Frédéric Herman communicated his decision on Wednesday in an email addressed to UNIL staff, RTS revealed this Friday. He will leave his position in July 2026 to devote himself to new scientific projects. An announcement which comes against a backdrop of tensions and criticism towards the rector himself and his team.
On the campus of the University of Lausanne, Frédéric Herman’s decision took everyone by surprise. More than one expected that this young rector who took office in 2021 would return for a second term. But the 46-year-old Belgian decided otherwise. He was to make his decision very recently at the request of the UNIL Selection Commission.
In his e-mail from last Wednesday that the RTS Investigation Center obtained, the current rector said he had thought about it for a long time and finally decided “to engage in new scientific explorations and pursue objectives that are close to my heart. heart in my field of research”. Frédéric Herman is a professor of geology and an internationally renowned expert in the field of glacial erosion.
Strong tensions with the University Council
According to information collected by RTS, this e-mail from the rector does not mention various elements which also led him not to seek a second term. Starting with very strong tensions with the University Council, the body which should have decided on his renewal.
Frédéric Herman and his team have been arguing for months with several members of the Council over the role and prerogatives of this entity where the intermediate body, professors, administrative staff and students are represented. Supervisory body or legislative body? It was ultimately the Vaud Department of Education and Training which was asked to arbitrate this dispute.
But that’s not all. According to several members of this gremium who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, the sessions, where management also sits, would be particularly harmful. The rector, or certain vice-rectors, would sometimes appear aggressive, hostile to certain questions, or even evasive in their answers. Some even speak of a diet of fear.
University too militant?
Frédéric Herman has another major concern: opposition to strategic choices made by the alma mater. Some being his initiative, others decided before his appointment. In different areas (ecology, inclusive language, etc.), UNIL intends to position itself as an actor in “societal transformation”, and also wishes to give a large place to “dialogue between the world of research and society”.
Which translates, for example, into major efforts at the level of the ecological transition of the campus or even a certain tolerance towards the activism of professors or teachers who are climate activists – tolerance also towards the climate movement. pro-Palestinian occupation of last May.
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But this open-mindedness, this positioning, offends members of the university community, including professors. They fear that the University is losing its way and losing sight of its primary mission, which is teaching and research. Concerns today widely relayed to the Vaudois Grand Council.
“No room for maneuver”
That being said, Frédéric Herman benefits from numerous supports (read box below), but faced with political pressure, faced with this University Council being partly hostile to him, Frédéric Herman made his calculations and decided not to run again.
Asked by RTS, the main interested party did not wish to speak. But he wrote to us this Friday that “in the current conditions, I cannot plan for a second mandate because the organization of UNIL governance does not give me the room for maneuver that I need to assume my responsibility.”
As for criticism of his management of the alma mater or certain files, he did not want to answer us precisely. But he disputes most of the allegations made against him and his team. And looks forward to defending his record by the end of his term in 2026.
Marc Menichini, RTS investigation center
