In light of growing political uncertainties and the increasing vulnerability of our democracy, the university’s Executive Board views it as an important mission of higher education to strengthen competencies in the area of understanding democracy and to promote pluralism in a democratic society. This provides a counterbalance to the often highly simplified posts and opinions on (social) media through substantive content and facts. In events at our university, participants receive practical guidance on how to respond to attacks on democracy and tolerance in everyday life and how to foster democratic coexistence.
The HWG LU has been committed to peaceful, open, solidarity-based, and democratic coexistence long before it joined the Rhineland-Palatinate alliance “Demokratie gewinnt!” However, by joining the alliance last spring, the university once again sent a clear signal of its identity as a democratic and cosmopolitan institution committed to promoting diversity, educational equity, and equal opportunity. A whole series of initiatives and events focused on democracy and diversity have taken place at the university since then—for example, the photo campaign “Show Your Face for Democracy” in the summer of 2025, the panel discussion “This Has Something to Do with You: Democracy as a Way of Life” as part of the ES WIRD series initiated by the University Council and university administration last November, the networking event “United for Democracy—Business. Local Government. Society. “Academia” in February 2026, Black History Month organized by the Black History Month Working Group and the Social Work Student Council in March of this year, and the nationwide action week “Academia Against Fascism,” in which faculty members from the Department of Social and Health Services participated.
And this semester, too, things remain diverse at HWG Ludwigshafen:
HWG LU as a satellite location for the 21st Rhineland-Palatinate Democracy Day
The semester kicks off on September 23, 2026, with a democracy event on campus: For the first time, HWG LU is participating as a satellite location in the Rhineland-Palatinate Democracy Day. Under the motto “Focus on Democracy,” high school students from Ludwigshafen will come to the college to explore topics related to democracy, participation, and active citizenship in five concurrent workshops, experiencing practical applications and interactive learning formats. The event will kick off with the “Democracy” Silent Lab led by Tom Woschitz of Starkmacher e.V. Participants will then move on to one of the interactive workshops: “Experiencing Intergenerational Justice and Sparking Dialogue” with Tom Woschitz of Starkmacher e.V.; “Between Silence and Action—Learning Civil Courage” with Silke Gorges, trainer and member of the Federal Network for Civil Courage; “Visual Stimuli: Judaism and Islam—Understanding Diversity, Living Democracy” with the Maimonides Jewish-Muslim Educational Institute; “Nature and Power” with Till Baerwaldt from the Robert Schumann Foundation; and “The Future of the Zwergenland Daycare Center—The City Council Must Decide (Role-Play)” with Professor Dr. Laura Ehm from HWG LU. To conclude, Prof. Dr. Manoj Gupte from the Department of Management, Controlling, and Healthcare will give a lecture on “Democracy in Schools and Higher Education.” The event is sponsored by the Rhineland-Palatinate State Agency for Political Education.
Education and Action Weeks Against Antisemitism
At the invitation of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, HWG LU will participate in the Action Weeks Against Antisemitism from October 6 to November 9, 2026. This year’s focus is “Anti-Semitism at Universities”: On October 14, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., the workshop “Anti-Semitism in Art and Culture”will take place, featuring speaker Samuel Stern from the Anne Frank Center. This will be followed on October 19 at 5:30 p.m. by the online lecture “Queerphobia and Antisemitism and Their Shared Structural Patterns in Right-Wing Ideologies”, featuring speaker Franziska Thurau from the Initiative for Interdisciplinary Antisemitism Research (IIA) at the University of Trier. To conclude the series, Norman Böttcher and Professor Dr. Tina Turnheim from the Department of Social and Health Services at HWG LU will deliver a lecture (in person) on November 3, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. on the topic “Anti-Semitism at Universities and in Rhineland-Palatinate.”
Studium Generale Lecture “Justice—The Unknown Variable in a Democratic Constitutional State”
The Studium Generale program will once again focus on a democratic topic this winter semester: on November 24, 2026, Prof. Dr. Dr. hc Klaus Rennert, former President of the Federal Administrative Court (), will give a lecture on the topic “Justice—the Unknown Variable in a Democratic Constitutional State.”
“ES WIRD” Series by the University Council and University Administration
Also on November 24, 2026, the second event in the “ES WIRD” series organized by the University Council and UniversityAdministration will follow. In the moderated panel discussion “ES WIRD: How Realistic Is Optimism Today?”, Viktoria Rüger (Vice President of People Services EMEA, BASF Services Europe GmbH), Raymond Höptner (Mundenheim Local Council Chair and Member of the State Parliament), alumna Tatjana Tadic, and author and “dialogue architect” Stefanie Wally, together with students from HWG LU
Orange Days
Together with the Office of Equal Opportunity, the Diversity Department is also participating in “Orange Days” from November 25 to December 10, 2026. The“Orange the World”campaign was launched by the UN to raise awareness of violence against women.
For more information, visit:
https://www.hwg-lu.de/hochschule/leitbild
https://www.hwg-lu.de/hochschule/leitbild/selbstverstaendnis-und-werte
