By Gemma TABET and Tyler KIM
“Being President of Sciences Po is much more difficult than whatever I did in the past,” Sciences Po President Luis Vassy stated as part of his introductory remarks to an open discussion session with students of the Le Havre campus on April 16. President Vassy was joined by Dean of the Undergraduate College Jeanne Lazarus and later by President of Region Normandy Hervé Morin.
As stated by Campus Director Michael Hauchecorne’s email to students on April 13, the conference was intended to provide a “genuine opportunity for exchanging with the Director” as well as to commemorate the inauguration of the campus cafeteria and student association room. The event involved two Q&A sessions: one open to all students in the grand amphitheatre and the second limited to association delegates and year representatives in the library. In between, two artistic performances by BDA offered respite, as well as the official unveiling of a plaque in the common room with President Morin.
[image of plaque + short description] The construction of the campus cafeteria and student association room was “significantly supported” by the Normandy Region of up to €160,000, according to Director Hauchecorne.
This was the second time President Vassy visited the Le Havre campus since his appointment to the position in 2024. During his tenure, Sciences Po’s institutional policies have faced criticisms from some students. Direct mobilisations took place across multiple branch campuses, particularly to contest Sciences Po partnerships with Israeli universities. According to Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), these Israeli universities are “participating in the genocide, colonisation and occupation in Palestine”. Continued ties with such institutions make Sciences Po complicit in such oppression, they say.
To further heighten tensions, two days prior to the conference on April 14 “approximately fifty students” faced judicial consequences for occupying the Boutmy amphitheatre on the Paris campus, according to an email sent by President Vassy on the same day. The students were mobilizing alongside other universities in protest of the proposed “Loi Yadan”, which has since been withdrawn on April 16.
These concerns came to a head during the Q&A sessions, with students voicing their thoughts on a wide range of topics, including academics, student life and support and freedom of student expression at Sciences Po.
Continue reading to find Le Dragon Dechaine’s recap of the day’s events, including interviews with key figures.
Summary of the Open Q&A Session Between Director Vassy, Dean Lazarus and the Student Body
By 11:00 a.m., the grand amphitheatre was nearly filled to the brim with students — many of whom were brought in by their foreign language teachers during what would have otherwise been their regularly scheduled morning classes. Nonetheless, an air of anticipation hung over the audience as Director Hauchecorne took the stage.
In his opening speech, Director Hauchecorne emphasized the collective nature of the day’s events and thanked all involved groups for making the necessary preparations. The campus band LHarmony was welcomed to the stage to represent the distinct musical identity of Le Havre.
[image of LHarmony + description]. LHarmony members Felix Franco-Rogelio (saxophone), Minbi Roux (flute), Camille Platon (violin) and Angelia Faye (piano) received roaring applause for their performance.
After President Vassy and Dean Lazarus took their seats on the center stage, the Year Representatives began a brief presentation to introduce the rest of Le Havre’s unique campus culture. 1A Year Representative Tallulah McEnroe noted that more than 60% of students at the Le Havre branch are international students, the highest proportion across all Sciences Po campuses. Also noted was the growing popularity of the campus and its Asia-Pacific minor, with 30 more students in the current 1A cohort in comparison to the current 2A cohort. After an overview of the several student associations shaping student life on campus, the proud and close-knit campus spirit was demonstrated with a rousing cheer of “Ici c’est Le Havre!”
Next to speak was 2A Year Representative Benjamin Henderson who outlined the structure and rules of the moderated discussion. After conducting surveys on several topics, the decision was made to implement a one-minute question, two-minutes response system in order to facilitate a smooth flow across the wide range of issues expected to be covered. After the time runs out, a quick poll by means of thumbs-up, thumbs-down or thumbs to the side will allow the year reps to know if a certain topic necessitates further discussion via email or other modes of communication.
“I think my goal, and the goal of the other Year Reps today, was to try to create the most favorable conditions for a productive conversation,” Henderson said in an interview with LDD after the event. “And I think in that endeavor, we succeeded.”
The topics of conversation were as follows: Topic 1: Academics, Topic 2: Student Life and Support, Topic 3: Freedom of Expression.
