She united the unions of Lund and she will now take on the EU. Elisabeth Gehrke is a newly elected Vice President of European Student Union, ESU.
It’s Sunday, 6 pm, you are in Brussels, and we don’t get to talk to you until now since you have been having meetings all weekend. Is this your new life?
“Yeah, hehe, I guess it is. There’s going to be a lot of travelling so there will be a couple of late nights in a lot of different places in the future.”
So when do you start?
“I’m already in what we call the exclusive committee, so that takes a great deal of time, but my formal term of office starts July 1st.”
If you were to attempt to explain to a regular Lund student what ESU is, what would that sound like?
“Uhm, well. I’d say that it is the exact same thing as your union at your faculty and SFS (The Swedish National Union of Students) at a national level, and then there’s ESU dealing with cases settled on a EU-level, of which there are more than you would think.”
How about giving some examples?
“For instance, cases concerning the Bologna process design of the educational programs, but also most of the exchange programs which are linked to Erasmus. This is a field where we also try to acquire more and better resources.”
So how much actual power would you say that you have?
“From a historical point of view, we’ve had a great deal of influence. Then of course, things happen on the European and the supranational levels that make the current situation harder than ever before. Especially perhaps with the financial crisis going on and so on. So naturally, the kind of influence we are able to have in good times is not the same as the one we can have right now. The same goes for all associations working with issues that cost money, which education actually does.”
And the fact that the interest in questions regarding the EU is at a lower level that it has been in a while?
“Even if there is a low level of interest right now, at least there are a lot of things going on around questions concerning education. And the position for questions regarding education gains status in the next budget despite the crisis, and that is because this is considered a field that can be utilized in order to do something about the situation. Conferences take place all the time, where people in positions of power, whether they are more or less formal, are discussing what is new, what we should do, and how to think. In those cases, you need to make sure to be there and give your strong and substantial student opinion. Through these discussions we influence others who aren’t students to se things our way.”
Which credentials do you use when applying? Have you been applying according to factual matters or general competence?
“I’m hardly the greatest specialist we have. There are others within the ESU with conisderably more know-how on this than I have. But it seems my field of activities is going to revolve a lot around these social issues, the Bologna process and, of course, education funding and access. These thing do go well together. But when I come forward as a candidate, there are a lot of personal features, credentials, and matching with the other ones applying.”
What are the conflicts like in comparison to the ones within Lus where you were active before?
“I’m am really happy that I was active during the period where we were about to unite the Lund student unions within Lus. It was a great preparation for the job we’re doing right now.”
Are there any major differences between a Greek humanist and a German humanist as opposed to a Lund humanist a Lund student of technology?
“Of course there’s a difference internationally but not between individuals. You can tell judging by the ones you become friends with. My closest friends are Macedonians, Serbs and Slovenes. There haven’t been a lot of regional disputes lately, but historically we’ve had a few tiffs between south-east and north-west. These things come and go. I’ve had the advantage of having an international upbringing, education and job. I really thought that I was wide minded and that I was a listening person, but I’ve realized that I wasn’t to the extent that I thought. It has been an incredibly rewarding process to go through and to realize how locked in one actually was. If you’re coming in to this with the idea that you are open minded, you sort of in a way shut down in advance.”
Which ideals have been propelling you? Is it what you have done and will be doing?
“It’s people’s right to education. That is the main one. And for me and the organization, it’s a human right and it’s something that has been taking pretty serious hits during the course of the crisis. But there are many political forces which aren’t of the mindset that education should be accessible for all. I realize that I’ve been privileged and if I can contribute to at least one other individual having what I’ve had, it will have been worth it.”
Text: Max Jeduer-Palmgren
Translation: Maximilian Aleman Tennell
