Dear guests,

Dear colleagues, dear students,

Dear friends of Ghent University,

Once again, on this Dies Natalis, we welcome a number of exceptional people into our academic community. Their work and dedication have a profound and lasting impact on our society. Their efforts, insights and perseverance embody a number of our university’s core values - openness, pluralism and social engagement.

Honorary doctors as role models

Dear Gunter,

Keeping the past alive and making history tangible, that is your mission. Your Stolpersteine are not only an artistic statement, they are also a profound social act. Our academic community is an ally in your call for continued vigilance against injustice. Because it is necessary, because it matters.

Dear Sandra,

With your scientific work and social commitment, you embody the essence of what the academic world can mean for society. The vulnerable people in our society are close to your heart. Continue to be a source of inspiration for us in your fight for more social justice, for a society in which every voice counts.

Dear Nina,

Recognition of and attention to welfare go beyond the human domain. The specific commitment you show to animal welfare makes you a pioneer. In your work, you combine knowledge and practice, demonstrating daily the value of universities in our society. This merits great respect and emulation.

Dear Lise,

Science can be a driving force for social change, and your pioneering work is a striking example of this. Your groundbreaking research contributes to making the food chain safer and more resilient. You create solutions that are relevant to global food security. You are a powerful guide for us.

Dear Klaus,

Every day you help lead the transition to a greener future. Your work illustrates how science can actively contribute to solving the environmental problems we face. Your vision and work are particularly inspiring for both researchers and policymakers.

Dear Christiana,

Your work and your persistent fight for climate action make you an icon of hope and determination. In a world in which the consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly visible, you offer a vision that is based not only on urgency, but also on optimism and cooperation. You are a bridge builder and know how to create harmony and instil confidence in the often heated climate debate. You bring opinions and people together, while always keeping the global objectives in mind. You are an exceptional leader. Our academic community is extremely honoured to welcome you as one of its honorary doctors.

Dear audience,

With their research work, their personalities and their commitment, our new honorary doctors do indeed reflect the core values of our university. So this is a good moment, in their presence, to talk explicitly about what preoccupies us as an academic community.

The indispensable value of autonomy and academic freedom

I would like to take this opportunity to address one theme explicitly: the importance of autonomy and academic freedom. Perhaps you are thinking, "You’ve talked about that before". Yes, I have talked about it before. What is more, I have talked about it frequently. Because I think it is important. And because I believe that we should never take autonomy and academic freedom for granted, nor freedom of speech either, for that matter.

At a time when, almost daily, we read news reports that touch painfully on the core of our academic identity, it must be defended. Here in Ghent and worldwide. And that is what I want to do.

In the United States, which, since time immemorial, has been THE place to be for many scholars, there is currently talk of a brain drain, or at least there are fears that it is on its way. Just a few days ago, journalists asked me whether our university had already made policy decisions in response to this. No, as yet we have not.

Should we do so in the near future? Honestly? We have not yet decided. We need to think it through thoroughly and that will happen soon, including – but doubtlessly not exclusively – within the purview of our Research Council.

Here and now, I think it is important to keep a cool head and focus on the crux of the matter. And the crux of the matter is, in my opinion, this: as an academic institution, we must do everything possible to reverse the underlying reasons for a possible brain drain in the US. By continuing to emphasise the importance of academia, of our profession. For as long as it takes. If necessary, for a very long time.

Until recently, what American universities are currently experiencing was unthinkable. Universities should be able to work autonomously, without political interference. The way in which President Trump and his entourage speak and act towards institutions that have, for many decades, been engines of knowledge creation and progress is downright problematic.

So yes, I am very concerned about what is happening in the US at the moment. Political control of universities’ core tasks, and the de facto silencing of some academics, is unacceptable. In the US and elsewhere.

That is why, here and now, I am expressing my explicit support for all the universities and colleagues who are being pressured by politicians to reorient or even cease their academic activities. We should never accept politicians having the final say in universities. That is the prerogative of all the staff and students at the universities.

Universities like ours in Ghent derive their right to exist from the space that researchers and academic staff are given to create knowledge without restraint, to think critically and to share the results of their thinking without fear. Freedom to research, think and speak, without being subjected to external pressure, is an essential condition that must be met for scholarship to flourish, for the boundaries of our knowledge to be extended and for knowledge to be shared to the maximum.

This brings me to another key aspect of universities, the strong and necessary interdependence of education and scholarly research. Because it is autonomy and academic freedom that form the breeding ground for the inextricable link between education and research. Thanks to the freedom of research and of researchers, students can be directly involved in current and innovative knowledge development. This not only strengthens students’ intellectual development but also ensures that our education is constantly nourished by the latest scholarly insights. This interaction means that, in addition to being recipients of existing knowledge, students are also active participants in the creation of further knowledge. This dynamic interplay is what distinguishes universities from other knowledge institutions. It is a precious coexistence that we should cherish, certainly in times when it is threatened.

Mission and commitment

In recent years, Ghent University has developed numerous initiatives that lay the foundations for a healthy, strong future. A great many staff and students have contributed to that, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank them warmly for their efforts. The further development of these initiatives requires the necessary care and follow-up, with respect for our identity as an independent university where everyone is welcome.

With the strength and experience of many people, Ghent University has earned a prominent place in the debate on the importance of scholarly research, academic education and social engagement. Based on trust. Believing and even knowing that we are capable of much.

That is our mission. That is what Ghent University stands for.

In Flanders, Belgium, Europe and indeed the whole world, we all need independent academics and their staff. Just as we also need students who, in time, will set off into the world with backpacks full of new knowledge and critical minds. Students who will occasionally return to their alma mater, because you may have finished a course of study, but you can never have finished studying everything.

Universities in general, and the University of Ghent in particular, are necessary for the exploration of paths that no one has explored before. May the new honorary doctors inspire us in that. Each of them has proven in their own way that it can be done.

Building the future together

Dear guests,

Our Dies Natalis is a moment of recognition and gratitude. We pause and reflect on the work of our honorary doctors and on the achievements of so many in our academic community. We celebrate the fact that the university is a place where ideas can germinate, grow and be shared with the world – in complete freedom

Together, without holding back, let us take our responsibility to help set the course in these changing times. Whether it is social justice, the climate, technological innovation or ethical issues, our commitment matters.

Thank you

I want to thank you all for your presence, for your commitment and for your trust in our university.

May this Dies Natalis inspire you to promote the founding principles of our academic community even more vigorously.

May Ghent University remain a beacon when it comes to defending the importance of scholarly research, academic education and social engagement.

Unrestrained and free.

Frank and free, too.

Thank you all for your kind attention.

Rik Van de Walle

Rector Ghent University

Ghent, Friday 21 March 2025