German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck is this year's Honorary Alumnus at RUC
Robert Habeck studied at Roskilde University in the early 1990s. Tomorrow he will be honoured as this year's honorary alumnus at the university's traditional annual celebration.
Rector Hanne Leth Andersen says about this year's honorary alumni:
"Robert Habeck is a visionary author and politician who combines the humanities, politics and climate action. He has a strong interdisciplinary insight and a determination to solve the challenge of transforming our world to withstand the climate crisis and maintain the cohesion of society."
"It is also a pleasure to see that he often emphasises the value of RUC's education model, project work and interdisciplinary approach," says Hanne Leth Andersen.
The Vice Chancellor has a strong connection to Denmark, speaks fluent Danish and has also maintained contact with RUC over the years.
Imprint on political mindset
According to himself, Robert Habeck's strong attachment to Denmark and Danish values has left an imprint on his political thinking. It was also during his time as a student at RUC that he learnt Danish.
The structure at the university in Denmark was different from that in Germany, Habeck learned. At RUC, he had to organise his own time, work in groups and seek out his own knowledge. At first, it was an annoyance. It was difficult for him, he relates to DR in an interview article from 2021.
But over time, he came to appreciate the unique way of working at Roskilde University. In retrospect, the experience has had a decisive impact on his way of thinking, he tells DR in the interview:
"You shouldn't see reality from a preconceived truth. Instead, you have to find a reasonable solution based on the chaos in reality. In other words, a kind of pragmatic idealism. To put it bluntly, Roskilde University has influenced me politically."
Pictures from Robert Habeck's visit to Roskilde University in 2021. Besides Habeck, the photos show Rector Hanne Leth Andersen, Dean of Social Sciences Peter Kragelund as well as Habeck's wife, author Andrea Paluch.
An environment where everyone talked to each other
When Habeck looks back on his time at RUC today, one of the first things he remembers is the somewhat surprising start to life at the university:
"I was a student at Roskilde University in 1992. The term started in September. And something happened that year. Germany lost to Denmark in football in the 1992 European Championship. And when I arrived at RUC, all my Danish friends laughed at me," Habeck says with a big smile and explains that the Danish European Championship victory was not the only surprise for him that year:
"It was a great experience being at RUC that year. It also started with another shock. I suddenly found myself in a place where creativity and self-determination were central themes. I came from a very conservative university in Freiburg, where a big professor didn't talk to you. But at RUC, I was suddenly in an environment where everyone was talking to each other. And where you had to decide for yourself, what you learned this year.”
"And I was happy about that. I really learned a lot, which today - as a politician - I think is very useful. I think my life was shaped at Roskilde University, because I learned that a group can organise itself in a different way," Habeck says.
The Honorary Alumni Award was established in 2022 in connection with RUC's 50th anniversary, when the award went to journalist, TV host and author Erkan Özden.
About Robert Habeck
- German author and politician.
- Born in the northern German city of Lübeck in 1969.
- Holds a doctorate in philosophy.
- Studied at Roskilde University from 1992-1993.
- In 2009, he was elected to the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament for the Green Party.
- In 2018, he was elected chairman of the Greens together with Annalena Baerbock.
- Appointed as Germany's new Climate and Economy Minister and Vice Chancellor in 2021.