Thank you for your help

Preface: For a short statement, see bottom of page or download from here. The following thank you note and statement represents my personal views. I am not suggesting in any way that the views expressed here represent the views of my university, Murdoch University, or of the Senate of Murdoch University or of any other group that I belong to.

When I appeared on the Four Corners program ‘Cash Cows’ in May last year, I did not expect the roller-coaster year that would follow. Not for a moment did I think that it could see me all the way to the Federal Court of Australia. But that’s what happened: WAD303/2019 is the court’s matter number.

My university, Murdoch University, and I have now found a resolution to this legal dispute. I would like to thank everyone who helped me and my family through this very difficult year.

This court case followed my criticism of our university’s international student recruitment practices, expressed in the Four Corners episode ‘Cash Cows’ of 6 May 2019. Within days of that program, the then-Chancellor of Murdoch University proposed a motion intended to remove me from my elected position on the Senate. I commenced legal proceedings to protect my role on the university’s governing board and thereby to protect the voice of those who had elected me.

The key elements of the agreement are expressed in the following joint public statement:

“Associate Professor Schröder-Turk and Murdoch University have decided to withdraw all legal claims against each other in the Federal Court Case WAD303/2019, as part of an agreed resolution.

The Chancellor of Murdoch University confirms that Murdoch University has permanently withdrawn the Senate motion to remove Associate Professor Schröder-Turk from his office as Senate member elected by and from the academic staff that was proposed in May 2019.

Murdoch University shall continue with its preparations for, and shall facilitate a comprehensive and independent review of its Senate governance processes as part of a University Senate Review.

Associate Professor Schröder-Turk remains a valued member of both the Murdoch University academy and of the Murdoch University Senate.”

Most importantly, this resolution enables me to continue my work on the Murdoch Senate, the public governance body of Murdoch University.

I also look forward to contributing, as a member of the academic community, to the public debate on the many aspects of Australia’s higher education sector that, as is now clearer than ever, require some discussion: the funding model and the reliance on international students, the ethics and regulatory issues around international student recruitment, the question of public versus corporate governance structures, the over-casualisation and other questions related to academic employment, the question of academic independence and academic freedom, the question of education standards and academic integrity, the question of meaningful separation of tertiary education and vocational training, questions around learning and teaching methods and the separation of teaching and research, and many others. Many pressing questions!

Questions which, of course, I am not alone to ask: I note, and support, the call by the Australian Association of University Professors for a broad-sweeping Senate enquiry into Australia’s higher education sector.

All of that is for tomorrow.

For now, I would like to say a very big and heartfelt thank you to the many people who, as individuals or groups, have helped me through this case. The court case lasted for a little over a year. A year that was very difficult for me, and my family, especially during the periods when a cloak of confidentiality surrounded the case and its subject matter and when my family’s financial situation faced potential peril.

I am grateful to the many groups whose statements of support or whose public commentary have lifted my spirits: academic colleagues in Australia and overseas, the ARC Laureate Professors, the Australian Institute of Physics, the German Physical Society, the Australian Colloid and Interface Society, the physics and the maths departments at the University Erlangen-Nuremberg, the American Association of University Professors, the Australian Association of University Professors, the National Tertiary Education Union, the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations. I am grateful to academic colleagues who expressed their opinions in the media or through their actions, and to the parliamentarians who addressed the situation in state and federal parliaments and committees.

I am grateful to the journalists who reported on aspects of the process and subject matter, thereby affirming that processes at Australian public universities are matters of public interest. I am also grateful to the many members of the public who commented on Twitter, FaceBook and the like.

I am grateful for the hundreds, if not thousands, of personal messages and public statements of support through the ‘Justice for Murdoch University whistleblower‘ petition, through the NTEU #IstandWithGerd campaign and otherwise. I was touched and moved, and felt supported, by all messages, and am hoping to find the time to reply to many individually over the next year. I also felt emboldened by the many strong and clear voices that demand protection for everyone’s right to speak, even on uncomfortable and controversial topics. Both campaigns provided great moral support when I needed it most, and I am grateful to those who started them. The enormous number of messages and the more than 28,000 signatures did not only greatly reassure me, they also look impressive on the big printout that was presented to me.

I am grateful for the many messages of support sent to me by my friends, my colleagues, my collaborators, and by others in the academic or broader community who know me – both after the Four Corners episode and when knowledge of the court case became public. I am grateful for the support by colleagues and friends at my past institutions – at the Australian National University and at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

I am grateful to the members of the public and of the academic community, those who knew me personally and those who did not, who expressed their opinions on the matter to the Murdoch University leadership and to politicians, both federal and state.

Closer to home, I am grateful to the many Murdoch students, from undergrad first years to PhD students, and to current and former colleagues who have been wonderfully kind and supportive. All of the kind questions, r-u-ok and otherwise, the coffee shouts, the supportive emails, the occasional comment in the student evaluations, the claps on the back, and the innocuous smiles on bush court were all greatly appreciated.

Over the whole last year, the response of the Murdoch University community was one of genuine friendliness and support. The mix of wonderfully human, clever, caring, concerned, funny, down to earth responses and expressions of support embodied to me what integrity and respect look like when acted out.

Even closer to home, I am grateful to our lovely Fremantle community of friends, centered around my kids’ school. Their interest in my story, their voices of support and their care for me and my family are all much appreciated.

Right at home, my children and my wife have been wonderful, even when I was not. The stress I experienced was shared by my family, and affected all of us. I hope my kids see some value in their dad’s actions. I am also grateful to my extended family, my parents, and my brothers and sisters.

I am grateful to my legal team, from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, for their advice and care. The outcome speaks for itself. Yet, both beyond and through their legal advice, they also looked after me personally during the many months when even my friends didn’t know there was a court case.

I am grateful for public support by the National Tertiary Education Union, both by the Murdoch branch and the national office. I am also grateful for the support in the last 13 months that I have received in relation to the court case through membership of the NTEU. Without the NTEU’s support, I would not have been able to defend my right to speak or my reputation. The power of the collective membership!

All of the support I received was not just helpful, it was essential for coping with a very challenging and stressful, and at times hurtful, year. The knowledge of broad support for my position and the feeling of so much concern for me as a person buoyed me to stay positive (enough) and hopeful throughout the proceedings which, thankfully, have now come to an end.

Onwards and upwards, I am dreaming constructively towards an academia where happy academics and happy students thrive in a tertiary sector whose purpose is defined through open and informed debate, and which is guided by strategic priorities for the long-term benefit of our society.

Universities should be places of joy and not of tears, for both our students and for our staff. To me, that’s the best starting point for excellence in research and excellence in education, and for all the downwind benefits for the society we serve and the students we educate. It is also the reason why I still very much enjoy working in the academia, and it represents my aspiration for the next couple of decades at Murdoch University.

With my best wishes and many thanks,

Gerd