On the first of May, Principal Torbjörn von Schantz was, according to tradition, courted with a speech by Lus’s chairperson Cecilia Skoug. In his response, Schantz gave the unions a lot of praise and agreed with most that was said. He also took the opportunity to criticise both Donald Trump and Dick Harrison.
“Honoured rector magnificus…”
In a circle made up of standard-bearers dressed in tailcoats, Lund University’s Student Union Association’s chairperson Cecilia Skoug starts her speech to Torbjörn von Schantz.
Lundagård is bathed in sunshine. It is the first of May and Cecilia Skoug starts with a few words concerning the fact that the magnolias are not yet in bloom. The audience, whose average age is relatively high, seems to have come for the sun, the flowers and the male choir rather than hearing Lus’s chairperson question the University’s efforts on open online courses.
“The subjects that I will speak about today have been brought up by many chairpersons before me. But a drop wears away a stone – not through force, but by falling often”, says Cecilia Skoug.
The Principal gets a passing grade from the unions
She speaks calmly, clearly and with authority. It is clear that her speech is very elaborate. She says, among other things, to the principal:
“When you assumed your position, we gave you a syllabus for the course ‘How to Lead a University’. The exam is once a year, the first of May. The examiners are Lus’s chairperson and the chairpersons for the nine faculties. We apply a traditional two-mark grading scale; ‘vivat’ or ‘periat’ (“live” or “perish”)”.
Torbjörn von Schantz eventually gets a “vivat”, meaning a passing grade, but Cecilia Skoug still points out issues she feels the University should improve on – such as equality, digitizing and a broadened recruitment.
She also argues that the University’s desire to be an international research-university partly hits the “strategic leadership” at an undergraduate level.
However, Torbjörn von Schantz has, according to Cecilia Skoug, been a good and responsive leader who deserves to be honoured.
“But in order to wear away the stone, we need the University to be like a waterfall rather than a drizzle”, she challenges.
“We want to provide the best education”
After the Union’s chairperson has proclaimed a threefold ‘Hurray!’, it is Principal Torbjörn von Schantz’s turn. He responds to the opinions expressed, but also talks about his general visions for the future at Lund University.
“We want to provide the best education to the most motivated of students, despite where they come from”, says Torbjörn von Schantz with a heavy southern-Swedish dialect, and holds his script firmly.
He quotes statistics that says Lund University actually is the first choice for Sweden’s future students. He believes this is because of the Union’s successful watch over the education, the University’s ties to research, the proximity to the business world and Lund’s rich campus life.
Several times in his speech, Torbjörn von Schantz returns to how important and competent he feels the unions’ representatives are.
“You contribute to making Lund University’s education better – keep being judicial”, he exhorts among other things.
The US a deterring example
According to von Schantz, the consequences of not being critical are evident in the US. The principal mockingly brings up Donald Trump, his voters and party as examples of the risks in a society without “well-educated and judicial” citizens.
Even Dick Harrison implicitly gets his fair share, when the principal points to evaluations from the Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ) that wholly disproves that the requirements for education are becoming lower, something Harrison claimed in a well-known debate article.
When it comes to Lus’s chairperson Cecilia Skoug’s critique, Torbjörn von Schantz seems to completely agree that things have to be improved.
“I would not have been here if it were not for the University’s work with equal treatment and equality. That is to say, I come from a so-called ‘home that is unaccustomed to studying’”, he says for example.
Many challenges ahead for the University
To continue the work with digital exams, the widespread stress among students and the validity check of foreign degrees of newly arrived is something Torbjörn von Schantz stresses as especially important.
“The students have never been brighter and more ready to meet the challenges of the future”, the principal concludes, before he marches out arm in arm with Lus’s chairperson.
It seems they want to advocate for an “enlightened” Lund, where everybody has a good time, far from the troublesome barraters like Dick Harrison or Donald Trump.
One can, however, question what benefits there are in a principal speech where everybody seems to agree with everyone.
Article: Oskar Madunic Olsson
Translation: Viktor Jönsson
