interview
At the elite university WHU there was an excessive drinking session with serious consequences: one student was hospitalized and four fellow students were fired. The damage to the image is immense, says the rector – and he wants to curb the party culture.
The WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management is considered a training ground for German business talent; startup founders and talented managers are trained here. The private school was recently named the best business school in Germany by the “Financial Times”. A report from the news magazine “Spiegel” came out at the weekend and caused quite a stir on the campus in tranquil Vallendar near Koblenz. In it, students anonymously report in detail about parties at which first-year students were forced by older students to drink a lot of alcohol – to the point of vomiting. At the end of a party, a student was hospitalized and four fellow students were fired.
In the Capital interview, WHU Rector Christian Andres comments on this for the first time.
Mr. Andres, a few days ago it became public that there had been excessive, forced drinking at the WHU. Under the headline “I learned to vomit at WHU,” a report in “Spiegel” states that first-year students were forced by older students to drink alcohol until they vomited. Were you surprised by that?
No, we became aware of the case last summer, and since then we have been working intensively on the issue and have already expressed that such excesses cross a red line that must not be crossed. People were locked up at a private party by students and forced to drink alcohol. Something like this goes against the values of our university.
© PR/Kai Myller
Christian Andres46, has been Rector of the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar near Koblenz and in Düsseldorf since May 2023.
When did you find out about it?
In August 2023, as always, there was an introductory week on campus for our new bachelor students with numerous official and private events. One night a student was hospitalized. Word gets around quickly in a small town like Vallendar. The next morning we convened the university management to research and discuss together. With the help of witnesses, we were able to find out relatively quickly what had happened and who was involved in the incident. The new students are divided into groups by the student representatives or their committees, which are supervised by older fellow students. So far we have only given a few basic rules. But since we were given the names of those involved in the incident, we were able to understand the process well. You don’t have to hire a private detective.
Older fellow students at WHU are used as so-called mentors who are supposed to help new students get used to it. Instead, in this case, young people were humiliated and tortured. How did you react to that?
We found out that it was about five sponsors, who we immediately banned from campus the next day. This was a kind of short-term defense because we considered the case to be so serious that we wanted to prevent immediate damage to the university. Our rules have been exceeded, so we act. After further consultation, including legal support, we terminated the study contracts of four of the five students. Expulsion like this is the sharpest sword we have. Those affected sued against it, but the courts confirmed our decision in two instances.
Do you think that was an isolated incident?
At least in the drama it seems that way. I have been at WHU for 13 years, but I have only been Rector since May 2023. I was never aware of anything like this on such a scale. Of course, our students are also celebrating, they are 18-year-olds, some of whom are away from home for the first time. Some also go overboard. But we cannot prohibit anyone from doing what they do in their private lives. We are not the alcohol police nor do we monitor our students. But there are rules within our community and we expect appropriate, respectful behavior from our students, both towards one another and towards third parties. We have recorded this in a set of rules, our Code of Conduct. This is part of the study contract and the students know it. This isn’t just a piece of paper. We will sanction any violation.
Nevertheless, the case described and the anonymous statements in the report do not sound like a one-off party that got out of hand, but rather like institutionalized customs with archaic rites. How does this fit with WHU’s claim, which sees itself as an elite school of international standard?
This does not exist as an institutionalized custom. If rites have developed in groups, and I don’t want to rule that out, then for me something like that no longer has a place at a university or in society. We are proud that WHU is a modern, international institution that is diverse and cosmopolitan. We want to recruit the best talent from all over the world and have just been named the best business school in Germany again. We want to expand that and that’s why there are things that we won’t tolerate.
So apparently not all WHU students have received this yet?
Everything is a high standard. But we share it. Even five students from 2000 caused immense damage to the company’s image. As university management, we have a responsibility to ensure that our values are respected and lived by everyone and we not only write this down in a set of rules, but we also communicate it very clearly. And I am convinced that our consistent actions have been successful. Does this give us 100 percent certainty for the future? Unfortunately no. We will react accordingly until the last people understand it.
So what else can you do?
We have already taken concrete countermeasures. For example, we are talking to students about adjusting our introductory week. This is important because the young first-year students are looking for orientation and connection in these first days. We also want to offer alternatives to the sponsors’ events in the evening program. Even though our sponsorship model has basically proven itself, we are now thinking about changes. We also sensitize our students to topics such as border crossings, alcohol consumption, personal responsibility at events and seminars and also offer concrete offers of help. We have also set up a whistleblower system where complaints and problems can be reported anonymously. So far nothing comparable has been displayed there.
What feedback do you receive about the incident internally from students and externally, for example from business partners?
Everyone knows internally and externally that this does not correspond to our attitude and our standards. We are receiving signals of support and encouragement from many quarters for consistently sanctioning such behavior at WHU. Many students, especially young students, are horrified by the report and, like us, want it not to happen again. We train excellent young people here, many of whom want to start their own companies or take on leadership roles, who want to be role models and change things for the better. We are therefore receiving a lot of encouragement for reacting quickly and making our clear value system clear to everyone who has crossed the borders.
Source: Stern
