The international alliance of universities U7+ aims at structuring and advancing the role of universities as global actors across the multilateral agenda. It has set itself the goal of bringing crucial topics and issues affecting society as a whole, such as the climate crisis, digitalization, and inequality, to the attention of political actors in order to urge them to take action. In the statement, the alliance warns the leaders of the Group of 7 that a resurgence of autocracy is thwarting the institutional autonomy of higher education and its ability to fulfill its mission. “The crisis of democracy, evident in rising political extremism and polarization, has threatened the freedom of some university faculty as individual scholars to address controversial topics in research and teaching,” the statement read.
At this year's Alliance summit in Nice, France, Professor Dr. Thomas Puhl, President of the University of Mannheim, was elected to the Presidential Steering Committee of the U7+ Alliance for a two-year term. The committee consists of eight representatives from different member universities. It represents the U7+ Alliance externally and proposes thematic priorities.