Communication from the Presidential Board

On Friday, 6 June 2025, the group "Students for Palestine Fulda" organised a course with an invited guest speaker on the grounds of Fulda University of Applied Sciences from 6 p.m. - knowing that this was not approved by the Presidential Board Office.

Fulda University of Applied Sciences clarifies that it neither organised nor supported this course. A room application submitted at short notice via the student association of the Department of Social Work was rejected by the General Student Committee AStA, so that no authorisation was granted. The Presidential Board Office also rejected the course. The public claims made by the "Students for Palestine Fulda" group that the room had already been approved by the Presidential Board and then withdrawn are not true. The university's Facilities Management had only made a precautionary reservation, subject to an official and approved application.

Decisive for the rejection were, among other things, past experiences in which the "Students for Palestine Fulda" group had repeatedly acted without consulting the University of Applied Sciences and, for example, registered and organised assemblies in the publicly accessible area of the campus without consulting the Presidential Board with the local authorities. The enforcement of the right of assembly is the responsibility of the public order office of the city of Fulda, even if the assembly takes place on campus. Unfortunately, the "Students for Palestine Fulda" group is now largely anonymous. Furthermore, the group's social media presence does not always clearly and unambiguously distinguish it from anti-Semitism and extremist groups that are banned in Germany.

Fulda University of Applied Sciences sees itself as an educational institution with a social assignment and is committed to the values of our liberal democratic constitution, in particular freedom of research and freedom of opinion. This includes, among other things, open and respectful discourse on sometimes controversial topics. The Presidential Board is fundamentally of the opinion that a discourse on the situation in the Middle East must be possible. This should also expressly comprise the catastrophic and inhumane situation of the civilian population in Gaza. There are also specific initiatives at the university that support this discourse. However, the approach taken by "Students for Palestine Fulda" in the case of Friday evening's course and the deliberate circumvention of rules and regulations is not acceptable. Should the Presidential Board become aware of similar initiatives in advance in the future, a ban will be issued and non-compliance may have consequences under criminal law.