Shared apartment parties, club nights, corners – it was all part of university life for me. The celebration began with the orientation week, when the older years gave us newcomers an introduction to the city's campus and bar life. But all of this was voluntary.
At the private business school WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar near Koblenz, things seem to be at least partially different. The university prides itself on its students; it is called an “elite university” and a “start-up hotbed.” So people probably learn hard at WHU. But what is said to have happened there in previous introductory weeks or after exams no longer sounds like “celebrations”.
Over the past few months, my colleague Markus Sutera has spoken to current and former WHU students as well as a father and viewed chats, videos and pictures. Several students reported to him about drinking rituals in which new arrivals were said to have been pressured into drinking alcohol by so-called student sponsors. During the introductory week last late summer, a ritual apparently escalated to such an extent that the university terminated the study contracts of four patients.
WHU wrote to Markus upon request that the terminations were evidence of their decisive action. Nothing is known about any further excesses. However, there is the possibility of reporting relevant incidents anonymously via a certified whistleblower model.
The text about the rituals and their consequences is my recommendation of the week.
Your Katharina Hölter, editor SPIEGEL Start
Enlarge image
WHU building – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar, photo from 2011
Photo:
picture alliance
“I learned to vomit at WHU”:
The private university WHU has terminated several students who are said to have pressured others to consume excessive alcohol. SPIEGEL research shows that such incidents were probably more common. Does WHU have an alcohol problem?
Enlarge image
Musicians Zeitner, Daldas in a pub in Neukölln: First mixtapes recorded in the shared room
Photo: Rebecca Rütten / DER SPIEGEL
Raven against world pain:
Victoria Daldas and Theo Zeitner began producing techno music during their studies. Today they tour the world as Brutalism 3000. SPIEGEL accompanied them - and experienced the new hype surrounding techno.
Enlarge image
Study the humanities: It doesn't always have to be business administration
Photo:
Raphaël Lorand / plainpicture
“A need for experts can arise overnight”:
Anyone who studies German or philosophy is often laughed at. Literary scholar Julika Griem says: Our society needs humanities scholars – and so does the job market.
Enlarge image
The tension is rising: professional footballer Harry Kane is preparing for a penalty
Photo:
Mladen Lackovic / IMAGO
“You can’t make it to the top if you just look at the team”:
Maximilian Pelka was a team psychologist at FC Bayern and RB Leipzig. Here he explains how he prepares players for free kicks, why you shouldn't celebrate successes too much and how you train mental strength.