Jeroen Geurts, rector magnificus of VU Amsterdam: "I am very pleased that Sharda wants to take on this role. I am convinced that Sharda, together with colleagues from the Diversity Office, can and will make an important contribution to diversity and inclusion at VU Amsterdam. Especially at the present time, there is a great need to understand each other and each other's positions and viewpoints.”
Frank van der Duijn Schouten, dean Faculty of Religion and Theology: “That - again - a staff member of our faculty has come out of the selection procedure as the most appropriate person to take the role of Chief Diversity Officer is not surprising. The dialogue between various religious and spiritual traditions is a main characteristic of our educational and research programmes. Through a pluralistic approach, students learn to engage in dialogue, to express their own positions and to acquire a better understanding of their own tradition".
Sharda Nandram: "A university like VU Amsterdam is a diverse and inclusive university where everyone is welcome and where it is the most natural thing to be yourself. We are surrounded by the diversity of our capital city and our university is a beautiful place where we can build a safe foundation for living together, with each other and alongside each other. The more our students manage to do this in the classroom and on campus, the better equipped they will be with knowledge, insights and tools to make their contribution to the sometimes very complex professional contexts and to the lifeworlds in which they find themselves."
Sharda Nandram is Professor of Hindu Spirituality and Society at the Faculty of Religion and Theology at VU Amsterdam, in addition to her position as Professor of Business & Spirituality at Nyenrode Business University. She is part of the Nyenrode Faculty Expertise Centre Entrepreneurship, Governance & Stewardship and teaches in the MBA programme Research Methods.