Before moving to the open Q&A session, President Vassy was given the opportunity to make his own introductory speech. President Vassy briefly touched upon his background as a career diplomat working in the United States and the Netherlands before joining the administration of Sciences Po over a year and a half ago. As this was his second visit to the Le Havre campus during his tenure, President Vassy claimed that our campus and Sciences Po as a whole has undergone a small evolution. The reputation and impact of the Sciences Po brand name has grown stronger overseas, particularly in the United States and in China. Vassy credits this stellar reputation to the quality of students entering Sciences Po in addition to the unique practice and teaching provided by the curriculum. Since the past year, Le Havre now has a 33% increase in international applications overall with the most significant increases being made in Indian, American and Chinese applications. Food access has also improved with the construction of the cafeteria over the previous summer. Thus, Vassy concludes, it is his goal to continue utilizing this strategy of “excellence and openness” to expand internationally and socially.
“Sometimes of course like any human endeavour we are not perfect but we should sometimes notice what we do well,” President Vassy said.
Topic 1: Academics
The first question was in regards to the variation in teaching quality on campus, asking what the criteria for teachers is when hiring. President Vassy responded that the administration holds a clear line in trying to attain the maximum quality of teaching for students, through the use of evaluations and outside faculty. President Vassy also added that on the train to Le Havre, he and Dean Lazarus were looking at the student evaluations of teachers, promising to bring consequences next year. Finally, he noted that lecturers should be provided academic freedom so the criteria most consequential for him would be work and intensity of preparation, in addition to their pedagogy and ability to teach. The student then indicated with thumbs up that the issue felt resolved.
Next, a question was raised if changes to the current curriculum — which was criticized for being either too Euro-centric or East-Asian centered — would focus on other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Dean Lazarus responded by explaining how the new curriculum would include more spots for the minor as opposed to being between other courses, providing more opportunities for broader courses. At the same time she did state some limitations in being able to offer lectures on specific countries and specific issues due to the campus focus being on three quarters of the world. She briefly concluded by thanking the student for the reminder, with the student indicating they would prefer continuation and follow up on this topic. Director Hauchecorne also briefly noted that two new lectures will be added to the geographical minor in the second year, with Dean Lazarus again stating that the goal of the bachelor level courses is to provide a broad exploration of the region as opposed to precise locational study (which is more reserved for the masters level).
The third question was more particular to the law courses offered, with a student first stating that the current legal classes are more oriented towards legal positivism without as much diversity of views as other fields, before asking if there are any plans to improve the diversity of law classes. President Vassy stated in brief that the reform of the bachelor curriculum would result in more freedom of course choice. He also stated that the course “Thinking Like A Lawyer” is meant to be positivist as it is based on a book written by professor Sebastian Clement, though the faculty of the Sciences Po law school has greater representation of critical legal studies.
As the time ran up for this topic, Year Representative Benjamin clarified that those who gave a thumbs down will be sent an email to further discuss their questions.
Topic 2: Student Life and Support
2A Year Representative Anh Nguyen began the discussion on this topic by presenting statistics from a poll of 75 students out of the 300+ students on campus.
The first question in this section focused on why arts clubs are not provided credits while sports clubs are, despite the similar hours of dedication required. Dean Lazarus explained that in the coming reform all credits such as sports credits will be “completely optional” meaning that they will not count for graduation requirements to enter the second and third years.
“I’m not sure if it’s an answer that will please you, but in fact everybody’s going to be equal on that,” Dean Lazarus said.
Year Representative Benjamin followed up to ask what the point of putting the credit on a transcript would be if the credits did not count. Dean Lazarus stated that if it was up to her there would not be any credits allocated for these reasons as she believed students could still participate in sports and arts clubs regardless of whether or not credits were recognized.
The next question asked was also on this topic asking if the administration did not wish for student and artistic life to be recognized — resulting in applause from the student body. President Vassy simply said that their work is recognized, just not through credits. Director Hauchecorne stated that a possible alternative would be the degree supplement which could list the activities, commitments and participation of students on campus even without credits.
“I can guarantee to you in just one sentence, and I understand the question, but I can guarantee to you that I have recruited lots of people in my life,” President Vassy said. “It’s not really the number of credits that will count… Knowing that you have one or two credits I don’t think has a huge impact on the way people will view your engagement in these activities.”
A student then asked why the administration had made the decision to pull and redistribute profits from vending machines from all campuses rather than directly from just each campus individually, especially without consulting students of the Le Havre campus. After applause from students, President Vassy stated that he had not been aware of that decision and gave a more general answer saying that trade offs are difficult. He also suggested students interested in the vision he has for Sciences Po, including participatory budgets for students, to read the 10 page program he proposed for the university when elected president.
