Zofingen, Unil and the sirens of the age

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court recently upheld the University of Lausanne's decision to no longer recognize the Zofingen student society as a university association. Now in the media spotlight, the case is not without its lessons.

The University of Lausanne (UNIL) will be permitted to no longer grant the Zofingue student society, Vaud chapter, the status of a university association. This was decided by the Federal Supreme Court (FSC), which this spring upheld an appeal by UNIL that had been rejected last year by the highest cantonal court in Vaud. Surprisingly, this marks a reversal of precedent by the Federal Supreme Court: the same court had ruled the opposite way in 2014. In their ruling of March 25, 2025, the judges justified their decision on the grounds, in particular, that «the importance attached to gender equality and its implementation in all