Gauss-Telegraph: Radio-Interview with Younouss Wadjinny

Welcoming culture at the university: Radio interview with Younouss Wadjinny, Gauss Friends

On August 6th 2018 Deutschlandfunk Campus & Career

On August 6th 2018, the Gauss Friends could be heard on Deutschlandfunk. Younouss Wadjinny, representing the Gauss-Haus, gave an interview on the topic “Welcoming culture at the university”. Younouss described in the program “20 Topics – 20 Heads”, which this time was led by the Ivorian guest host Maimouna Ouattara, that his motivation for building the Gauss Haus back then was to create a meeting place for students from all over the world, given that the former meet-up opportunities in Braunschweig were very much limited to European students. When asked about the Gauss Buddy program, he conveys that for the most part students participate, but also Braunschweig citizens are invited to join and become a “Gauss Buddy”, i.e. a companion of the newcomers. According to Younouss Wadjinny, that works quite well, but nevertheless the Gauss Friends are always trying to get new people excited about the idea. This would create further contact between German and international students, for example by bringing people of different backgrounds together in a university seminar led by Younouss or by being present at festivals on campus and at info-fairs. It should always be made clear that you can learn a lot from each other, such as different languages, different approaches and enrich one’s own cultural competence. However, according to Younouss, international students are often affected by discrimination, encountering problems in everyday or cultural life. Fortunately, there is also progress here: through the initiative of committed people, there is now a legal regulation in Braunschweig regarding non-discriminatory door policy in Braunschweig clubs. Its compliance is regularly monitored by the City of Braunschweig.

If you want to listen to the whole interview (only available in German) just click on the this link.