was the motto of this year's Diversity Week at the University of Cologne

 An article about Diversity Week 2017
"Do you want to be treated the way colored people are treated in our society?" With this and other questions about discrimination behaviour, discrimination structures and stereotypical assumptions about how something or someone (apparently) is, Jürgen Schlicher made the audience of his lecture "Der Rassismus in uns - Zur Anatomie von Diskriminierungsstrukturen" (Racism in us - On the anatomy of discrimination structures) think. And even after the event, Schlicher was surrounded by interested students and employees of the University of Cologne who had come as part of the Diversity Week.

Schlicher's presentation was the kick-off event for the Diversity Week, which took place from 19-23 June 2017 for the third year in a row and to which the Prorectorate for Equality and Diversity and the Department of Gender and Diversity Management invited participants. Under the motto "You make a difference - you make the difference - you make discrimination go away, you build opportunities", more than 45 events took place in the form of courses, film screenings, workshops and campus activities. The Gender & Diversity Management Department was responsible for the bundling and targeted publication of events and activities offered by various institutions and actors.

"The aim of the Diversity Week is to raise awareness of how to deal with diversity, difference and equal opportunities at the University of Cologne through events, activities and information, and to draw attention to the relevant offers and institutions at our university," says Dr.'. Britt Dahmen, Head of the Gender & Diversity Management Unit. And so the students and employees were able to inform themselves in many different ways, because the Diversity Week program offered something for everyone.

On one day, the AustauschBar attracted visitors with juice drinks and a TED talk (short video presentation) on the topic of gender-neutral toilets. The interest was great and almost two hours were spent passionately discussing the current situation and the advantages and disadvantages of unisex toilets. Two evenings before, there was a reading from the exile novel "Child of All Countries" by Irmgard Keun, followed by a panel discussion with two brothers from Syria. They described their long escape route to Germany, reported on bureaucratic hurdles, but also on support they had received and their personal and professional goals. On another day, an expert discussion took place with Nathalie Schlenzka from the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency. She explained the possibilities and limits of the General Equal Treatment Act and provided valuable input for the path to a non-discriminatory university, which the University of Cologne is already actively pursuing in a variety of ways, including the directive on dealing with sexualised discrimination.