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ur higher educational politics originate in Gütersloh. You’re asking, Gütersloh? What in Gütersloh could possible be so exciting and eminent for it to influence our higher educational politics? The answer is actually quite simple. Gütersloh is where the Center for Universitiy Development (CHE) resides, ever since it was founded under the co-sponsorship of the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (HRK) and the Bertelsmann foundation.

The CHE is supposed to be a Think-Tank for higher educational politics, but in reality it’s nothing more than a political consulting agency. There really is not much you can hold against a non-binding consultancy. Well, not until that Think-Tank acquired substantial power to influence the remodeling of the national higher education system, and subsequently saw to it that their very own ideological goals were undemocratically and obscurely molded into official laws. This is exactly what happened in Nordrhein-Westfalen concerning the Hochschulfreiheitsgesetz (University freedom law), which was literally copied by Science Minister Pinkwart following CHE’s advice.

Not surprisingly, the CHE is dubbed “the secret national science ministry” by many journalists. Some think it can only be a good thing when a nationwide edu-political vacuum is filled by such an organization, because state-run institutions are no longer able to fulfill these duties. Others, however, should be aware of the fact that the liable policy makers’ influence is being drastically reduced, leading to a neoliberal wind blowing through the universities; diminishing democratic legitimation, free research and study, along with the Humboldtian education ideal. An example of what follows from this mighty cooperation between CHE and the HRK is rankings, funding for the elite, and the Bachelor/Master system becoming approved measures within the education system.

But how can it be that a democratically illegitimate institution succeeds in turning these edu-political measures, like the Ba/Ma-system and tuition fees, to nationwide standards in the face of a majority student opposition? Perhaps it is also time for us to take long looks at ourselves in the mirror. A tacit whining that is not backed up by actions, but by plain acquiescence and submissive obedience, undoubtedly does not change a thing. Au contraire: this opportunism leads us nowhere but to our own little city of sorrow.
With that in mind, it should be clear to us what to do; we must rise up and resurrect our democratic right to actively take part of the decision-making process, and use it to overturn this expanding, undemocratic, neoliberal system that is being imposed upon us by an equally undemocratic institution that seems to be preoccupied with their ideology. We must unite to form a strong front and represent our own interests! If not us, who will?

Step one is: Go and VOTE! Without our voice no politics should be done. In the end, what would the university be without its students´ voices?