The last question asked for this topic was if a specific time in the schedule could be made to allow for clubs and associations to host events such as interviews with external speakers as students in Le Havre may be unable to visit Paris each time a noteworthy guest such as Ukrainian President Zelensky visited Sciences Po. President Vassy said that he could not specifically answer about the scheduling of external interventions but was proud of collectively being able to be a university that has the capacity to invite such important speakers. He also said while the seven campus organization was a constraint, when external speakers came to Paris it was transmitted and broadcasted to other campuses. Director Hauchecorne said that it was disappointing when only a few people could attend events hosted by organizations in the past year and said that a dedicated slot would have to come with the exchange of more dedicated commitment from the part of students.
Topic 3: Freedom of Expression
This discussion began with a question regarding the occupation of the Boutmy amphitheater, asking why the administration decided on punishments for protestors involving the use of police, fines and reporting on judicial records, instead of open dialogue. After roaring applause from students, President Vassy answered, speaking for more than the allotted time, by emphasising that in Sciences Po any legal view can be expressed. In the case of the Boutmy amphitheater blockade, he said, this was not an act of free speech but rather paralysed the institution, without any space of discussion. Vassy explained that attempts to speak to the protestors were rejected, leading him to take the decision to ask external police to interfere. He said that no sanctions were brought by administration on involved students, but that the punishments mentioned were given by the police, who Sciences Po has no control over. Vassy concluded saying that he will continue to make sure that Sciences Po is a space for everyone, highlighting how many students feel their own freedom of expression is hampered by only one view point being pushed forward by protestors. Many students gave him a thumbs down to this response.
Nathan, a member of SJP, later reflects on this answer, saying in an LDD interview, “I feel unsatisfied with all of the answers that Luis Vassy provided because we asked a lot of questions and he never answered. His points were always outside the questions so it was a bit deceptive for us.”
Such sentiments were reflected in a next question, directly asking President Vassy if the police pushing students during the Boutmy blockade seemed like a proportionate action to the peaceful protest. President Vassy answered by saying that he is not a policeman, and that he doesn’t know the methods behind moving people who don’t want to be moved. He continued, explaining that no one is happy to see police on campus, but that there was simply no other option in this situation, having already tried other ways in previous blockades.
The same student then asked him why Sciences Po doesn’t stop its partnerships with Israeli universities, again accompanied by student applause. President Vassy replied by saying that unlike with the case of Russia, no sanctions have been placed on Israel, and that therefore, Sciences Po has no legal obligation to cut its ties. The purpose of universities is to have ideas circulate within a legal framework, Vassy explained. Another student continued this discussion, asking if Sciences Po would accept an investigation group in the ties between Israeli universities and the occupation of Palestine. President Vassy answered by repeating that Sciences Po is about openness. He said that policies like cutting ties and investigation groups are extreme, asking “where do we draw the line?” as he cited the example of the alleged links between universities in the United States of America and the American defense government. A third student however pushed Vassy on this issue, specifically asking Sciences Po to cut ties with the Hebrew University in East Jerusalem, which the student said is internationally recognised as having illegally occupied Palestinian land. President Vassy emphasised that any actions by Sciences Po doesn’t equate to endorsement of Israeli foreign policy, and that as a former diplomat he is well aware of what is considered legal and illegal. Vassy concluded by saying that Sciences Po is just a university and not an instrument of foreign policy, with the sole mission of education and research.
Discussions related to this topic produced the most reactions among the student body, as well as the longest questions and answers, reflecting tensions at Sciences Po. Director Hauchecorne reflects on these exchanges related to Israel and freedom of expression in a later interview with LDD, saying “I hope that students will have appreciate that and they tried to put some point across to some of the guests, and they’ve challenged them to some extent, but still, it’s good to say something when you disagree and what you want to put your point across, but it’s good also to listen to the answers and to see why sometimes not everyone is seeing in the same lenses as you.”
The Q&A session was closed by a final musical performance by Lora Zaiss and Thibaud Brilland, before leaving the stage for President Morin.
