Unil: Against a backdrop of tensions, the rector renounces a new mandate

Frédéric Herman, current rector of the University of Lausanne, will not seek a second term. According to RTS, the Belgian in office since 2021 announced his decision on Wednesday, in an email addressed to the institution’s staff, evoking his desire to engage in new scientific projects. But this decision falls in a context of tensions in the upper echelons of the Vaud institution. Indeed, the atmosphere would not be good between Frédéric Herman and the University Council, a body bringing together representatives of the intermediate body, professors, administrative staff and students. Disagreements over the role of this Council would in particular be at issue.

Furthermore, certain strategic choices of the university, such as its commitment to the ecological transition or its relative tolerance to activism, would not be unanimously accepted within the academic community. So many elements which, according to the RTS, would have pushed the 46-year-old geologist to decide to leave his functions at the end of his mandate, in July 2026. Contacted by our colleagues in the public service, Frédéric Herman was content to indicate that “in the current conditions, I am unable to 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”.