The AStA of the HTW comments on the vandalism in the Room of Silence
On Wednesday afternoon we received the news of the vandalism that hit the room of silence on the Treskowallee campus. As elected representatives of the student body – AStA (General Student Committee) and StuPa (Student Parliament) – we are deeply shocked and angry.
The room, which is offered as a rest, meditation and prayer room on both campuses, is not only a place of retreat, but is also considered a safe space at the university. The room, which is mainly used by Muslim students for prayer and retreat, was initially rendered unusable by this act of destruction. We are relieved that no one was physically injured, but we deeply regret that the feeling of security that these rooms are supposed to provide is gone. We are aware that, particularly because the incident went viral, it was perceived as anti-Muslim.
Our student self-administration and student-led committees, like the university, are committed to a safe, discrimination-free and violence-free place to learn, teach and work. Damage or destruction on this scale is and must not be acceptable and we strongly condemn it.
The student committees, in particular the AStA Department for Anti-Discrimination, are available to you as contact persons. It does not matter whether you have experienced discrimination yourself – true to the university’s protection concept of “Look, act, prevent” you can come to us if you see, hear, notice something or feel uncomfortable – the AStA, as well as the university’s trust teams, women’s and equal opportunities officers are available to you at any time.