"The presumption of diversity as the norm"
The Free University of Berlin has appointed Carolin Loysa as the Commissioner for Diversity and Anti-Discrimination. This role, enshrined in law, aims to promote equal opportunities, prevent discrimination, and foster an inclusive campus environment.
Loysa's focus includes ensuring that budget cuts do not undermine efforts to support marginalized groups or compromise programs aimed at inclusion. She will examine where and what is being cut in the budget, with a particular focus on the situation of marginalized groups in the current context.
In terms of appointment procedures, Loysa will oversee fair and transparent processes to promote diversity. This involves overseeing procedures to avoid biases and discrimination, thereby contributing to a diverse academic and administrative staff.
Loysa's role also includes implementing and developing the university’s Diversity Concept. This strategic framework, published in 2021, focuses on four diversity dimensions: trans, inter, and non-binary persons (TIN*), people with chronic illnesses and disabilities, those affected by racism, and individuals from non-academic backgrounds.
The Commission for Diversity and Anti-Discrimination, composed to reflect the university's diversity, will work together with Loysa to pass on needs from various departments and set topics. The commission will also advise on strategies, with a focus on structurally addressing experiences that are not only intellectually graspable but also physically felt.
Loysa, a research associate in the fields of cultural and social anthropology and gender studies at the Latin America Institute, was elected from the Commission for Diversity and Anti-Discrimination, a committee appointed by the Academic Senate to advise the Diversity and Anti-Discrimination Unit.
Loysa's primary role is one of prevention, focusing on illuminating gray areas and showing interconnections without playing discrimination forms against each other. She will also focus on her involvement in appointment commissions, where she has the right to speak in bodies deciding on the re-appointment of professors.
The upcoming budget cuts at universities will be viewed through a diversity and anti-discrimination lens by the Commissioner for Diversity and Anti-Discrimination. Loysa is keen to delve deeper into the budget cuts at the Free University, Berlin, as a result of the Senate's austerity measures.
The Diversity and Anti-Discrimination Unit, together with the presidency, will develop and implement corresponding concepts and strategies based on the needs passed by the commission. The promotion of diversity and anti-discrimination at universities in Berlin is enshrined in law, and the Berlin Higher Education Act, passed in 2021, obliges all universities in the state to promote equal participation, dismantle existing barriers, and ensure a discrimination-free environment.
Loysa's appointment marks a significant step towards ensuring that the Free University of Berlin continues to uphold its commitment to diversity and anti-discrimination, even in the face of financial constraints and organizational changes.
- Carolin Loysa, the newly appointed Commissioner for Diversity and Anti-Discrimination at the Free University of Berlin, will ensure that budget cuts do not compromise programs aimed at fostering diversity and inclusion in finance, particularly affecting marginalized groups.
- As part of her role, Loysa will focus on implementing and developing the university's Diversity Concept, which encompasses four diversity dimensions: trans, inter, and non-binary persons (TIN*), people with chronic illnesses and disabilities, those affected by racism, and individuals from non-academic backgrounds, within the context of education-and-self-development and business.