Summary of the Closed Q&A Between Director Vassy, Dean Lazarus and Student Leaders
President Vassy’s visit continued with a smaller and unmoderated Q&A session in the library with student association and year representatives. Accompanied by Dean Lazarus and Director Hauchecorne, all sitting comfortably on blue sofa chairs, the three answered questions on various topics, and learned about campus life in Le Havre. Indeed, the session began with a short presentation by Téa Fayet and Anis Loghmari, the Co-Presidents of the Comite d’Organisation des Collegiades (COC), the organising committee of the inter-campus art and sports competition hosted in Le Havre this year. They emphasised the importance of such events for bringing campuses closer together and for creating ties with local partnerships in the city. Yet, the majority of the session focused on the frustrations and lack of accountability felt by student representatives regarding the Sciences Po administration. Below we present the three key topics that were discussed the longest.
Topic 1: The Importance of Academic Workload Versus Campus Life
The Q&A session started with Director Vassy asking student representatives if they were feeling overall happy with their studies and experience in Le Havre. He spoke on how Sciences Po is known for its high academic standards, mentioning how many exchange students have told him they feel more academically challenged here than in their home universities. 2A Year Representative Anh Nguyen echoed such sentiments, saying that data from a poll collected by year representatives shows that many students find it difficult to strike a balance between their studies and personal lives. She however emphasised the importance of campus spirit for mental and social health, an almost unanimous result in the poll.
A Bureau Des Arts (BDA) representative delved further into this topic, saying that the importance given to campus life often places a lot of pressure on student leaders, who organise many events, but struggle to keep up with all their school work. They said that because of this, the lack of recognition from administration can be frustrating, particularly regarding the arts in comparison to sports, with the latter at least receiving some credits. Student life makes Le Havre liveable, they repeated, arguing that students mostly find connections in the campus community rather than in the city. Dean Lazarus took the lead in answering them, saying that real recognition comes from the student body and from what student leaders create, not from credits. She continued to explain how the new reforms arriving to Sciences Po will ensure that academic life comes first. This discussion garnered many reactions from listeners, with President Vassy barely containing a grin as he commented that Dean Lazarus is a very strict academic dean.
Topic 2: The Lack of Dialogue on the Relationship Between Sciences Po and Israel
A recurring topic in recent years, a member of SJP directly asked President Vassy on the lack of action by Sciences Po administration on the genocide in Palestine. Particularly, they questioned why President Vassy was against true discussion with students, saying that this lack of dialogue is one of the reasons student activists feel the need for stronger actions in search for reactions from administration. In response, President Vassy said that the administration is unable to fulfill all of the demands made by student activists, as Sciences Po has a wider, academic mission, involving not just students but also stakeholders. He further explained that the student protest on the Paris campus that week had clearly refused any attempts of discussion. He concluded by saying that he has been facing an unprecedented level of personal hatred, reflecting on how this broader trend of personalising issues to target individuals is a part of a modern unhealthy political culture.
Topic 3: The Heavy Responsibility of SGBV (VSS) Prevention on Associations
A third major topic was sparked with a BDA representative’s reflections on the pressures created by the complete delegation of SGBV (sexual and gender based-violence) or in French, VSS (violences sexuelles et sexistes), prevention on association representatives. While they say that Sciences Po has greatly helped with the training of such student leaders, they feel that ultimately it is left up to association representatives to act as the police, which is a heavy burden to carry. President Vassy responded to these concerns, stating that Sciences Po can always improve and highly prioritises the issue of VSS prevention with a zero tolerance policy. He repeated that the current structure of having student leaders act as VSS referents, as well as training first-years, was created in collaboration with Sciences Po’s feminist clubs, forming one of France’s most comprehensive VSS prevention programs. Director Hauchecorne chimed in, saying that having student leaders as VSS referents during events has been very effective.
The issue was taken up again towards the end of the Q&A by a Bureau Des Elèves (BDE) representative, who thanked the administration for their help in creating training programs, but asked if it was possible for more sessions. They explained that association members are often the first responders, and that therefore they feel that more sessions focusing on practical advice would be useful. Again, President Vassy highlighted his willingness for improvements and adjustments. The discussion concluded with Dean Lazarus stating that student leaders should not feel in charge of VSS prevention, but rather as a bridge between victims and experts.
Conclusion
In sum, this was an eventual day of discussions, covering a wide variety of topics. While in some cases inconclusive, it provided a chance for students to voice their concerns directly to President Vassy. In turn, he had the opportunity to get to know the Le Havre campus better.
