Universities Denmark: All quiet rooms must be kept neutral
UCPH is part of a new joint statement on quiet rooms at universities. The statement is about making the rooms feel welcoming to everyone. Therefore, there must be no personal or religious items in the rooms.
The debate has largely been about the fact that the rooms, through their decoration and left effects, do not seem like an offer to everyone.
To that effect the Universities Denmark has issued a joint statement, which can be viewed in full below. In future, UCPH will inspect the rooms to a greater extent to ensure that they are for everyone and appear neutral.
Joint statement from Universities Denmark
Universities in Denmark have students and staff from diverse backgrounds.
Many universities have quiet rooms or reflection rooms where students and staff can retreat to be silent, contemplate, reflect or say a personal prayer.
Universities Denmark concur that users of the rooms must show respect for other users and that there must be no social control exercised when using the rooms.
Universities Denmark concur that the rooms must be kept neutral, not decorated with religious symbols and not used for religious preaching. Users are not permitted to leave personal belongings in the rooms. They must be removed when leaving the room. The universities will ensure this through regular inspections.
If the above considerations are not respected, the individual university will take steps as it deems necessary, including the possible permanent closure of the rooms.
Before the joint statement across Danish universities, the
UCPH Senate appointed a working group to look into experiences with quiet rooms and highlight the advantages and disadvantages of different scenarios for these rooms. The group continues its work as planned and will present its findings to the Senate in autumn 2025.
Remove items in quiet rooms before Thursday 3 April
In the future, UCPH's quiet rooms will be kept free of everything that is not part of the campus administration's design of the space. UCPH will remove items from the quiet rooms on Thursday 3 April and then keep an ongoing watch and collect any belongings left behind. Everyone is encouraged to pick up their things before then.
After 3 April, UCPH stores the items elsewhere for a period of time before they are disposed of. There will be notices by the quiet rooms about where exactly you can pick up your things – and for how long.
List of quiet rooms at UCPH
- Room 24-0-29, South Campus
- Room 6B-2-39, South Campus
- Room 07.0.008, HCØ
- Room 21.4.419, University Park, Jagtvej 160. Will be moved to 21.0.022 by the end of April.
- Room 15.2.03, Panum
- Room 2.71, Thorvalsenvej 40, hallway 4, The Mezzanine, Frederiksberg Campus
- Room 8.01.29, CSS
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