RWTH Statement Against Racism and Discrimination
The current debate in our society and around the globe is prompting us to speak out against racism.
We firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind. As laid out in our Institutional Strategy, we are committed to academic freedom and scientific excellence, which is based on competence, relevance, diversity, the desire to succeed, dedication, integrity, transparency, and equal opportunities.
At RWTH Aachen University, we teach, learn, research, and work together in a responsible way. The Integrative Interdisciplinary University of Technology that we know today would be inconceivable without this spirit of cooperation that rejects prejudice, exclusion, and discrimination.
Our University takes pride in being an open, forward-looking community that embraces and promotes diversity. To achieve excellence in teaching and research, international and intercultural collaboration is indispensable.
At RWTH, we consistently implement equal opportunities policies and actions and provide protection against discrimination. In order to promote equal opportunities at the University, RWTH has signed the Diversity Charter, concluded an Inclusion Agreement, and formulated its Internationalization Strategy. The University has published Guidelines for Protection against Discrimination as well as Common Guidelines on Equal Opportunities, developed in collaboration with the University of Cologne, Cologne University of Applied Sciences, the German Aerospace Center DLR, and Forschungszentrum Jülich. RWTH has been repeatedly presented with the TOTAL E-QUALITY award, which recognizes institutions that implement gender equality in policies and structures at all organizational levels.
We are aware that RWTH Aachen University is not fully free of biased patterns of interpretation and everyday racism. RWTH is actively committed to a spirit of cooperation that is characterized by mutual appreciation and respect. We aim to give our staff the opportunity to develop their potential to the fullest. We defend the basic values of our liberal democratic society. These values provide the basis for academic freedom, which is essential to fulfilling our mission in teaching and research as well as to the advancement of scientific discourse. We take a determined stand against all forms of discrimination and exclusion.