

Best,

Your AStA of the UdK

Hello dear fellow students,

We invite the student body of the UdK to an open feedback round at the end of our StudWV work. We have taken the criticism expressed so far very seriously, will comment or have already commented on the points raised, and would like to meet again on 18 August for a joint final round with all interested persons. We have found and written down many points that we would like to pass on to the upcoming StudWV as suggestions for improvement and handover of the work. The meeting will take place online so that as many people as possible can participate flexibly. 

All in all, we would also like to say thank you once again for the cooperation. Even though there were some hurdles, we have put together a great student parliament and we are very happy about the motivated new members.

WHAT: Final round + feedback Student election committee on StuPA election organisation and implementation.

WHEN: 18 August, 10.00 - 12.00, at this link:
https://udk-berlin.webex.com/udk-berlin/j.php?MTID=mf63a6863bd1379b721f4a9ee48a6b390

WHO: Every person who wants to participate is invited. We will publish the link on the AStA website and via media channels.

Best regards, 
Laura, Lara and Nico from StudWV

Dear Presidium of the UdK Berlin,
Dear UdK administration,
Dear building management,
Dear students of the UdK Berlin,

it is with great dismay that we have become aware of a series of incidents in which the security company contracted for Rundgang ’22 has used verbal (discriminatory, sexual, queerphobic and transphobic harassment), nonverbal, and physical violence against numerous students.

Our student body is international and diverse. Therefore, it has a special need for safe structures. Some of the security personnel were completely unqualified to work with our students and their discriminatory behaviour led to lasting psychological damage to the students affected. The high number of security personnel at Rundgang also caused shock, confusion, and discomfort among all students.
Furthermore, some students have told us that they will not attend or participate in the future Rundgang if this security company is hired again.

Demands regarding security:

1. A written apology from the security company to the student body, especially the affected students.
2. Significant reduction in the number of security personnel and a change of company.
3. Implementation of a paid awareness team, consisting of experts and students consisting of at least the same number of people as the security personnel.
4. Follow-up meetings with affected students with professional mediation to find ways to support those affected, including reimbursement of costs incurred, e.g. treatment of injuries and psychological counseling, if applicable.
5. The inclusion of professionals (e.g. UdK's Diversity Officer) and/or students in the briefing of the security staff (as already promised in the statement of the UdK published on Thursday 28.07.) and transparent communication about the tasks and powers of the security staff. The briefing should also include training on how to deal with artworks and performances.

The AStA of the UdK is currently working on collecting reports and evidence of the incidents during this year’s Rundgang, but also past Rundgangs. In addition, we are already in talks with the UdK presidium and the administration, which are jointly responsible for this event.

Rundgang is nothing without the students. Rundgang is the pinnacle of UdK's public exhibition of artworks and interdisciplinary/interfaculty exchange. Therefore, we will ensure that Rundgang ’23 can again be a place where this exchange can flourish in a comfortable atmosphere.

Demands on Communication:

1. Involve students in the planning for the UdK Rundgang well in advance and in a meaningful way (this promise has been already announced publicly by the UdK).
2. No evacuation of the grounds of Hardenbergstr. 33 for university employees and students, and clear communication of the closing times (e.g. by posting in the foyer)
3. The cancellation of the exclusive Preview Day at Rundgang and the return of the Sommerfest.

On behalf of the Student Body,
your AStA