HSZG calls for an election!
On June 9, 2024, local elections will be held in Saxony and European Parliament elections will take place nationwide. The University Executive Board is encouraging broad participation.
Dear members and affiliates of Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, dear students and colleagues,
On June 9, 2024, local elections will be held in Saxony and European Parliament elections will take place nationwide.
The University Executive Board encourages broad participation by members and the Zittau/Görlitz university community in these democratic elections.
In the run-up to the election, members and affiliates of our university have also been active in political parties and voter groups and have been nominated as candidates. All candidates deserve great respect for this, especially in light of the intolerable—and at times violent—attacks on elected officials and activists in recent weeks and months. We strongly condemn these attacks and the increasingly toxic nature of democratic discourse and competition in some quarters. Our democratic societies are based on the mutual recognition of one another as equal participants in the political process, a free and peaceful exchange of arguments and proposals, and the acceptance of majority decisions.
Furthermore, unlike autocracies of any kind, democracies require the active participation of the citizens of the community. Without their participation in free and peaceful processes of exchange, negotiation, and decision-making, liberal-democratic systems cannot function. This expressly includes the exercise of the right to vote. The representation of the people in parliaments at all levels—from municipal and city councils to the European Parliament—requires that those being represented cast their votes.
That is why we support initiatives to promote high voter turnout and ask all of you to participate in the upcoming elections—this “celebration of democracy”—by casting your vote and thereby putting democracy into practice.
An overview of additional offerings and participation by the university and its members in the area of political and democratic education since early 2024 (and initially through the end of the year) will be published shortly; we would be very happy to receive further reports on this topic from you, which you can forward to Ms. F. Straßberger (Research Office, email: fraenzi.strassberger@hszg.de).
With good wishes for the election, for the coming weeks as the semester draws to a close—not least for the upcoming exams—and
with warm regards
The University Executive Board
Only through our collective commitment can we preserve and strengthen the foundations of a free and peaceful society. I therefore call on all members and affiliates of our university to cast their votes in the upcoming elections and thus send a strong message in support of our democratic values.
”In this context, the university supports the “#machdeinkreuz” initiative—you can see one of the initiative’s posters above; others can be found at the website listed.
The German Rectors' Conference (HRK), the Free Association of Student Bodies (fzs), and the German Student Services Association (DSW) are jointly calling on people to participate in the European Parliament elections under theslogan “Study without borders. Vote for Europe!” The call to exercise one’s right to vote on June 9, 2024, is directed not only at students but at all members of the university community. The three organizations also urge a fair, respectful, and peaceful political contest.
The “Universities for Enlightenment” network, of which the HRK is a member along with nine other European rectors’ conferences, is also advocating for as many members of the higher education community as possible to cast their votes in the European elections. In its latest statement , “Universities Vote for Europe,” the network highlights key EU achievements in the field of higher education and links this to a call to advocate for a strong Europe in which cooperation in education and research is further expanded and academic freedom is resolutely protected.
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