Keestra is a philosopher and has worked as an assistant professor at the UvA’s Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies since 2005. Additionally, he has been the Faculty Diversity Officer (FDO) at the Faculty of Science (FNWI) as of 2019. So why has he now taken up the role of Central Diversity Officer? It was actually a logical step for Keestra; it is a field he has been exploring for a long time, both within the university and outside it. Together with his wife, he set up the Keti Koti Table Foundation, which organises dialogues to examine the modern-day consequences of the Netherlands’ history of slavery.

During the occupation of the Maagdenhuis in 2015, he gave a workshop at the UvA about the lack of diversity and inclusion in the academic world. He also invited the Diversity Committee chaired by Gloria Wekker to the Science Park to engage in discussion about diversity and inclusion within the natural and life sciences. Keestra recounts, ‘In addition, I was able to do a lot of work as faculty diversity officer, together with a very inspired student assistant – Marwa Ahmed – and this stimulated me even more to get to grips with the issue and to take even more action.’

Positionality and lived experiences

No one will have failed to notice the fact that, apart from being a man, Keestra is also white, characteristics that bring privileges with them and are increasingly being questioned in the public debate. Is someone in a privileged position really the right person to raise issues of inequality? ‘I asked myself just the same question before applying for the job and discussed my doubts with various people in my network, such as politically involved feminists and black activists. Their answer was always the same: we need allies like you, who use their position, privileges and knowledge to ensure that people in less privileged positions are listened to,’ answers Keestra. He adds, ‘I hope that I can set a good example. Of course, working to promote this sensitive and controversial topic is a little more exciting and tricky than my work as a lecturer and researcher, and many people have outspoken opinions about what I should or should not do as diversity officer. Nonetheless, the increased vulnerability in this position is nothing in comparison to what people from underrepresented groups are faced with every day.’

The new CDO Keestra stresses that it is about teamwork, ‘As FDO, I work together with as many people as possible, consultative groups and networks at all levels, in order to hear and amplify as many voices as possible. And I’ll continue to do this.’ According to him, the focus on visible characteristics to determine whether someone belongs to the norm or not is a misconception anyway. There are countless forms of inequality that you cannot see just by looking at someone, but which can have just as much of an impact. Keestra explains, ‘Consider first-generation students, for example. You can’t always see that they are the first in their family to study in higher education, but they are still faced more often with exclusionary mechanisms, and it can be more complicated for them to start at a university. This is why the CDO has set up a programme (Get Ready) for these students. Being Jewish, I know from personal experience that you can sometimes be faced with exclusion at unexpected moments. You don’t immediately see this from my external appearance, but it still affects my position in life and how I view things.’

According to Keestra, people with lived experiences such as these can raise issues of inequality in a more focused and effective way, and they can also exert an effect on other people. At the same time, he believes that such experiences are not a prerequisite for getting involved in this theme. ‘As a philosopher, I’m also familiar with the ethical and political arguments for working towards a fair and equitable university, of course. But thanks to my experiences with the Keti Koti Table, I know that discussions like these can quickly lead to polarisation. This doesn’t happen at the dialogue tables, because personal experiences, memories and feelings are exchanged. Time and again, I see how much impact these dialogues have, how moved the participants are and how much mutual understanding and empathy arises there. I believe that everyone can see and hear other people’s pain and so can be open to change, as long as the conversation takes place in a safe environment,’ says Keestra.

Bringing about change as a ‘thorn in the side of the university’

Keestra is taking over the baton from his predecessor Anne de Graaf, who took up the post as first CDO at the UvA in 2017. What priorities does he identify and what can we expect of him? Keestra: ‘I very much admire the foundation established by Anne. She did truly pioneering work and has helped to create everything that exists now, from the diversity policy document to the network of faculty diversity officers. I’m still finding my feet, but what I can already say is that it’s my aim to involve multiple dimensions of diversity and also multiple target groups or domains in our work: from consideration of employees’ disabilities through to instruments that support relevant innovations in education. Besides this, we are also going to tackle several issues raised in the diversity policy document that deserve even more attention, such as collaboration in teams with a diverse make-up and reflecting on the education we provide.’

Bring about change: that is precisely the task of a Central Diversity Officer. But how do you do this if you yourself form part of the institution in which this change needs to take place? Keestra is well aware that the CDO team occupies a special position in the organisation, but ambiguity is not an issue here. ‘Our task is to keep the institution and its administrators on their toes. This means that our advice may not always be welcome. Policy remains the responsibility of the Executive Board and the deans. Nonetheless, we speak out, we provide advice based on our expertise and we ensure that criticism from the UvA community is properly heard,’ says Keestra.