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EDUCATION

Culture of bullying and violence revealed at elite Danish school

A television documentary has deeply shaken the reputation of Herlufsholm, a prestigious boarding school where the children of many of the Danish elite attend — including the heir to the throne. 

Published: 6 May 2022 16:40 CEST
Herlufsholm School
Herlufsholm School, founded in 1565, must answer for a culture of violence among students described in a new documentary by TV2. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

The TV2 documentary, which premiered on Thursday, describes a culture of unmitigated bullying and violence, alongside allegations of sexual assault.

The principal at the school said Friday morning that “unhealthy” traditions must be changed or stopped, in comments to broadcaster DR Sjælland.

“I will start a process beginning today with the students with a view to us stopping or changing some traditions that have an element of unhealthy culture in them,” the headteacher, Mikkel Kjellberg, said.

But Kjellberg also denied the school had a “tough” culture, only remnants of customs from former times.

“Now an again a sort of isolated case pops up. These isolated cases can have reference to the tough culture of earlier times,” he said in comments reported by news wire Ritzau.

Kjellberg also said it was “not my impression” that school management had failed to protect students.

Herlufsholm management has previously denied any issues related to traditions and culture at the high-status school.

TV2’s documentary, based on interviews with as many as 50 former students at Herlufsholm, includes accounts of violence, bullying and sexual harassment.

Criticism of the school has reached the top of Danish politics, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen calling the revelations brought forward by the TV2 documentary “unforgivable”.

“The school must take responsibility and put a stop to the underlying culture,” Frederiksen wrote on Facebook.

Prince Christian, 16, son of the heir to the throne Crown Prince Frederik is completing his first year as a boarding student at Herlufsholm. His younger sister Princess Isabella, 15, is slated to start next term. 

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary have released a statement decrying the conditions at Herlufsholm as “completely unacceptable.” 

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DENMARK AND ISRAEL

Copenhagen University rejects call to condemn Gaza ‘genocide’

The University of Copenhagen has refused a demand from student protesters that it recognise Israel's attack on Gaza as a "genocide" and condemn it, ahead of a major protest on Tuesday.

Published: 7 May 2024 13:54 CEST
Copenhagen University rejects call to condemn Gaza 'genocide'

“The University of Copenhagen as an institution has no, and will have no, position on the ongoing conflict in Gaza,” the university wrote on its page on X, after students who have erected a tent camp on the university’s grounds made a call for official condemnation of Israel’s attack one of their list of six demands to university management. 

The group, Students against the Occupation, or Bevægelsen Studerende mod Besættelsenholds plans to hold a major demonstration on Tuesday afternoon at 3.30 pm.

“We stand united with students and employees from other Danish universities who also demand that their universities take responsibility and action,” the flyer for the protest reads. “This is a call to action to mobilise as many people as possible in solidarity with the Palestinian people.” 

In its post, the university management made it clear that both students and employees were welcome to express their position on the conflict — whether in support of the Palestinians or in support of Israel — and to do so on the university’s premises.

But it said that as a place of learning, the university would avoid taking an official position on such a divisive and contentious issue. 

“The university management cannot and should not express an opinion on behalf of the university’s employees and students about political matters, including about the ongoing conflict,” it wrote. 

The university’s post also included a warning to demonstrators that while the university respected their right to free expression it would not tolerate attacks or harassment of other students or university employees. 

“The University of Copenhagen will not accept that the tent camp leads to harassment of employees and students, or that anyone’s safety is put at risk,” they wrote, adding that university management was “in dialogue with the authorities and other partners to clarify the logistical challenges and questions the tent camp creates” .

Students occupied an area on the university grounds on Monday as part of a pro-Palestinian demonstration, issuing six demands to university management. 

As well as the call to describe Israel’s invasion of Gaza as a “genocide”, the students have also demanded that the university disclose all investments in coompanies linked to Israel, sell any investments in companies that benefit from the conflict, and “end institutional cooperation with Israeli academic institutions”. 

The protest comes after massive student protests against Israel’s attack on Gaza mounted at US universities, with violent clashes and accusations of police brutality at New York’s Columbia University. 

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