ILOT Operating Committee

The situation in the Middle East is a source of tension on university campuses in Switzerland and around the world, including at EPFL. The situation has been particularly acute since 7 May 2024, when the SG building was occupied as part of a demonstration organized by the Coordination Étudiants Palestine group.

At the proposal of the EPFL president, EPFL’s management has decided to take the following operational steps to manage the crisis on campus caused by the situation in Israel and the Occupied Territories (ILOT):

  • Introduce safety and support measures so that all members of the EPFL community (students and staff) can come to campus to study or work without undue stress or worry about potential conflict.
  • Maintain dialogue with the entire School community and conduct targeted communication campaigns.
  • Provide specific support for the management of events in order to encourage initiatives that help maintain unity within our community and to restrict those that have the opposite effect.

EPFL’s management has also decided to establish the ILOT Operating Committee, consisting of an extended team to manage general matters related to the crisis and a core team to deal with emergencies (including efforts to occupy buildings).

The ILOT Operating Committee approves and coordinates the implementation of decisions-in-principle made by EPFL’s management. Specifically, the Committee is tasked with:

  • Drawing up a list of measures to be taken in order to reduce the negative impact of the ILOT crisis on campus and, where relevant, proposing such measures to EPFL’s management and coordinating their implementation
  • Identifying and implementing measures to ensure that EPFL can continue executing on its missions – education, research and innovation – at a time of stress and disruption for the whole community, and for students in particular
  • Identifying measures to maintain and foster unity on campus as a way to counter the polarization of views caused by the ILOT crisis.
  • Identifying measures to support affected communities.
  • Proposing, to EPFL’s management, changes or updates to the School’s position on the crisis as detailed on the following page: https://www.epfl.ch/campus/community/current-initiatives/.
  • Keeping talks and discussions as narrow and focused as possible.
  • Managing and coordinating all information and communication, both internal and external, relating to the ILOT crisis (including the list of partnerships with the countries involved), and acting as the main point of contact for the entire EPFL community on related matters.
  • Approving events, especially those run by student associations with a potential or obvious link to the ILOT crisis.

The ILOT Operating Committee is established for an initial fixed term ending on 31 December 2024. This term may be extended if the situation at that point in time so requires. It is chaired by Kathryn Hess Bellwald in her capacity as Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Outreach (AVP-SAO).

The Committee comprises two teams: an extended team (see above for details of this team’s mandate) and a core team, which has the following responsibilities:

  • Managing emergencies and making decisions on matters that need to be resolved in less than one hour
  • Avoiding outbreaks of violence on campus
  • Avoiding reputational crises linked to the management of demonstrations and occupations.

Chair: Kathryn Hess Bellwald

Core team:

  • Kathryn Hess, committee chair, AVP-SAO
  • Eric Du Pasquier, director, Department of Security, Safety and Facilities Operations, Vice Presidency for Operations (VPO) (deputy: Kilian Cochet)
  • Gaël Hürlimann, head of communications, Mediacom
  • Corinne Feuz, spokesperson, Mediacom

Extended team – core team, plus:

  • International Affairs: Katharina Füglister (deputy: Gillian Olivieri)
  • Legal Affairs: Françoise Chardonnens (deputy: Sonia Gander)
  • AGEPoly: Khadija Tagemouati (deputy: Alexia Giroud Nyer)
  • EPFL Assembly: Garance Durr, Sandrine Gerber
  • EPFL Teachers Council (CCE): Adélie Garin (deputies: Andreas Osterwalder and Jamila Sam)
  • Dean: Katrin Beyer
  • Human Resources: Marianne Wannier (deputy: Jessica Pallie)
  • Security and Safety: Eric Du Pasquier (deputy: Killian Cochet)
  • Student Affairs: Marie-Claude Cialente (deputy: Carole Dusonchet)
  • Trust and Support Network (TSN): Ines Ariceta
  • Mediacom: Gaël Hürlimann (deputy: Corinne Feuz)
  • Mediacom Internal Communications: Frédéric Rauss
  • Mediacom Events: Maureen Décosterd (deputy: Samantha Hugon)