Gadjah Mada University

UGM was the first state university in Indonesia, established as Universiteit Negeri Gadjah Mada (UNGM) when Indonesia was still facing threats from the Netherlands, which wanted to regain control. At the time, the capital of Indonesia was temporarily moved from Jakarta to Yogyakarta.

UGM was established through Government Regulation (PP) No. 23 of 1949, regarding the merger of colleges to form a university. Although the regulations were dated 16 December, UGM's inauguration took place on 19 December, intentionally chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the Dutch invasion of Yogyakarta, exactly one year before. The intentional date was meant to show that one year after the Dutch had invaded the city, the Indonesian Government could establish its own national university there.

When it was founded, UGM had six faculties: Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy; Law, Economics, Social and Political Sciences; Engineering; Letters, Pedagogy and Philosophy; Agriculture; and Veterinary Medicine.

From 1952 until 1972, the Faculty of Law, Social and Political Sciences was split into two faculties: the Surabaya branch of the Faculty of Law, Social, and Political Sciences, which was integrated into University of Airlangga; and the Faculty of Education and Teacher Training, which was integrated into IKIP Yogyakarta (now Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta).

During its initial years of Dutch resistance, the university taught literature and law in the buildings and other facilities belonging to the palace of the Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, who volunteered his palace for the university's use. UGM gradually established a campus of its own in Bulaksumur, on the northern side of Yogyakarta, and now occupies an area of three square kilometres.

Research centers

UGM has 24 university-level research and study centers:

Community service

UGM organizes a community service called KKN-PPM (short for Kuliah Kerja Nyata-Pembelajaran Pemberdayaan Masyarakat or "Student Community Service-Community Empowerment Learning", in English), which is obligatory for undergraduate students. KKN-PPM is a research-based community service offered three times each academic year, in the middle of both the odd semester and the even semester, and between these two semesters. KKN-PPM UGM involves not only local students but also international academicians, including lecturers and students. In 2011, 150 international students from countries including South Korea, Australia, France, the United States, and Norway participated in KKN-PPM.

Other facilities

UGM Campus Mosque is a mosque owned by UGM and situated within its campus. It was designed entirely by the students of the UGM Architecture Engineering department. It holds a maximum capacity of 10,000 visitors, making it one of the largest mosques in Southeast Asia.

Madya Stadium, the softball/baseball field, and the tennis courts are located in the valley of UGM. The stadium can be used for football, athletics, hockey, and other activities. These facilities are available to UGM students, staff, and the public.

Controversies

Yogyakarta Principles

The Yogyakarta Principles—a set of principles outlined in Geneva, Switzerland, which were intended to apply international human rights law guidelines in support of the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people—were developed at Gadjah Mada University.

Islamic and religious groups, and civil prosecutors, attacked the LGBT community as being suspect in "promoting communism or westernization", although the Yogyakarta Principles merely address ending violence, abuse, and discrimination of LGBT people.

2016 student demonstration

In 2016, more than 1000 of UGM's students and staff flocked to the university's headquarters for a demonstration that was said to be the biggest after the 1998 national demonstration. The demonstration went peacefully, with no damage reported by the university, although it got a bit heated when the university's rector, Dwikorita Karnawati, claimed that the demonstration was a simulation officially held by UGM. Three factors led to this demonstration: tuition (uang kuliah tunggal) that was deemed too expensive; the university's status as a "state university with corporation status" (PTNBH), which led to the tuition fee rate ruling by the university; and to stop the relocation of so-called "bonbin" canteen located between Faculty of Cultural Sciences and Faculty of Psychology.

2017 sexual assault case

On 5 November 2018, UGM's student publication body BPPM Balairung through its online portal Balairungpress.com published an article containing the account, from a female student ("Agni"), of an alleged rape she experienced at the hands of a male fellow student ("HS") while doing a so-called "student work experience" (Kuliah Kerja Nyata – KKN) program in Seram Island, Maluku, in June 2017. However, on 4 February 2019, UGM announced the case was resolved and claimed it concluded with a rather "peaceful" resolution.

When learning of the rape allegation, UGM–KKN officials chose not to forward Agni's accusation to the police. Instead, they were skeptical of Agni's account. Regardless, HS was pulled from the KKN program about a week later because he was deemed to be "incompatible" with other KKN participants.

After Agni returned to Yogyakarta in September 2017, she received a C-grade for the program, apparently in retaliation for the shame her allegation had brought upon an official. Agni then filed a formal complaint about her alleged rape to higher-ranking officials at the university, who raised her grade to A/B but still did not report HS to law enforcement. Instead, the university agreed to pay for the counseling Agni had been seeking to deal with her trauma, as well as requiring HS to go to counseling as well. HS was allowed to take part in another KKN program the semester after the alleged rape, and he is expected to graduate soon.