Dijkgraaf about ‘woke’: there must be room for confrontations

Lecturers who find it hard to deal with assertive students are not necessarily limited in their academic freedom. However, intimidation, threats and constantly walking on eggshells is a different story, says Minister Dijkgraaf.

VVD member of parliament Hatte van der Woude was asking the Minister of Education questions relating to an article about ‘wokeism’ in the Telegraaf. In that article, associate professor at Utrecht university Floris van den Berg talked about students demanding that he revise his literature list because they claimed it included too many white male authors. He should also include more ‘non-academic and non-western perspectives’.

Difficult conversations

Isn’t such a situation at odds with the duty of universities to safeguard academic freedom, the VVD member of parliament wanted to know. The Minister’s response was clear: ‘No’. In higher education, he feels there must be room for ‘confrontations, debate and difficult conversations’.

“Which means that students and lecturers must be able to discuss issues, but that a rebuttal may also follow. This critical function lies in the nature of academic education,” he writes. Universities are “robust organisations which can deal with this,” he feels.

Walking on eggshells

Van der Woude also says that it is ‘very worrying’ that lecturers do not feel free to express themselves due to the woke movement and wonders what the Minister will do to better protect academic freedom. But Dijkgraaf refers to the boards of the educational institutions. It is their duty to protect academic freedom.

He also feels that it is concerning if lecturers no longer feel able to express themselves, for example because they feel intimidated or threatened. “But if lecturers find it difficult to be confronted by assertive students with criticism, that still does not constitute a limitation of academic freedom,” he adds. He feels it is also unacceptable if lecturers ‘are constantly walking on eggshells’.

It can be difficult for board members to identify specific situations in which academic freedom is at risk, the Minister admits. He wants to talk to the umbrella associations at the universities and universities of applied sciences about how they can manage that area of tension.