Bavaria wants to expel anti-Semitic students in extreme cases

To date, many universities in Bavaria have their own sanction regulations, which allow for measures such as reprimands or exmatriculation, but differ greatly from one another. According to Blume, the nationwide standardization is intended to create a clear legal basis. The minister emphasized that there had already been uniform rules for exmatriculation in the event of “permanent disruption of university peace”.

Flexibility for universities when assessing “permanent disruption”

The new catalog is based on school regulations, which recognize gradual sanctions such as reprimands, transfers to parallel classes or exclusion from classes. The universities should continue to decide for themselves which specific actions constitute a “permanent disruption”.

Blume justifies the move with a noticeably harsher climate at universities, particularly towards Jewish students. They reported that they were sometimes being harassed so much that it was almost impossible for them to study normally. Incidents such as the now disbanded pro-Palestine protest camp at Munich’s Ludwig Maximilian University showed that clear rules are necessary, said Blume.

Bavaria has installed anti-Semitism officers at all 33 state universities since autumn 2024. The move is part of a comprehensive action plan against anti-Semitism.

The amendment also includes requirements for sanctions for violations of the Bavarian gender ban. Since April 2024, “multi-gender spellings using internal word symbols” such as gender star, colon or gender gap have not been allowed to be used in schools, universities and state administration. Universities should now be given clear sanction options for this.